Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution posts on “The public choice economics of Star Wars: A Straussian reading”
2. What do the Jedi Council want anyway? The Anakin critique of the Jedi Council rings somewhat true (this is from the new movie, alas I cannot say more, but the argument could be strengthened by citing the relevant detail). Aren’t they a kind of out-of-control Supreme Court, not even requiring Senate approval (with or without filibuster), and heavily armed at that? As I understand it, they vote each other into the office, have license to kill, and seek to control galactic affairs. Talk about unaccountable power used toward secret and mysterious ends.
They also seem to have a democracy fetish. They run around spreading democracy by force of arms even though they don’t really believe in it themselves. So they are Straussians, right? Isn’t that the kind of thing Straussians do?
It’s ok, whether they are Straussians or real Democrats, you can call me Darth Tom (after all my middle name means Darth in Scottish). Only the Sith see things in absolutes, according to moral relativist Obi Wan Kenobi.
And for what it’s worth, I agree with Cowen’s other post on the topic – It was everything I expected