I don’t doubt it was a last second decision. But that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a warranted one.
I think both of you are forgetting that at its core Star Wars is a fairy tale. It’s for 12 year olds. Nev, your argument for how it should have been about the systems that subvert democracy would definitely work in a political drama or some movie that is for a much older audience. It definitely works as an underlying message in the prequels or TLJ, but I don’t believe it should be the overall message of the saga.
I respect that the story of the OT is more of a fairy tale, but like you said the prequels changed that message. That Pandora’s box was open since 1999, and any Star Wars movie that doesn’t incorporate that message feels like a regression (TFA, I’m looking at you).
I much prefer the mythical good guys v. bad guys side of things, and the struggles that the good people go through to resist the evil side.
I feel like a good conclusion would have both. It would have Resistance against First Order with a Big Bad like Hux or Thrawn or Kylo, but it would also have the undercurrents of that corrupt system argument which the Resistance (and perhaps Kylo himself) is trying to destroy.