Side discussion: there was much of the Galaxy not controlled by the Empire, and the Empire controlled more than the Republic.

7 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

You're doing it again. Something doesn't have to apply everywhere and to everyone to be a widely shared cultural trait.

That there are Freeman of the Land in the United States doesn't mean that laws don't apply to people. That there are people who've never seen Star Wars doesn't make Vader not a part of pop culture across the world.

International treaties. United Nations declaration of human rights. Continent-wide law enforcement cooperatives like Interpol. The expectation that the rule of law applies in the first place, not just might makes right. Hollywood movies that make huge bank on all continents. Pop songs that are sung in hundreds of countries.

It's even more the case with the Republic. The have common language, common law enforcement across the galaxy.

I continue to disagree. You have not convinced me, and I have no interest in trying any further to convince you of your error.

26 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

I continue to disagree. You have not convinced me, and I have no interest in trying any further to convince you of your error.

How have you tried? You didn't give any arguments.

15 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

How have you tried? You didn't give any arguments.

I don't need to argue against flat earth theories. I don't need to argue with you.

2 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

I don't need to argue against flat earth theories. I don't need to argue with you.

Interpol is flat earth theory, okay.

Thank you for doing more for my side of the argument than anyone else ever could ???

1 minute ago, Stan Fresh said:

Interpol is flat earth theory, okay.

Thank you for doing more for my side of the argument than anyone else ever could ???

Sure. No problem. I'm putting you on Ignore now so I don't waste more time with you.

Now I'm going to get back to my thread.

1 minute ago, HappyDaze said:

Sure. No problem. I'm putting you on Ignore now so I don't waste more time with you.

Now I'm going to get back to my thread.

Your thread in which you started an argument about the Republic having no overall culture, you mean? ?

9 hours ago, whafrog said:

Of course it has a culture. Like America has a culture, but New York and Alabama also have their cultures. That's a fairly unified analogy. A less unified analogy might be the EU, stitched together for economic purposes but also having a shared history and way of looking at the world compared with the rest of the planet.

While someone from London probably considers themselves English and even British, many (if Brexit is considered) don't strictly consider themselves to be European. Further, while they are probably going to agree with being part of Western culture, that's not to say that they identify as "United Nationals" or (especially) as "Earthlings" because at such scale the identifiers are meaningless. At the level of "Earthlings" you might as well be saying everybody, and that's not really a distinct culture at that point.

This is also why I say the Republic doesn't have a distinct culture outside of its agencies (Senate, GAR, etc.). Much like the UN, it's an umbrella organization that ties together different cultures more than a culture of its own. Most cultures in Star Wars are drawn along species lines, and that's how most of the beings aside from humans describe themselves. Even the Naboo and the Gungans don't consider themselves to be part of the same culture, so they probably don't identify the Rodians and Wookiees as sharing a culture with them either.

10 hours ago, Ghostofman said:

Which opens up a whole slew of Shadowrunesque options.

Could you imagine if Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, Apple, and Comcast actually had a seat in the Senate?

I sure can, they'd likely have laws that would allow them to raise private armies and blockade nations that don't pay their bills.....

27 minutes ago, 2P51 said:

I sure can, they'd likely have laws that would allow them to raise private armies and blockade nations that don't pay their bills.....

IoW, not much different from the entities backing the Seps (Sith Lord possibly excluded).

14 hours ago, immortalfrieza said:

It's really that the Separatist leaders are total psychopaths that makes the Separatists the villains. Like the Empire later, most people in it either are just doing a job and/or genuinely believe in the ideals behind the Separatist cause and thus aren't evil at all, but the people on top just give the whole faction a bad name.

There's some interesting parallels with Brexit in the Separatist Crisis. Both were portrayed as* populist uprisings triggered by a distant and bureaucratic government failing to protect its citizens from exploitation by big businesses and unfair trade deals (e.g. the Invasion of Naboo). But both were bankrolled by the very same exploitative businesses that triggered the dissatisfaction in the first place, hoping to free themselves from the last vestiges of ineffectual regulation. Almost all the ships and troops doing the heavy lifting for the Separatists are from the Trade Federation, InterGalactic Banking Clan, Techno-Union, Commerce Guild... it's questionable whether the Separatist crisis would even have happened without the psychopaths at the top (putting aside the whole 'Evil Sith plan' thing).

*To be clear, that's how it was presented by its advocates, at least those who didn't go all nativist. I canvassed for Remain...

I still hate seeing InterGalactic Banking Clan written out. There is only one galaxy (and a few assorted peripherals) where Star Wars takes place, so it makes more sense for it to be just the Galactic Banking Clan or simply the Banking Clan. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

4 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

I still hate seeing InterGalactic Banking Clan written out. There is only one galaxy (and a few assorted peripherals) where Star Wars takes place, so it makes more sense for it to be just the Galactic Banking Clan or simply the Banking Clan. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.

There is currently a real-world bank called Universal Bank. Somehow, I doubt they cover the entire universe.

In both cases, they are names designed to convey a wide scope of operations beyond one’s imagining.

"What do you mean, there are no banks here!? All I've got on me are five bucks!"

5 hours ago, Talkie Toaster said:

To be clear, that's how it was presented by its advocates, at least those who didn't go all nativist. I canvassed for Remain...

As a fellow Pro European Brit I thank you! Unfortunately it didn’t do us any good did it ?

On 8/27/2018 at 9:50 PM, 2P51 said:

Most multi-national/cultural unions are formed for one or two reasons, principally defense and/or commerce. Since there's no major existential threat to the Republic I would assume the point is money and that's the culture. That's why things like the Banking Clan and Trade Federation have direct representation in the Senate.

IIRC, in the Legends/old canon version of SW history, defence did indeed play a part in the formation and continuation of the (Old) Republic. Multiple wars with the Sith Empire, for example. The lack of a real military only developed during the recent "1000 years of peace" since the Sith were "definitively defeated and destroyed" (yeah, right) and the Ruusan Reformation caused the Jedi Order to retire from government and warfare.

Ignore this empty space, please.