Thread by @YesYoureRacist

Thread on the end of #TheMandalorian Chapter 14 and what it says about the restoration of liberal democracy under the New Republic (no major plot spoilers, but you should probably watch the episode first)

So I went through and translated some of the New Republic prison records that recently-appointed Marshal Cara Dune looks through when Mando visits her at the end of Chapter 14, and one thing that stood out was how shockingly steep some of the prison sentences were.

35 years for stealing a landspeeder. 45 years for smuggling. 30 years for forgery. 25 years for hacking! These are draconian sentences, even compared to the American penal system.

And these aren't minimum-security prisons, either. Wobani, for example, is the desolate ex-Imperial prison world seen in Rogue One, where prisoners were often worked to death. When the Empire fell, the New Republic just took over the prison and carried on business as usual.

I've written before about how the prequels depict how liberalism was powerless to stop the rise of fascism at the end of the Clone Wars:

https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/1285033484004794369?s=20

I've also noted how the New Republic was an attempt to "return to normal" like it was before the Empire, and how because of their failure to learn their lessons, Mon Mothma's liberal government was once again powerless to stop the rise of the First Order:

https://twitter.com/YesYoureRacist/status/1285044671652212746?s=20

The Mandalorian's brief depiction of the New Republic justice system -- just as brutal as the Empire, and using many of the exact same facilities -- is a symptom of the government's failure to enact meaningful reforms beyond the restoration of democracy and "no more Death Stars."

The "return to normalcy" of the New Republic wasn't enough to prevent the rise of the First Order, because the "normalcy" they returned to only benefitted the wealthy and powerful. Feckless liberalism, even well-intentioned, isn't enough to stop the allure of authoritarianism.

I'm reminded of Yoda's words to Luke in my favorite scene from @rianjohnson's The Last Jedi:

"Heeded my words not, did you? 'Pass on what you have learned.' Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is."

Luke's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order just like it was before the Purge was exactly why he failed – because the galaxy needed something new, not a clumsy attempt to replicate what went before. (Ironically, that's exactly the reason why the J.J. Abrams films were so bad.)

I'll leave it up to readers to draw any real-world parallels they may see in the New Republic's doomed "return to normalcy" and any current events we may be experiencing. Suffice to say, don't say I didn't warn you when the First Order rises again.

Here's another example of the New Republic sowing the seeds of its own destruction by failing to learn any meaningful lessons from the fall of the Old Republic – "Mas Amedda, welcome to the Resistance."

https://twitter.com/LoganJames/status/1336315366692319232?s=20