Why the hell not? Why aren’t Jedi freeing slaves and fighting slavers and pirates across the galaxy? Either they are doing what is right, or they’ve compromised their principles in some way to continue tolerating slavery. Even if it’s the expedience of “there aren’t enough of us”, that’s a compromise – one born of necessity, perhaps.
I can answer all of that in four points.
I’m sorry, this was meant to be way shorter but it grew into a big meta.
1) ADDRESSING THE LACK OF MANPOWER.
There is 10000 Jedi. It’s barely a small village, in a galaxy of trillions. That’s not a ‘compromise’ - it is objectively impossible for the Jedi to end slavery. They have kids to raise, many of them are researchers and diplomats, many of them are elderly. “Lack of manpower” applies for when you have only half of the workforce required to build houses for the homeless.
10,000 vs (several times) 1,000,000,000,000. That’s 1 Jedi out of a hundred millions people. Hey, my Church of 70 people hasn’t solved human trafficking on our 7 billions people planet (same exact ratio btw). Should we stop giving soup to the homeless and go focus on that instead of straying from our purpose?
There are more Senators (you know, the people elected to do something about stuff life slavery) than Jedi (semi-religious warrior monks) on active duty. It’s beyond ludicrous to expect the Jedi to be responsible for a galactic-wide problem.
2) THE LOGISTICS OF ENDING SLAVERY
You say they “strayed from their purpose.” When in canon is it ever stated that their purpose is to free slaves or fight pirates? You could argue that it’s what their purpose should be, but as it it a Jedi’s purpose is to 1) live by the Force 2) serve the Republic. Why would it be the Order’s moral responsibility to free all slaves? There are tons of other people in the galaxy who could do it to but are busy living their lives. Why is it more the Jedi’s job than anyone else’s? Because they have extraordinary abilities? Plenty of species in SW can do incredible stuff that’d be useful in a fight. Because they have sworn themselves to helping people?
You can live in a world with a specific problem without devoting yourself to ending it and not be corrupt/still be doing good. Example: the Red Cross. They operate in a number of corrupt countries where people don’t have freedom of speech/freedom of the press. Why the hell isn’t the Red Cross overthrowing those governments instead of merely providing relief? Do you see the problem with that line of reasoning?
“But they wouldn’t need to end slavery, just to fight it.” If there’s one thing Game of Thrones did right, it was showing that one person - or a small group - cannot oppose institutional slavery in an effective manner - either peacefully or tyrannically. Especially if that person/small group is foreign to the society they’d be “fixing.”
Let’s say the Jedi barge into Jabba’s palace, arrest him (on what grounds? He isn’t a Republic citizen, he’s a sovereign landowner - they’d be starting a war, which isn’t ethical) and free his slaves. Who gives them new homes? New jobs? Who makes sure their masters give them up? It’d have to be the Republic, because the Jedi don’t have the funds or the people, and the Republic doesn’t care. What should the Jedi do, mind-trick the Senators?
What about slaves who don’t want to lose the relative stability that a good household offers? You’d have to get everybody off Tatooine, so they can’t be snatched and enslaved again. But what if they don’t want to go? Let’s say you miraculously work around all of those issues. You’ve freed the slaves on Tatooine, congrats. The slavers who sold Jabba 20,000 Twi’Leks on their last run will go sell to the Black Sun instead. Do you go to war with the Black Sun? How many will die? How many slaves will die?
Ending slavery is about changing entire civilizations. Changing a people’s ways of thinking, of relating to the world. It can only happen through societal reforms, and it’s long and hard. A hundred Jedi charging lightsabers blazing is not the solution to slavery.
3) ACCOUNTABILITY OF OTHER CHARACTERS
Here’s another post I made about that specific issue. Basically, if you equate the Jedi’s lack of action against slavery with corruption, you’re accusing Padmé and Bail of being corrupt as well. Because Padmé, Bail, Mon Mothma and the other honest Senators are in far better positions to do something about it, and yet we never see that they do. Does that make them corrupt?
Because hey, if a supposedly entirely neutral party with presumably limited funding, and very limited political power (as demonstrated countless times in the PT movies and TCW, when the High Council gets shut down by politicians) can be found morally reprehensible not going to space where they have no jurisdiction whatsoever [...] what does that say about Padmé?
Padmé, who had the wealth of an entire planet at her disposal. Padmé, who could have actually given Shmi a job and a life after getting her out of slavery. Padmé, who arguably owed more to Shmi and Anakin than the Jedi did. Padmé, who ate and slept in Shmi’s house, formed a friendship with Shmi’s son and was shocked and saddened upon realizing they were slaves. [...] Padmé who had the political freedom to take a different stance on slavery in the Outer Rim than the Republic.
Padmé is all “the Republic would do something about it” when she realizes slavery is a thing so close to her home. She’s influential in the Republic. What does she do about it as a Queen? Nothing. Do we hear her speak out against it as a Senator at any point? Not that I remember. [...]
Not convinced? Okay, guess what? We never see Bail Organa directly freeing slaves either! And he was so wealthy, and Alderaan was so prosperous. Surely they could have done more for the Republic than a few relief missions! [...] (satire)
The same could be said about Ahsoka. When she sees the slaves working in the spice mines in s7, she doesn’t do anything about it. She could have caused an uprising, right? She could have mind-tricked the guards. Right? Yeah, no.
The narrative doesn’t present Padmé, Bail or Ahsoka as corrupt. Therefore, the Jedi should be held to the same standards.
4) THE JEDI ACTUALLY DO FIGHT SLAVERY WHERE AND WHEN THEY CAN
They track down and liberate the kidnapped Togruta in s4
They free the enslaved Mon Calamari in s4
They free the people of Ryloth in s1
tldr: the existence of slavery in the Galaxy is not proof of the Jedi’s corruption, lack of action or deviation from their purpose, and the Jedi shouldn’t be expected to fix slavery in order to be considered morally free of guilt