Under a Gibbous Moon

I was recently watch A New Hope. When Obi-Wan Kenobi is taking Luke to Mos Eisley, he comments that no one will find, “a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”. Other than being a strange motto for the local chamber of commerce, it got me thinking. Why would the Empire tolerate such a place.

Given that the empire is evil and demonstrates little care for personal freedom, due process or anything but monochromatic uniforms, it struck me as odd that there should much, if any type of crime in the Galaxy.

Empires, particularly evil ones, live and die by their tax receipts. The massive bureaucratic infrastructure and the gigantic military all cost money, lots and lots of money.

In fact, the simplest tactic, and the one used by rebellious provinces in real world history, is to simply refuse to pay taxes. Not only does it deprive the empire of resources, they must then expend resources to retake the province and then spend further more resources in the form of an increased military presence.

As the Decapodian Ambassador pointed out in Futurama, “I don’t have to tell you that occupation forces are expensive.” He then goes one to say that the Mobile Oppression Palace can allow a few dignitaries to oppress the population for, “pennies a day”.

Enter the Death Star, Star Wars Mobile Oppression Palace. In the idiom of spending money to make money, it essentially prevents a rebellious planet from withholding taxes since their complete and utter destruction would render the tactic useless.

Now back to Mos Eisley. The Empire is obviously concerned about maintaining their tax flow yet the seem to be complacent about organized crime. The Jabba the Hutt being a prime example

The slug’s whole damn species are nothing but gansters (even the gay ones). While they control vast criminal empires, with the exception of front business, they typically do not pay taxes on their more lucrative criminal endeavors.

The odd thing is is that everyone knows this. While it may be difficult to “prove”. The empire does not seem to concern itself with such things and the eradication of Hutts and the seizure of their assets would only make economic sense. Even the lesser criminals impact trade with theft and piracy and their wholesale slaughter would only benefit the Empire.

I know this is only one of the many things that don’t make sense about Star Wars if you think about it too hard but it was something that had just struck me recently.

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Related (maybe) posts:

1. Old Timey Star Wars
2. Star Wars, now with more pants!
3. A father’s love…
4. How fast they do grow up
5. Imperial Marches