IIRC the author said there are no meta layers of meaning, it’s just honest to god fiction written to be entertaining. I’m struggling a little myself to accept that for the entire trilogy, but that’s that.
I haven’t read these books but it’s not unreasonable that this author or any other author could have reason to not be forthright about what their book is about
Or, both.
Bold to assume aliens will ascribe to something besides despotism
You can't imagine that one single alien race anywhere will deviate from this?
Wouldn't that kinda imply that your vision on the topic is almost certainly wrong anyways?