The Star Wars prequels tell the story of a neoliberal Jedi Council that ignores the needs of Anakin, who is eventually lured towards right-wing populism by Palpatine/Darth Sidious. When Obi Wan later declares that Senator Palpatine is evil, he’s not wrong, but he fails to recognize the major part the elitist and hypocritical Jedi Council played in all of it. Anakin Skywalker transforms into Darth Vader, and with this transformation we see right-wing populism evolve into fascism. Obi Wan, during his time in isolation on Tatooine between the two trilogies, leaves behind his liberal idealism and radicalizes, fully understanding the necessity of using force to defeat fascism and training Luke to take on Darth Vader.
From CinemaWins’ analysis of Revenge of the Sith:
To be clear, nothing excuses fascism; it is an ideology that needs to be smashed, just as the Rebel Alliance eventually smashed the Galactic Empire. The statement being made here is that right-wing populism often courts and tempts segments of the white working-class better than neoliberalism does. Those with power twist the real desires people have for substantive change, ultimately as a means to reassert their own power. Neoliberalism is fundamentally unable to solve capitalism’s innate contradictions, and so people seek out alternatives (even if those alternatives end up being worse). Just as Anakin turned to the dark side in a vain attempt to save Padme, segments of the white working-class are turning to right-populism in a vain attempt to solve corruption, elitism, and poverty. Only a unified front of left-populists can counteract the oppressions of both neoliberalism and fascism and create a socialist world of freedom and solidarity upon the ashes.
This doesn’t even take into account the Jedi Council’s treatment of Barriss and later Ahsoka, leading to the latter leaving the Order and seriously fucking anakin up emotionally basically #BarrissWasRight #FuckTheJedi
I’ve always said that if Obi just let Anakin kill Space Nazis we’d have never had the death star.
BARRISS WAS ALWAYS RIGHT
