Imagine if it picked up at a point where the rebels were transitioning from being an effective hit and run military to making a less oppressive government that works, but they're struggling. Their forces are spread thin as they strain to police the galaxy with a fraction of the ships the Imperials had in their prime. All the while imperial remnants seeing the futility in big budget super weapons and forced to deal with reduced tax revenue start to adapt and fall back on the hit and run tactics used against them so successfully for so long.
Imagine 7 opening with a holo vid showing the Death Star's destruction and death of the Emperor 30 years ago as an act of terrorism. Show us propaganda of rebels "bringing instability where once there was order" to say the people of Kuat system that largely made their livelihoods and fed their families off imperial contracts to mass produce Star Destroyers that are now displaced in the galaxy. The line between freedom fighter and terrorist becomes blurred. Peace seems farther away than ever. And then you have Finn, a guy who wanted to join the academy (instead of being kidnapped/programmed) like Luke but actually succeeds in enrolling, being taken in by propaganda. You could see the arc of a good person similar to Luke in his youth being taken down a different path and attempting to fight the evil that he perceives.
There was so much potential to move the story forward. You could have had powerful themes of different points of view and the pitfalls of toppling an oppressive but otherwise stable government. I imagine something alone these lines is what George had in mind when he wanted to craft the overall story narrative, but Disney vetoes him to play it safe.
I doubt that was ever on Lucas's mind. He never seemed to even hint at the underlying politics and finances of government. I mean, a little in the prequels, but not much more than a caricature/stereotype. Instead, the story was boiled down to more of a good v. evil situation, not one rich in subtext.
Would I love to see that? Absofuckinglutely. And I don't think Disney would veto that, not at all actually. There's a lot of value to having a deeper theme to a story like Star Wars. See how much relevant modern day politics is creeping into the different superhero movies? It's still relatively high-level, posed as more of an existential question with a subtext of "government is evil.. we must fight to be free!"... but it's definitely a talking point. Star Wars, having such an intricate history in the story franchise, could easily incorporate this, make it that much better, but you do have to be careful how you go about it, it has to be sort of subtext and not a focal point.
Look at how the prequels fared when trying to provide more detail of how things work in the universe. The Galactic Senate was integrated but was hardly required for the larger plot, and then there was the midichlorians thing.
Could all of that remained in the plot but incorporated more deftly by superior writers had Lucas not been surrounded by yes men and actually had a competent team? Definitely.
So while I started off on the contrary, perhaps I do see now that Lucas might have preferred to see more of those plot pieces involved in the new chapters. But then again, Episode VII was just the bridge to a new chapter in the universe, perhaps Disney still wants to see that kind of story line.
There's plenty of room, with Leia as a General/Commander and the Rebel headquarters seemingly well developed, much like a small rebel government trying to exist within the larger empire. They still have their fleet and fighters, and they seem to be in better standing after the empire mostly collapsed and left a void.
This movie may have been more about fan service, intent on just teasing the new plots; perhaps they didn't want to hammer those home just yet, not on the opener to a new chapter in a very large franchise after so many years. If so, I think they handled it exceptionally well.