Warning: This put up, like my earlier put up on the topic, will contain a dialogue of plot factors and spoilers for the Dune sequence. In case you haven’t seen the films or learn the books and want to keep away from spoilers, be at liberty to skip this one.
I not too long ago mentioned what I take from the character arc of Paul Atreides within the books Dune and Dune Messiah. I see it as a narrative about how absolute energy doesn’t turn into much less harmful when wielded by particular person. As I mentioned in that put up, if there was ever anybody who might have been trusted to wield absolute energy and use it to good impact, it ought to have been Paul Atreides. But, his reign unleashes devastation. This raises one other attention-grabbing query – why was Paul’s reign a lot extra devastating than the earlier regimes?
At first look this might sound puzzling. And it’s not one thing that will get spelled out explicitly within the books. However I feel there’s a constant, in-universe reply for that query. It requires understanding the world Frank Herbert constructed.
The world of Dune describes a civilization with a really advanced and complex political system. A very good abstract of how this method was arrange could be present in this video, however a couple of fast factors could be made right here. First, on the earth of Dune, the Emperor was not omnipotent. The Imperial Home was one a part of an enormous and sophisticated system of organizations that each one stood each in stress with one another, and likewise relied on one another to 1 diploma or one other. That’s, it was a system of checks-and-balances, with dispersed energy.
Whereas the Imperial Home Corrino was by far probably the most {powerful} particular person Home, there have been quite a few different Nice Homes making up a company referred to as the Landsraad. The Nice Homes of the Landsraad included Home Atreides and Home Harkonnen, together with scores of different Nice Homes. The mixed navy power of all the Nice Homes of the Landsraad could be sufficient to problem Home Corrino and their fearsome Sardaukar military – however it could take a very unified effort to take action, and it could come at nice price. This served as a verify on the Emperor, with the Landsraad guaranteeing every Nice Home was shielded from the opportunity of the Emperor selecting them off one after the other. Any try by the Emperor to take action would supply the Nice Homes with motivation to stand up in unity in opposition to him.
One other necessary participant was the Spacing Guild, which held complete management over all interstellar journey. And not using a Guild navigator to search out protected pathways, interstellar journey could be all however not possible. Homes that acquired too bold or aggressive, or in any other case run afoul of the Spacing Guild, may discover themselves all of a sudden remoted, unable to safe journey or interact in commerce. Even the Emperor couldn’t afford to cross them. However on the identical time, the Spacing Guild wanted clients with a view to survive as properly, guaranteeing one other system of checks and mutual dependency.
There was additionally CHOAM, which was basically a large company that oversaw all financial exercise. Nice Homes and the Imperial Home, together with {powerful} political actors, all held shares in CHOAM to numerous levels, and as shareholders all had some extent of vote and affect with CHOAM, however none of them might totally management it. The Imperial Home held 25% of CHOAM shares – important, however not controlling, and guaranteeing any financial adjustments the Imperial Home may need would want cooperation and settlement from a variety of supporters.
Lastly, there may be the Sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit, a quasi-religious group that usually operates in a clandestine method to information actions towards their very own ends. Their behind-the-scenes manipulations included a breeding program the place they selectively mixed bloodlines over 1000’s of years with the purpose of bringing a couple of superbeing – Paul Atreides positive factors his powers on account of this program, though the Bene Gesserit fail to manage Paul, as he was born a era sooner than they meant.
Originally of Dune, this method has existed in a steady equilibrium for 1000’s of years. It’s not precisely anybody’s concept of a political paradise, however it’s no less than steady. When Paul Atreides rises to the Imperial Throne on the finish of the primary e-book, nonetheless, this method of dispersed energy with its numerous checks-and-balances is shattered. The Bene Gesserit order was severely weakened. Paul Atreides managed to deliver the Spacing Guild to heel below the specter of the destruction of spice manufacturing (spice being mandatory for Guild navigators to chart protected passage although area). The shares in CHOAM held by Nice Homes that have been destroyed within the Fremen onslaught of the galaxy have been taken over by the brand new Imperial Home Atreides, resulting in the Imperial Home holding 51% of the shares and creating the primary time any single entity had a controlling variety of shares. And the devastation wrought by conflicts after Paul rises vastly weaken the power of the Landsraad, decreasing them as a verify as properly.
Because of all of this, Paul Atreides changing the earlier Emperor Shaddam wasn’t merely changing one ruling monarch with one other. If that had been the one change, issues may need gone higher. All the benefits Paul had – his sense of justice, his Mentat psychological skills, his prescient sight into the long run – might very properly have led to higher outcomes. However there wasn’t merely a changing of 1 ruler with one other. The system of checks-and-balances and dispersed energy that existed earlier than turned a system of concentrated energy missing any actual checks in opposition to it. And this, I imagine, is why Paul’s seemingly superior qualities as a frontrunner nonetheless couldn’t forestall devastation.
Within the story of Dune, morally compromised individuals holding dispersed energy and serving as checks in opposition to one another seems to be higher and extra steady than a system of absolute and concentrated energy led by a morally sturdy, superhumanly clever, and presciently foresighted chief. Tyranny isn’t prevented by guaranteeing that sufficiently well-intentioned, clever, and noble individuals are in energy. The one efficient verify in opposition to tyranny is to make sure that no group or establishment holds a controlling energy over civilization. And this lesson is simply as true in the true world as it’s within the story of Dune.
