It is highly likely now that Barack Obama is president for a second term that I may make more Star Wars comparisons since much of what is happening reminds me of a list of books that I read from that popular film series. Increasingly my friend Matt Clark and I have been using Star Wars metaphors to discuss current events in a way that young people can understand since they have been taught to dislike the American Revolution in their public educations and media culture. So to provide the proper context that is needed for a voting republic, Star Wars is an excellent reference of why responsible participation in government is necessary. Below is the bumper clip that WAAM Radio in Ann Arbor, Michigan has been using during their broadcasts of Glenn Beck, Denis Miller, and Laura Ingraham featuring a recent discussion that Matt and I had on his radio program.
Star Wars is not a political party driven philosophy. I would doubt that Star Wars creator George Lucas would call himself a Democrat or a Republican or even a Libertarian. I would say he is a story-teller with an excellent grasp of history and technical innovation. And I see Star Wars as an offering that can redeem society in ways that are currently unimaginable. For my daughter’s 23rd birthday she wanted a special cake, something that really meant something to her personally, so my wife made her a Star Wars cake complete with an Ewok Village created out of all edible elements. Only the Lego Ewoks were parts of the cake that couldn’t be eaten. Star Wars many times in my family’s past has served as a backdrop for unlimited imagination and teaching values that were family oriented. The trees were made out of ice cream cones, and also the huts. The trees were made out of pretzels. The bridges were made out of candy and graham crackers. Of course she loved it. 
A message to my Tea Party friends and social reformers deserves mention, no matter how dark things may seem it can always get worse or better depending on the quality of the people who make up a republic. In fact I look very forward to Disney’s ownership of the Star Wars franchise because there may come a day real soon that the series of books spawned from the movies may be made into television or movie formats in the future similar to how today’s Clone Wars series is presented on Cartoon Network—which my wife and I watch—religiously————and I mean religiously every Saturday morning at 9:30 AM. I find them visual beautiful to look at, but at the same time intellectually stimulating. I disagree emphatically with the clip below of Adolf Hitler’s assessment of the Disney acquisition of Star Wars from George Lucas.
The following books tell the story better than anything available of religious peril, the invasion of a galaxy by a very hostile unknown species, political upheavals, family tragedy, scientific mystery, social redemption, life after death—(in great detail), personal conquest, spiritual enlightenment, galactic civil war, quests for freedom, the origins of evil, justification for violence, and in essence the entire meaning of life in a span of books that runs 42 novels long each about 500 to 700 pages in length. 
I consider them to be the most encompassing gathering of literature ever done on a subject of any kind and I say that with my hand on one of my favorites, Leo Tolstroy’s War and Peace. While the Star Wars books are not the most artistic as they are designed to be read by young people from the 7th and 8th grade on up, the content of the stories is truly significant and beneficial to anyone who takes the time to read them. They are in order:
Vector Prime, Dark Tide 1: Onslaught, Dark Tide II: Ruin, Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial, Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, Balance Point, Recovery, Edge of Victory I:Conquest, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, Star by Star (one of my favorites), Dark Journey, Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream, Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, Traitor (one of my all time favorites), Destiny’s Way, Ylesia, Force Heretic I: Remnant, Force Heretic II Refugee, Force Heretic III: Reunion, The Final Prophecy, The Unifying Force (an absolutely stunning story), The Joiner King, The Unseen Queen, The Swarm War, Betrayal, Bloodlines, Tempest, Exile, Sacrifice, Inferno, Fury, Revelations, Invincible, Outcast, Omen, Abyss, (very spiritually bold in that half of it takes place in the afterlife), Backlash, Allies, Vortex, Conviction, Ascension, and Apocalypse.
I believe with all my heart and soul that because those books are not politically motivated, and they take place in a galaxy a long time ago, far, far away, that they have the chance to shape our society in a unique way that is yet uncharted in human existence.
Let me explain—most of the work that shaped the American Revolution consisted of small works, such as the literature of John Locke, Adam Smith, Plato even Shakespeare—all of which I’ve read. The thoughts about communism that are so prevalent today were shaped by Karl Marx’s little book The Communist Manifesto and the left has used the methods of Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience to organize support during the Civil Rights Movement. That is another small book that has had a big impact on the world around us. All those works combined do not equate to the amount of work and effort that Lucas Publishing has expended in telling the marvelously epic story of Star Wars described in the books mentioned above. But the story doesn’t end with just those books—not even close–there are over 100 books that take place during a 6000 year span of time that displays vividly the violent rise and fall of many generation’s governments and how different species of beings interact positively and negatively against each other.
When I think of the book burning rituals that took place whenever dictators rose to power to assert their strength over the previous cultures, I think of the attempt by those despots to erase from the minds of mankind the knowledge they need to question reality—which is the point of burning books. Most of the time because of the cozy relationship business often has with government out of the necessity of survival books like the Star Wars series could never have been even conceived let alone achieved, but under George Lucas he has pulled off the feat and done human kind a tremendous service.
It is only a matter of time before the young people who have read these Star Wars books are in a position socially to act on what they’ve learned, and I can say that when that day arrives, the world will be much better off. Star Wars is about fighting and winning personal freedom in the context of social responsibility. It’s a big concept that has tremendous potential philosophically, and socially and the best of Star Wars is not in the films, which simply plant the seeds of story for curious minds to follow, but is in the books which takes readers deep down the Rabbit Holes of life for a journey that holds many of the keys to all the possibilities that exist. The impact of this literature has yet to be felt, but in time it will. The literature of Star Wars is the key to understanding many of the complex issues of our modern age in the context that they must be taken in—and within that knowledge is a security that can only come to an increased intellect. For that, I will always be a fan—and be eternally grateful. It is for that reason that I suggest to all those feeling hopeless and desperate in their lives to take a few years off life and read all those books in the order that I presented them, and you will discover within yourself a life of unlimited potential and everlasting joy that cannot be taken by any government or social parasite.
George Lucas has always been much more of an advocate of education than a mindless capitalist like he’s been accused of. He used his money to educate the world in a way that was so cleaver that the worst of the tyrants never knew what was happening, until it hit critical mass and entered the subconscious of the world in an unstoppable force that now has a life of its own. The first of that education miracle is Angry Birds Star Wars, the game of time, distance, trajectory and impact strategy!
Rich Hoffman
The Overmanwarrior 