This is a photo from Star War Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. In this photo, Senator Padmé Amidala sits as The Republic is taken over by the Sith Lord, as he declares martial law. By doing this, he has effectively turned the then democracy into an empire dictatorship. During this speech, Padmé remarks the famous quotes, “So this is how liberty dies...with thunderous applause”. This became a famous quote in the series as well as in our everyday life as it has been referred to during views of major decisions. The quote implies that people may not know the actual implications of what is going on, and just because something sounds appealing and attractive at the time doesn't mean it actually is. All the people in the theater during the speech were in their positions as part of a democracy. They were meant to impose democracy and maintain it throughout their term. However, as they supported what then turned out to be the end of democracy, this did not turn out the be the case.
This scene, in addition to this quote relates to what our class has learned and studied about Rousseau. In class we were presented with several quotes including “All ran toward their chains, believing they were securing their freedom”. This is very similar to the described scene as it shows that people will approve and be attracted something that sounds appealing but is in no way is what it seems. “Ran towards chains” is not at all what freedom is supposed to be or what people should what. However, when presented in a way in which it seems that the act is in the name of freedom, people don't disapprove. This is the same with “liberty dies in thunderous applause” as people are supporting what they think is democracy, when in reality it is in fact to opposite. Another quote we looked at by Rousseau was “Citizens let themselves be oppressed, only insofar as being carried away by blind ambition, and looking more beneath then above themselves, domination becomes more previous to them than independence, and they consent to bear chains so that they in turn can give them to others”. This again shows the same point, as people believe that they are all free by having restrictions placed upon them. These two examples along with the photo show that democracy, liberty, and freedom, can not be attended through restriction.
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, I remember that quote striking me in the theater when I was watching it for the first time. Can you think of any similar situations in history? Do you think this is a common event or do you think that Rousseau is overstating the case?
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DeleteI think in recent history you could point to the Patriot Act. Due to coming off of 9/11 it was passed with little opposition. However, it now frequently comes under scrutiny in how unpatriotic/unconstitutional is it and should we still allow it. Like in the post, it was described and set into place under the belief that it was needed to make America a safer place and because of that people were attracted to it. While our safety under it can be disputed, it no doubt violates many things we as Americans stand for and try to exemplify. These are things we did not see at the time
DeleteI think this scene could be used as an analysis for any democratic country. Politicians are always stating things that seem great to the people at the time, but later end up being against some core values of the country.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Rousseau definitely discussed about this problem. Can we also tie this scene back to the reading "tyranny of majority" we talked in class? People usually think that leaders who were chosen by majority vote can be good enough to represent the whole population. However, once they got elected, they can use their power in whatever manner they want because they now represent the so-called "majority", and they are the embodiment of righteousness. Nonetheless, the majority will gradually tyrannize and exploit smaller interests and resulted on a new form of dictatorship.
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