Heh- only the Sith deal in absolutes!
I'm a real sucker for Chinese history- John Keay's China: A History is by far my favorite book on the topic. (He's my favorite historian period, so that shouldn't be surprising.)
I've actually been talking with my buddy the past couple of days about Heidegger and Tolkien's surprisingly similar views on industrialization and the culture around it- "the machine", as it were. I attribute that in large part to their very in-depth understanding of medieval history and thought. Reverence might be an even better term than understanding. So I'm interested in what they might have had to say about the Qin dynasty in this context- at least if Tolkien had had any particular interests outside medieval Europe, and if Heidegger had spent more time than just the half-assed glance he gave the East.
Edit: Or, I should say, half-assed for Heidegger- that's still kinda a high standard there.
Pure Jedi propaganda. It is the so-called purveyors of light who peddle in absolute condemnation of anything they consider "dark" or "dark-side." Jedi and their stagnant philosophy has condemned their so-called "republic" to a millennial long death by inflexible obsolescence. The height of Jedi backwardness can be observed in their carrying swords into combat in an age of blasters, starships, personal shields, and turbo lasers! We, Sith, are not so limited in our thoughts or limited to using relics of the past. Any competent Force adept would be able to erect Force-barrier against such toys as Jedi "light sabers."
I would have posted my musings while sitting on the ruins of Korriban, but even a Sith Lord would not be able to withstand the terrible assaults by the soulless minions of Disney, backed by their devil-gotten limitless gold. So, I shall recollect my travels into ancient China, instead.
***
In humanity's transition into the machine age, man seems to have lost some vital connection to his environment, as well as connections with each other. When men are as replaceable as cogs in dead machines, do men not betray their sacred history? Their vital origins?
Hrmph, yellow lightsabers are still the best.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about what we've lost in the industrial age- I know I've chatted with you before about my (almost blinding) obsession with man's relationship with nature. I can't help but think that the relationship between man & nature is, however, hopelessly intertwined with that of man and man- and as we devalue one, the other goes with it. Or, perhaps, as we view man as less connected with nature, we value nature less. I think the flip side of that, however, is that while many ancient peoples certainly had a much deeper connection with nature than we do, they still often ended up inflicting environmental disaster upon themselves. The Babylonians over-irrigated, leading to salinization- they salted their own fields. The Romans stripped the topsoil of Italy, leaving much of it barren and arid to this day. The Anasazi grew beyond the bounds of their water supply, leaving them catastrophically vulnerable to drought. I'd like to blame their environmental failures on basic problems with the way economies are structured, but it seems too easy.
It may be that the Jedi dependence on their "light saber" has echoes to the loss in man's connection and relationship to his environment and each other. Jedi over-reliance on their toys resulted in their being distant/aloof from all of humanity around them, as well as their environment. A man has a better chance encountering an eloquent Wookie than obtaining a direct answer from these detached shell of humans. It may be that more man becomes dependent upon his tools and systems, he becomes less reliant upon his fellow man. It may be that more a man uses his ability to force the environment to change to his preferences, he becomes less willing to cooperate with the planet, upon which he is but a mote.
Though our tools offer us the delusion of being "more" than we are, in reality we become much less than we were.
That's gotta be the funniest Star Wars comment I ever read!