Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
Yeah, but youll notice that the Republic didnt control Hutt space while relying on the Jedi exclusively either.

Like, I get what youre saying, but also its 1000 guys against a multi-planetary government and crime syndicate.
I think you're missing my baseline point, which is The Jedi are not the Republic. The Republic are not the Jedi. The Jedi should be able and willing to serve other groups outside the Republic. Making social change or righting wrongs should not require annexing planets or polities into the Republic as a prerequisite for solving the problems; that's just Coruscanti-centric Imperialism using lightsabers instead of star destroyers.

Reaching desperately for a real-world metaphor that might be tangentially related without bring board-problematic as the obvious example would be, we don't require American-educated medical doctors to also be American government officials. A person can take the Hippocratic oath and serve their local community while also being American, British, Russian, South African, Indonesian, Pakistani, you name it. In a world where we required every graduate of an American medical school to become an American citizen and only serve American patients, you might have a kind of imperialism where it would be argued we couldn't treat tuberculosis or Covid in Chile because they were outside the US , and there's nothing we can do without also forcing them into our political system.

That's why I argue the Jedi should serve the Living Force, as Qui-Gon does, rather than the Republic. I would have them be a group like Medicines Sans Frontiers which can bring Force Guidance, mediation, and light side perspective to the Outer Rim, Unknown Territories, and Hutt space as well. As it is, having the Jedi be a kind of state religion of the Republic means that it becomes un-patriotic to welcome the Jedi or serve alongside them anywhere else.

As Qui-Gon shows, to be a Jedi is to serve the Living Force in whatever community you already live in; it shouldn't have to come with the baggage of also serving the Republic. As it is, it's almost as if the Republic claims to be the sole governing body in the entire galaxy with a relationship to the Force, and is therefore the only government with any claim to legitimacy. A Force-centric theocracy of a kind , even if they don't extend their dominion by outright military aggression. Small wonder the Republic changes over to Empire -- the underlying ideology of our-way-is-the-only-right-way-and-we-are-the-rightful-rulers-of-the-galaxy is already implicit in their worldview, just waiting for a Palpatine to fan it into aggressive militarism.

Respectfully,

Brian P.