Are the First Order actually the good guys?

This essay will contain spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Before the Awakening, Star Wars: The Lost Stars, and the Star Wars: Visual Dictionary.

    Before I get to the actual essay, the answer to the titular question is obviously no. The First Order is a group which uses Nazi iconography, speeches, and visual cues. They massacre a village of peaceful religious dissidents. They blow up the planet housing the capital of the New Republic. They slaughter a bar f...