Exactly two weeks ago was May 4th, which is otherwise known as International Star Wars Day. As part of worldwide celebrations by geeky fanboys and girls everywhere dressed as Wookies, Boba Fett, or Princess Leia in a golden bikini (see: Adrianne Curry; then, if interested, bid on said golden bikini. America's First Next Top Model and Dork Goddess not included.)
But what really gets Star Wars into the prime-time for our Hump de Bump Wednesday special is this article from The Monkey Cage.org (The Week's 2010 Blog of the Year) on the Political Economy of Building and Using a Death Star. Really it was just an assessment of whether or not the construction of such a space-surfing, world/country-destroying apparatus would make any political sense in the intergalactic empire, or even in the geopolitical life and times we find ourselves in today.
The article was later featured in the Washington Post blog, proving that the Geek really shall inherit the earth. What set me off over it though, was the claim by some upstart Lehigh University students that:
"just the steel for a Death Star would cost $852 quadrillion, or 13,000 times the current GDP of the Earth."
Peko
Set, a friend from a "think-tank kind of summer" I enjoyed a couple
years back, listed the above estimate as his GChat status this past
weekend, to which I protested :
11:58 AM
me: they dont call it the intergalactic empire for nothing
nearly all of known space was under their dominion at the end of the clone wars
11:59 AM including asteroid belts and other celestial bodies that could be entirely made of certain heavy elements
12:04 PM me: haha
very convincing arguments
Peko:it's super long. got re-published in the wapo blog
me:
12:05 PM i dont think the lehigh people understand the economics of star wars though
there's no way the empire needed to pay for steel or other building materials at cost
...A spirited discussion of Star Wars Economics, that had surprising parallels in the politics of dictatorship and crony capitalism in the real world, soon follows...
...A spirited discussion of Star Wars Economics, that had surprising parallels in the politics of dictatorship and crony capitalism in the real world, soon follows...
Peko: how
nothing is free
unless they use slave labor
but even then you need overhead
me: they probably do
12:06 PM Peko: well you see you can't be sure
me: quite minimal [cost at which the steel would be obtained by the Empire] - i mean in their universe, they have total control of taxation and regulation of everything
that's why smuggling is so lucrative despite harsh penalties
12:07 PM at the cost cited [by Lehigh "analysts"], i mean
Peko: so they use tax revenue to pay for the steel
me: they dont have the same economics - like one or a fleet of ships can destroy planets and/or harvest the mineralsand they already had tons of ships lying around since the end of the clone war
Peko: i suppose if you are collecting revenue from the ENTIRE old republic then you are Ok
yeah ok
12:08 PM the economics is the same!
Peko: but different scale
this article explores if earth should build one
me: ohh
well
lol
we already kind of live on a death star
that can destroy our own or nearby planets easily
too late
Peko: with hbombs?
12:09 PM me: yeah or just...waste
Peko: it's pointless if there is no balance of power to keep
we are just extractive
me: i think the empire, controlled by the sith, also can pretty much kill anyone
and take their stuff over for a fraction of the cost
12:10 PM it becomes an issue of senior leadership - and i think ultimately that's what did them in, along with the economics of empire, brain drain from the empire to the rebels since elites knew they couldnt keep their lives let alone their money and other capital [with the Emperor, Darth Vader i.e. Sith overlords in charge]
Peko: that sort of kelptocracy is not sustainable
12:11 PM Peko: also the it was just sidious and vader who called the shots
so it was sith-run
me: yeah and there's not even that many of them
Peko: it will be like Rome
12:12 PM the empire will be overstretched
lets say the rebel alliance doesn't destroy the death star
galatic empire will implode
12:13 PM if you have high taxation you better also have high welfare
like scandinavian countries
| 8 minutes |
12:22 PM me: yeah - see, no one ever complains about public health issues in star wars, or even any mention of social welfare or employment issues
Peko: maybe because it is very advanced
me: clearly the system works for the most part - yeah
Peko: so it's all accounted for
well there is SLAVERY in the out rimsme: that's true - but that doesnt really tie into the empire
stormtroopers and imperial forces get good benefits and stuff
12:23 PM Peko: they don't have families because they are clones
Peko: and courscant has some messed up things on the lower levels
me: well by the time of the death stars a lot of the stormtroopers werent clones anymore
and all the pilots, technical people
admin
Peko: it isn't harmonious in that you still have plenty of crimes, gangs and smugglers
12:24 PM hm yes. they started recruiting real people after clone wars
me: right but that's a continuation of wider galactic issues that continued unabated between the republic and empire and whatever came after
12:25 PM organized crime and black market becomes more lucrative under high levels of regulation
Peko: so that means social issues are persistent no matter the context
12:26 PM me: yeah - it just was more lucrative after, so jabba and the main crime lords were able to consolidate such operations
as opposed to lots of "mom-and-pop" criminal operations or slave owners/drivers
12:27 PM bc he could afford to buy out or purge/kill competitors
Peko: and galatic empire tolerated the hutts?
me: coerce them - it's very political
yeah
that's why they worked with boba fett and jabba to capture hans solo and bring luke and leia to bespin
Peko: restored old ties
12:28 PM me: plus the hutt family was involved with the sith even before the clone wars, and jabba ended up as a go-between for the empire and the outer regions
12:29 PM i need to post this convo online lol
12:30 PM Peko: it is substantive discussion
12:31 PM me: ill put it on a blog or something
lots of interesting issues - and like the economics reflects certain countries even today
and the issues they face politically
Dilemmas of Dictatorship! Taxation, Regulation, and Organized Crime! Space mining and commodities trading! Factional/Regional Brain-Drain! Social Welfare and Slavery! Who would have known Star Wars would reflect life not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far away??
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