Some yokel living in South Carolina could have fought for the Union if he wanted to. There were trains around carrying passengers, horses could be rode, could even walk like alot of escaped slaves no doubt did. Most SC hicks probably didn't want to join the Union because as far as they knew they were fighting for their state, their people, their rights (to own other people) against an oppressive federal government that had the audacity, the sheer nerve, the gumption to not bend over and give the Southern shitbags everything they wanted. As far as they knew they were doing the right thing. We can now see they clearly weren't, thanks Captain Hindsight!!!! But at the time with the information they had they didn't know. That doesn't excuse their actions, what excuse can be given for fighting for the states right to own other people, but it explains it somewhat.Adam Reynolds wrote:The problem with that analogy is that someone living in South Carolina has no real ability to leave his home state and fight for the Union as a result of the economic conditions of the time. This does not apply to Star Wars, in which Imperial soldiers are free to defect in droves, and many do exactly this in both versions of the EU. In the new canon even Wedge Antillies trained as an Imperial pilot. Even going by the films we have the fact that Biggs went to the Imperial Academy and still joined the Rebellion by the time of Yavin.
There is also the fact that General Sherman would have made Tarkin proud, which weakens the moral superiority of the Union in this context. Nothing in any source has done the same for the Rebel Alliance. The same could be said for American strategic bombing in WW2, in which a German fighter pilot could in some ways claim the moral high ground in that he was fighting to prevent bombs from dropping on cities. When you have an internal rebellion like the Rebel Alliance that clearly has moral superiority, it is much harder to justify fighting it than when you have an external enemy like the Second World War.
The problem is that the Empire has committed just about every war crime one can find throughout modern history, while the Rebel Alliance has not.
Imperials could have defected too but that assumes the Imperials knew enough to defect. The Empire is an evil organization, it does some pretty evil shit. It probably doesn't advertise the evil shit it does like slavery and genocide. Its not going to plaster across the holonet "Imperials perform Mario buttstomp with Star Destroyer on protestors while Tarkin kicks puppies" or "Empire completely drains a planet's water because it can and because its evil, maniacal laugh maniacal laugh." No, any evil the Empire does is going to be done "behind closed doors" so to speak. Until Alderaan was kersploded the average Imperial citizen probably didn't think there was anything bad happening under Palpatine. In the old EU the Battle of Yavin was the impetus many people had to join the Rebellion both because it showed the Empire could be beaten but more importantly it opened the eyes of many to just how evil the Empire was. Blowing up a planet full of people tends to be bad PR.
Defectees like Wedge and Hobbie did so only after seeing atrocities committed by the Empire both in the old EU and the new EU according to my bit of research (though Wedge was apparently not an Imperial in the old EU). Biggs joined the Rebellion after the same atrocity Hobbie experienced in the old EU though in the new EU so far he just joined......because. Everyone else who hadn't saw the Empire kicking puppies probably didn't know enough to know they were chilling with some not cool dudes.
And don't you be dissing Sherman brah, Sherman did nothing wrong in his quest to make the South. NOTHING!!! !!!
I'm kidding about the above. There seems to be some debate whether or not Sherman actually committed war crimes. Certainly he went a bit overboard with his stroll to the sea but there evidence of actual war crimes seems a bit more iffy. If you ask any Southerner Sherman was the red headed devil himself, a scourge that stripped the countryside clean and murdered and raped (probably in that order) every Southern Belle in his path. Others point out that Sherman was remarkably restrained during his march, didn't destroy every goddamn thing, seemed to not actively target civilians and the burnings of Atlanta and Columbia might have been partially done by the Confeddies, the amount of damage overblown by hysterical Southern shits whining that Sherman had whipped them so bad their modern inbreed descendants are feelings it, the civilians were evacuated before hand and the butthurt it still causes makes it well worth any damage caused.
Yeah Padme was an idiot through and through. Stupid to go to Naboo as as child queen to try to liberate her world in a fight that would have been doomed........DOOOOOOOMED!!!!! if not for stupid amounts of luck. Stupid to vote against having an Army of the Republic despite the CIS building its army including the guys that only a decade before invaded her planet. Stupid to think she could negotiate with them despite the negotiations being attacked by terrorists that were suspected to be under orders from Count Dooky which shows really bad faith negotiating on the CIS's part. Stupid to get together with Darth Dumbass though they were perfect for each other, both emotionally stunted sheltered people with little real world experience beyond little orphan Anie being a slave. Stupid to continue to be against the war despite the Seps wanting to destroy the Republic and worse.Adam Reynolds wrote:Clone Wars had the same problems with its political episodes. Padme almost came across as a good guy only become she was supposed to be rather than because her points made any sense. A major war is not the time to cut military spending for the benefit of social welfare programs as she wanted to do.
Yet the Kaminioan was portrayed as largely evil and out for profits when she wanted to expand production of the Clone Army, even though it was often the only defense against the CIS armies.
I mean we the viewer knew Padme was in the right to oppose the war, to want Palpatine to give up emergency powers, that they Jedi hadn't rebelled after turning Palps into a literal butthead. Padme didn't. She was opposed to the war, the army, Palpatine's thunderous applause because she was the good guy and had to be right even if it didn't make sense in universe.
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