Why Politics Are Interesting

I read an article today discussing Obama's approval rating, which is starting to rise as unemployment falls. It's helped, the article said, by a very divided GOP field. I asked myself, why do I follow politics so closely, it's not like my knowledge is going to make a difference. What I thought of then was a scene from Star Wars, Episode III.



The scene was near the end, the battle between Mace Windu and Darth Sidious. I've loved that scene ever since I first saw the movie, because I felt like it was crafted to well. What makes it such a powerful scene is because everything, the fate of the galaxy, hinges on it. Mace Windu is the arms master of the entire Jedi order. Yoda might be the most powerful with the force, but Windu is the strongest of combat. He's therefore the only Jedi, the only one, who's skilled and powerful enough to defeat Sidious. And he does, when it's one on one. Without outside interference, he would have won, and the Republic would have survived. That is what makes Anikan's betrayal so significant. His betrayal at that moment, changes the outcome, from defeat to victory for Sidious, and everything else follows. With Windu gone, Sidious gives the order to the clones to begin killing all other Jedi, and Anikan destroys the Jedi temple. Later not even Yoda can defeat Sidious, and retreats, completing Sidious's victory.

Again, the reason I find this scene so compelling is that it leads in two completely different directions, depending on it's outcome. The universe, everything, is doubled at that moment, for both possible outcomes exist. Until the end of the battle at least. And I find real world politics the same way, if not to as high a degree.

Until the end of the race, we have two different outcomes, both of which are equally possible. That means that there is so much more in the world, and entire doubling of everything, looking into the future. It's fascinating, looking and exploring both possible outcomes, and knowing that right now, they both exist equally.