big money

"I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire. I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it."

Those were the words famously spoken by one Luke Skywalker on that fateful day, right before he returned home to his uncle's farm and ... well, you know the rest.

It's also, according to The Washington Post, why less than half of American citizens exercise their right to vote — despite the fact that no one seems particularly happy with the state of things.

GIF from "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope."

Most people agree that there's something wrong in Washington. But instead of trying to change it, we end up fighting with each other — which is exactly what they want.

How much of your day-to-day discourse (read: Facebook memes) deals with minimum wage or welfare costs or health care or anything else relating to the struggles of the working class?

Regardless of your personal opinions on any of those issues, you have to wonder why we're all so concerned with the people right around us and not the ones at the top of the chain — who both caused those problems and have the power and money to fix them.

The greatest GIF ever from "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi."

It's like we all forgot how Emperor Palpatine conquered the galaxy in the first place: by inventing a war in which he was pulling strings on both sides.

He created conflict where there was none, pitted the people against each other, and used the resulting chaos to feed his insatiable hunger for power.

Sound familiar?

GIF from "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."

And that's not the only way the world outside our windows is looking more like a galaxy far, far away.

Marginalized people continue to suffer while Hutt-like criminals are given free reign to regulate the economy as they see fit. It may have been Grand Moff Tarkin who said that, "Fear will keep the local systems in line," but I can name more than a few politicians who have taken that lesson to heart. After all, we are fighting a never-ending war against an abstraction of "terror."

We don't need to lose any more Bothan lives to figure out the plans behind this evil battle station either.

GIF from "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope."

When you don't have a Death Star, dollars will do.

It's not quite as glamorous as midi-chlorians a mystical energy field created and shared through all living things, but in the real world, money can do all the things that the Force can. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds us all together, whether we like it or not.

And money, like the Light Side of the Force, can be used to help the people. Or it can serve the selfish interests of the individual — a path which leads only to corruption.

I'm not saying that the Koch Brothers are Sith lords or that ALEC is their red-armored Royal Guards. But it's worth noting that are two of them, just like there are always two Sith lords, so take that as you will. GIF from "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back."

But there's a new hope on the horizon — one that could awaken the force of the people.

Created by Andrew Slack, a fellow at Civic Hall (and the same dude who worked with an amazing team to create The Harry Potter Alliance), the U.S. Rebel Alliance is a new organization uniting the people under their Jedi pledge to help free the Republic from the Empire of Palpatine Big Money.

The truth is that our political lives should be just as accessible as "Star Wars."We CAN overthrow the Empire of Big Money. We CAN put the power back in the hands of the people. But it's all too easy for us to get so bogged down by the weight of the Dark Side that we forget one of the greatest lessons that the saga tried to teach us:

GIF from "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back."

And if we just do nothing, then the Empire's already won.

Right now, the Alliance is just building its numbers, with a live webcast 7-10 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. But as the 2016 election year gains momentum, I'm sure we'll see some more action from these righteous Rebel troops.

In the meantime, you can check out and share the video below for more information, and join the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Darren Criss, and others by signing the American Jedi Pledge today.