Historical Account: The Plight of the Average Man

January 1, 1066, John Aldridge was working his peasant field when a neighbor, Flint, walked up the gray clay road. Flint walked over to John and said the “King is dead”, and Harold has taken has been chosen as the new king. John paused, and then said, “Does it matter?” “Will the new king bring new crops to my fields?” “Will he help lower my rent?” “I work from sun up to sun down to provide my family with food. If I fail, I go hungry, not my lord.” John replied, “Well” Flint replied, “William from Normandy will be coming; we shall see how it turns for all of us”.  The winter turned to spring and nothing was heard. John went on with his daily routine of trying to provide for his family, while paying rent for his 2 acre farm.  One day his Lord Argon arrived on foot, just better than serfdom himself. Lord Argon walked up to John and said, “You are my subject, you work my lands and you will pay me homage”. “Grab your sword and come with me.” John replied. “Where are we going?” He was simply told, “Shut up and come, or I will kick you off my lands.” John knowing that meant certain starvation for his family went to his one room mud hut, with thatch roof, and grabbed his sword and leather tunic recovered when the Roman left. He kissed his family good bye, and went into the horde of other peasant’s how were forced to follow or starve.

On a day that John could not remember, but was etched in English lore, John arrived near Hastings Castle, not more than a ruin on a hill really. They had the high ground as the enemy arrived on the field of battle. The enemy looked sharp, with new armor. John looked at his raged leather cover and thought, “I don’t know these people. They have never harmed me. Why do I need to kill them? May be they will go away?” As the armies lines formed up, John, scared, never thought life would end like this. Knowing he had now swordsmanship skills, he hoped the pain would be quick when he succumbed to his enemies strike. When he heard the horn blast, he saw his line move forward. This was stupid because they had the high ground. Let the enemy come to them, and tire themselves out coming up hill. But still the English moved down hill, and some John was rushing forward.  He knew that his family relied on his going forward. He ran into the Normandy lines and continued forward. Maybe they were as scared as John. John flung his sword around; this was now life or death. He didn’t know how many people he struck until he felt a strong pounding on the back of his head. With a bright flash, and then things turning silver and then purple he realized he was done. When John woke up, amongst a small group, he saw in the distance, the body of King Harold propped up with an arrow in his eye socket. John had never seen King Harold before. He only knew he was King of England; in reality, it made no impact on his peasant life. Eventually, a man speaking broken English appeared. He said, “Harold is dead”.  “William is the new king. You either pay homage to him or die here, and now.” Knowing nothing would truly change in his life, John knelt before the stranger and pledge allegiance to the new King. John would go down as William the Conqueror, and John would not be remembered until now. For John, the ruling class may change, but life with a pick and hoe stayed the same. For John, he had is family and this was enough for now.

April 1314, Shamus McRatlif, tended his sheep when a band of highland Scots approached. Shamus grabbed his sword and demanded the northern rebels to halt on his land. The leader, Angus, asked Shamus to join their lot.  Shamus refused, saying he had stayed out of the troubles these past few years and he intended to stay that way. Angus was instantly angered. He had lost many friends in the plight for Scottish freedom, and future imports rights of whisky to America, and was not going to let hinterland farmers stop retribution to his sworn enemy the English. Angus ordered his wayward band to take Shamus’ food for his family. If they could pursued him of the rightness of his cause, Angus would take what he needed. June, 1314, the English appeared on the horizon. At first, A few heavy armored horsemen. The foot soldiers followed soon after.  They approached his hovel with swords out. The leader never made demands as the soldier swarmed his house. They took all of his sheep, leftover food, and his eldest daughter, Abigail.  Shamus attempted to resist with his four sons, but the English beat and kicked them all. They never stood a chance. A few hours later, Shamus and his two sons vowed revenge! They set out on foot for the Scot’s post. At first, they were looked at with suspicion. Shamus pleaded his case for revenge against the English for the loss of his daughter and two sons. Still, they were looked on as possible traitors.  A few weeks later, at the battle of Brannockburn, they had their revenge. At a distance they could see Robert the Bruce pleading with his soldiers to move forward against the English. Shamus and his sons needed no prodding. Today, they would get their revenge, or die trying. When the masses moved forward, Shamus ran as he could. He would spill English blood that day, even if he died. After the battle was over, Shamus looked around, and saw the thousands of dead and dying bodies on the ground. He did not ask for the fight, it had been brought to him.     

The Brave Imperial Cops of Star Wars

When people look at the opening scene from the original Star Wars movie they inherently feel the power of the galactic government is in full force attacking the rebel ship that is out to save the republic. But let’s rewind and see what you missed by slight of hand by George Lucas.

First, a group of rebels, the name of people trying to over throw the government, break into a government facility and steal the plans for new state of the art government ship. Mistakenly, the rebels call it the Death Star, much as the Earthly Republicans called the panel of physicians who implemented Obama Care the Death Panels. (We know Obama Care was made to help you). So, the Imperial Ship was designed to go from system to system providing assistance to those in need. The government workers on board are there to help out local governments that simply could not run themselves effectively. Sometimes they have to find new ways to motivate people to get off their butts and stop wasting Imperial money. Today we call it tough love.  

So, the rebel thieves take their stolen information and get on a hot rod space ship and fly off. Alerted to the intruders, the Imperial State Police get into a space ship pursuit. The rebels are now endangering all of the space travelers driving at a normal speed through that area of space. Like all law enforcement officers, violence is the last resort. The rebels were warned to stop, but did not hail the advice. Actually, a member of royalty is also a rebel and they try to use her as a human shield to continue their criminal enterprises. So, what to do? The imperial Star Cruiser, in order to save lives, shot the reactor generator, a gutsy move. Most law enforcement agencies today are afraid of litigation for shooting at a moving vehicle. But not the Imperial Cops, they are excellent shots. Most people did not notice the bumper sticker on the back of the Imperial Cruiser, “We’re from the Imperial Government and here to help”.

Now, the rebels’ engine has been taken out. Did they give up? No, they continued to resist and put lives in danger? Even in the scene you can hear the Imperial Cops knocking on the door trying to get the rebels to come out. Instead of surrendering and facing punishment for their actions, “if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime”, the rebels line up in a haphazard fashion along the sides of the walls. Two grave mistakes here. First, use cover! Second, bullets usually travel close to the walls. These amateur rebels were done before they began. Next time get some training before you take on the COPS!

The Imperial Cops are forced to blast open the doors and endanger their own lives to make the arrests. One the doors come open the lasers start going off.  Notice which side fired first! Well, the not so excellent, and off target, rebels were taken into custody after being hit with the laser stun guns. No one saw any excessive force being used by the Imperial Police. After what the rebels have done that shows a great deal of discipline and restraint on the behalf of the brave Imperial Cops who were the first ones through the door as the rebels were shooting at them. While the shooting was going on, the princess takes the stolen goods, puts it into the robot and shoots it toward the next planet. She refuses to stop. Even when caught dead to rights she sends the stolen plans down to the planet in hopes of someone else taking the stolen plans and safe keeping them against the Imperial Cops.

So, let’s recap. The Imperial Cops are simply doing their jobs. A group of thieves break into a government instillation and steal property. They take off in their high speed vehicle and a galactic chase starts. The rebels space ship driving is endangering other space ships in the area and the Cops are forced to shoot the engines, shooting the tires in today’s perspective. The rebels refuse to give up and the Cops are forced to crack open the door and rush in, placing themselves in danger. The rebels are now forced into a shoot out with the rebels. Instead of shoot to kill, they shoot to stun. You don’t see anyone kicking the rebels or using unauthorized force! Then, the highest ranking rebel on the ship sends the stolen information stored inside of a robot to other rebels on the planet.  George Lucas makes the rebels look like the good guys and the Imperial Cops as the bad guys in the opening scene. But I think we all know the truth now. Next time you see a police officer arresting a bad guy. Go and thank the officer, and not pat the bad guy on the head and tell him that he is the victim.  Remember good and bad is only in the perspective of the person watching the scene unfold.