In a deleted scene in episode IV when Luke meets with his old friend Biggs the talk is the Empire is nationalizing things. In that sense the Empire was communistic.
”Deleted scene” ...yep, just more of that “deja vu all over again” dance we’re doing with some of the demons from last century.
Reminds me of those ‘before and after’ group photographs.
Weird how so many things get ‘disappeared’ with Empires.
As with Star Trek away missions, avoid being “that guy” in those ‘before’ photos, too. No future in that.
I have a funny feeling that George Lucas, a huge communist himself and doesn’t exactly make it a secret that he’s a huge fan of the Vietcong and even the way the Soviet Union makes films, was the one who demanded it to be cut since he didn’t want to imply that communism was bad in any way.
And I also have a funny feeling that was decanonized anyhow especially when the Expanded Universe if anything implied businesses were the Empire’s best friend (Corporate Sector Authority and the Corporate Sector as a whole), not to mention the Imperial Handbook when talking about the Empire’s plans via their own words make absolutely NO mention of nationalizing stuff to the degree of owning Lars’ moisture farms (and bear in mind that book doesn’t shy away from mentioning that they have no intention of restoring the Senate, not to mention explicitly stating they ought to exterminate species if they prove to be a threat, so if they really wanted to nationalize small businesses, they would have made sure to mention it there).
Besides, even if it were still canon, I suspect Lucas initially put it in there as an attempt at bashing our involvement in Vietnam rather than intended for it to be a condemnation of Communism. I still remember how my film professor at GPC, Thomas Anderson, when I tried to point out how the post-Vietnamization thing if anything proved the Domino Theory correct when he implied that showed it was proven false that we were taking over Vietnam for their tin deposits. Even have the recordings. Did I mention he was a HUGE anti-military, anti-Vietnam War protestor in his youth as well as today and made no secret about it ESPECIALLY after the cut off date passed?
Precisely correct.
Biggs’ talking points about the Galactic Empire’s forced collectivization efforts are typical Communist tactics.
To take away from the individual farmer on behalf of the totalitarian government is communism defined.
Yeah, and for all we know, Lucas deleted that scene precisely BECAUSE he wanted to avoid implying in any way that Communism was bad.
And besides, the radical anti-war left claimed WE were engaging in “nationalization” when entering Vietnam. I’d know, a film professor (one of my WORST professors if you ask me), who definitely was an aging student radical supporting all the leftist causes, when I bluntly told him when he claimed the end of the Vietnam War proved the Domino Theory wrong that Vietnam being invaded by the Communists as well as Cambodia and Laos if anything proved the theory was right cut me off and said “We invaded them first, all to get their tin deposits” or something like that. So it’s not a guarantee that Lucas had in mind the Soviet playbook when he did that or Communism even when he said that (especially when his actions and words back then and today had him making VERY clear that he adhered to Marxist thought, even paraphrasing Marx’s dictum when gloating about his victory over Hollywood, to say little about his constant railing against corporations and all of that.).