Down with Vader, down with the empire

Daily writing promptEmperor Palpatine has announced open elections for a new Emperor — and he’s nominated Darth Vader. You get to nominate one challenger.View all responses Even against his long career of deception, Sheev Palpatine announcing an open election for the seat of galactic emperor sounds particularly cynical. In response to this farce, I nominate Mon Mothma of Chandrila. However, I do not nominate her to be the next emperor. We do not need a better emperor. We need to altogether dissolve the imperial office and in its place install a constitutional democracy. Just consider the legacy of Palpatine’s New Order. The emperor had argued that democracy had become “bloated” and “ineffective”, that only a strong hand could bring peace. But under the empire, we have had peace the way a graveyard has its silence. By centralising power, Palpatine has removed the restorative impulses of a free society. There was no legislative body to demand accountability for the Ghorman Massacre,…