I think we would have had a better chance of reasoning with George Lucas if we had done something about it in 1995, when he said that it was the final release of Star Wars in it's original version. Here's a quote of his letter on the back of the 1995 release.

Quote
The appeal of Star Wars has gone beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I am pleased that for the final video release of Star Wars in it's original version, we can present it with the best sound and picture quality yet available, thanks to THX Digital Mastering.

In the years to come I hope you, your children, and your children's children will enjoy not only this trilogy but also the adventures yet to come in the continually unfolding Star Wars universe.

George Lucas

I think that had we done something about it back then before the special editions were made, it would've been alot easier to reason with him.