Recently JawaJoey reminded us of what some may view as an annoyance while others may find suspension of disbelief impossible without. After all, one man's Rodian might be the next man's Twi'lek. Or something.

Regardless it prompted me to remember that every credit has two sides, so I was curious some important things that could be universal references. And it led me to a wholly unrelated conclusion. Anyway, here's an interesting list of things that could be considered universal terms:

Oil:
Undoubtedly every system has planets on which life flourished for millions, or billions of years. The same processes would play themselves out - large areas of primeval forests and other carbon-based organic life would die out, and their rotting carcasses would transform through the eons as the rock strata piled up miles deep over their final resting place. It's a foregone conclusion that where there is stratified rock, intense pressure, time, and heat, there will be trapped deposits of coal, diamonds, and unrefined Oil.


Sand:
This we already know about, thanks to Tatooine, and of course Anakin and Padme's sophomoric dialogue on Naboo. If Anakin hates sand, no wonder he turns into such a downer. Silica tends to be one of the most abundant substances, and therefore, sand is sure to follow.


Money:
As seen in Episode I, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are in a quandry over a lack of liquidity, and therefore have to make shady deals with the local junk dealer to fix their ship. Worse yet, mind tricks don't work on the local junk dealer, only Money.


So it gets me thinking about what those fictional folks in another galaxy would think of us. Mind you, we're in their future. And whereas they are plagued by the same curses of human nature - fear, anger, hate, greed, suffering, hokey religions and superstitions, and war - you don't see them fighting in the sand over money and oil, do you?

I think it's funny that we attach lofty ideals to our struggles to maintain control of finite resources and commodities. Meanwhile, in their world of seemingly limitless power and technology, they have eliminated the proxies of morality. They still fight, because let's face it, they're still human. But they just fight over the good and the evil.

Coming full circle, there is a saying: "One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist." The reality of it is that freedom fighters can do evil as much as any terrorist. And what we may think of as a fight over good and evil might have just as much to do with a fight over what's "mine" and what's "yours".

So put that in your Devaronian dreamflute and smoke it.

Or not :0)

DM out