But you can't say The Empire was good. Order? Forcing order through militarist (sp?) actions means there's something fishy 'bout this so called Empire.
Order is a requirement for any civilized society to exist. Without the Imperial Military to enforce order, anarchy would reign throughout the galaxy, and the human race would most certainly be forced to carry an alien yoke. The reason the republic fell is because it's institutions were corrupted by permitting aliens to participate in the governing process. Only under human rule can the galaxy be effectively governed as a single unit.
Alderaan - The lack of weapons and "peaceful" nature of the Alderan people would have been historically established in the Galaxy by the point of it's destruction. The Imperial officer did not argue this point, in fact I think he responded "I know" (little rusty on that though). He only wished Alderan to be "an example to others." And the destruction of the population of an entire planet is hardly called for in response to the covert treachery of it's monarchy leadership.
The will of a king is the will of his people, and his actions are theirs. The Alderanians betrayed the Empire and yes, I do hope what happened to them makes other potential traitors think twice before they do something foolish.
Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen - Yes, they did hide Luke from the Empire, however this fact was not established when they were murdered, nor is there any evidence that what they were doing with Luke was against the laws of the Empire itself. Not like they were evading relevant tax on Luke or anything. On "harboring the droids" they had no knowledge of who the droids were, only Luke had any inclination of the significance of the droids, and he didn't find out the full extent until about the time his family was killed.
The Jawas - They again were killed for "harboring the droids" of which they had no knowledge of the extent of their signfiicance, if they did I'm sure they woulda turned 'em over. Particularly in the hopes for a large bounty.
Those droids contained classified information about a top secret Imperial project. During the time the droids were on Tatooine, either the Jawas or the farmers could have accessed the information. Anyone untrustworthy who even potentially comes into contact with such information is to be exterminated as soon as possible. The deaths of Imperial citizens is regrettable, but if sensitive information leaks to our enemies, it puts everyone in the Empire at risk.
Darth Vader's Discipline - When one of his subordinates does a poor job or question his authority (forget which) he uses the force to choke him to death. The proper responce to this would be a cut in pay, or demotion to Garbage compactor maintenance.
The Imperial Military has no room for fools or insolence. Orders are to be carried out completely, without question, and with no regard to casualties. Discipline is what makes us strong.
Younglings - Darth Vader's slaughter of the "younglings" along with the rest of the Jedi in Episode III. He did not even attempt to explain to them the failure of their teachers and the need to turn to the "Dark side."
Also, it would appear from the movies that the Jedi's abilities while they seem to be passed down genetically (illustrated by Luke), this is NOT what supports the Jedi's survival. The Jedi still have to "comb" the galaxy for younglings with suitable midi-chlorians levels for training, and once a Jedi Knight vow an oath of chastity, thus why Anakin's relationship with Padme so concerned Padme at first. As a result, there would be no "lineage" of Jedi's. Also, they are in every living thing, but only those with high amounts are "in touch" enough with the force to become Jedi's.
Lord Vader did not need to explain himself to the younglings. What he did was no different than killing infant snakes before they become a threat. And since the Empire is seeking to purge the galaxy of Jedi, anything that lowers their survivability is fine with me.
Though at the same time, many Ruthless Warlords is worse then one malevolent dictator... And that's the best point this article has in it's defense.
So while I'm admittantly kinda on the fence, I lean twoards Rebels because of my ideals of freedom and ideological distaste for malevolant dictatorships.
Do not let the empty words of the rebels sway you. Their way of thinking is the same as that of the corrupt and incompetent old republic. You have seen the fruit of their thinking, it is failed and of the past. The Empire is the way of the future.
