Nature and Technology

Darth Vader.

half man, half machine.

a force of intimidation and fear.

if you watch in release order, you do not even see his face until the very end of Return of the Jedi.

before i knew Anakin was underneath all the hubbub, i just thought he was mostly a robot by now.

that there was just a sliver of consciousness left in him that kept the power on and the Force flowing through him, but that at the end of the day, such an unfeeling monster could not really have any human left in him.

and yet,

there was R2-D2

Luke's trusty side-kick

and he was all machine.

and then C-3PO,

i saw him get sassier over the course of the trilogy,

especially in response to Han's continued dismissal of him.

those two droids, the comic-relief, the plot-furtherers, they were alive. and you can never tell me different.

that question continues throughout all of the franchise.

notice where the Force is the strongest?

in nature.

which makes sense; it is the living Force.

but i want to explore this more.

Dagobah is the obvious starting point.

there is no technology here. only life.

swamp life, but still life.

it is here that Yoda goes to hide,

it is here that Luke must train

because you need to cut distractions.

it's the same reason you go on a hiking trip

or even as simple as stepping out for a cigarette.

we are Alive.

and we exchange energy with other Living Things.

that is the Force, right there.

it doesn't get simpler than that.

when our lives start being led more by technology than by nature, we lose part of our vitality. we lose part of what makes us ourselves.

technology is always tied to making something easier.

easier to get from Point A to B

easier to get healthier

easier to communicate

easier to work

but technology is always going to be a shortcut.

and some corners should not be cut.

Anakin learns something when Dooku cuts off his hand.

he learns how to live alongside technology.

i mean, he always has.

as a father-less orphan, he built a butler droid from scratch and programmed him to do no harm, and to translate every language in the galaxy.

C-3PO's only purpose is to help people understand each other.

and he was created by Anakin.

and so Anakin getting a metal hand,

it doesn't phase him so much.

there are sequences in The Clone Wars where Anakin will wave his hand over a monitor, and i don't think he is using the Force.

i think Anakin has given his hand some 1-Ups.

because he doesn't see the difference between technology and nature.

he treats droids and people alike

including clones, because clones are people.

look at Coruscant.

an entire planet that is a city.

how do the Jedi expect to remain connected to the Force when their Temple is on such a planet?

they bring about their own downfall.

that is why Darth Sidious is so successful.

he is insidious.

he bides his time. he waits decades before he pulls the trigger to take over the Senate, and then to disassemble it and create the Empire.

Palpatine is able to recognize the dangers of the Jedi's own hubris, and he plays on it.

he sees how they are neglecting Anakin, and so he becomes the Father Figure that Qui-Gon was supposed to be.

Obi-Wan can never be a father figure. he can only be an Older Brother.

but your relationship to your Older Brother is different than the relationship to your Father.

in any case.

technology is best utilized when it is treated like nature.

when technology is your friend, and not your servant.

when you use technology to further connect to the living Force, not distance yourself from it.

technology gave us gas guzzlers.

it also gave us wind turbines.

it gave us plastic cups.

and it gave us compostable cups.

i don't want to live on Dagobah. or Anch-To. or Endor.

i want my tv, i want my air conditioner, i want my espresso machines

but there is a price to be paid back to the earth when we use her resources

and we have not been settling our debts with her for too long now.

and now she is collecting.

i have studied the Declaration of Independence a lot this year,

and i always get hung up from the beginning.

"all MEN are created Equal."

well, shouldn't it be all men and women?

but...doesn't that neglect non-binary people?

so really it should be,

"all PEOPLE are created Equal."

but...wait a minute

i don't think that 30 chickens should be stuffed into one tiny cage, either. i don't think that animal abuse is okay. and i also believe that we need to take care of our planet in order to ensure our own future generations' survival.

so, really, i think it should be:

"ALL LIVING THINGS are created Equal."

because, yes.

i do believe it matter whether the porkchop i am eating came from a pig who lived and died in a factory, versus a pig who led a happy life on a farm.

but, of course, it is difficult to talk about pig's rights before we talk about human rights.

because we are very much still in the thick of that conversation.

Black Lives Matter.

and yet in the US of A they are disproportionately persecuted and condemned.

but, for some reason, so much of America can't listen to that.

but they can understand why the treatment of House Elves in Harry Potter is fucked up. (crossing franchises here, sorry.)

children are surrounded by a lot of good tales of justice

Star Wars

Harry Potter

Marvel and DC

and yet when they grow into adults,

they can't recognize that it is happening right in front of their eyes.

it's not a long time ago.

not a galaxy far far away.

it's here.

now.

and you have to speak up.