So, why would anyone join The Empire?  Steady work, employment, and a paycheck.  Plus, you get to work for the winning side.  Opportunities for advancement.  Cool uniforms.  Make your family proud.
     I suppose it is why someone would join the U.S. military, especially if you come from a poverty-ridden family.
     Plus, the appeal of kinky sex with female Imp agents would be attractive.
     Scheduled vacations and shore leaves would also be appealing.
     Visiting other planets, and seeing the galaxy would be interesting for those with no opportunity to do so otherwise.
     Plus, The Empire was the official government of the galaxy. 

     If you saw life in terms of Black and White, yes or no...The Empire would indeed be the obvious choice.  If you saw things in terms of right and wrong, well, The Empire had to be right.  The best always come out on top, right?

     Yet, among many in the galaxy, The Empire was hated and feared.

     Most people in the galaxy were aware of an Imperial presence.  There were always Imp posters and propaganda everywhere.  To remove them was illegal.

     To deface Imp posters was even worse.  Taggers were seldom caught, though.  Younglings would often draw mustaches on pictures of stormies or officers.
     It was a rite of passage among the young to deface at least one imp poster.
     The penalty for doing it while you were young was not as bad as when you were an adult.  Then it was serious.