Dune Analysis: Techno feudalism and Philosophy 

thank you

“the Atreides, while not saints because they engage in the system of Techno-Feudalism, …have a sense of civility and morals others do not.” 2:52 I dispute this as a contrast. This is HOW that House is specialized in their political context. They represent the integration, deployment, and exploitation of those comfortable values and skills in the fierce political interplay. We err if we think them to be doing anything other than what all the major factions are doing.

I completely disagree on several assertions. The Dune universe is not hyper-capitalism. It is feudalism straight through. One of the aspects of feudalism was the suppression of innovation and new ideas. The entrenched cabals of feudal Europe would resort to torture and murder to protect their privilege. I have no clue what the definition of hyper-capitalism is. In our modern world the marketplace determines who wins. If a corporation is observed to be too large and is constricting the growth of society, government intervenes to break it up. Standard Oil and AT&T were far larger than any of the current modern tech companies of today. The FCC and SEC seem to have the same appetite if one of these hyperscalers are viewed to constrain innovation. The reason why I say the hyper-capitalism assertion fails is because in the Dune universe, those who benefit from the feudal system are the sovereigns. A premise of CyberPunk is that the sovereign loses power to the corporation. That is not the case today nor the case in Dune where the houses hold the sovereign power. If you believe that we are nearing a CyberPunk universe, ask the oligarchs of Russia and China where the rules are looser what happens when a sovereign is crossed. My other major disagreement is on the concept of religion. It goes along about religion is linked to the necessity to survive. I can't even begin to comment why this statement is asserted. This must be a future tense thing as Christianity and Islam have major aspects of the individual giving themselves up including their life to prove their devotion to God. Eastern religions like Buddhism, reflect the same thing even if it is not God itself. How many individuals have given up their lives in the name of their religion? Did not do it so that they could survive. My take on Dune is nothing makes sense. Herbert needed a setting. It makes no sense that the more brutal the world, the more competent the warrior. If that were the case the Fremen should have won a long time ago. And in our world the Taliban would rule the world. Yet for some reason the best warriors in the world are produced by the soft and prosperous United States. The entire tech makes no sense. If Sandworms suddenly showed up Earth and were immune to water, they would have been quickly blown to bits by WWII technology. Herbert wanted Feudalism in space, and distorted into a dystopia WarHammer 40K style so he could write his book. If you try to justify why people have to fight with swords, suspension of belief will make you go insane. I agree with others in that Paul is the villain. He allows the deaths of tens of billions in his name. His son is hundred times worse. The Bene Geseritt were so unconcerned with humanity, that they cultivated the Harkonen line for their genetics experiments. The Harkonen's are the least depraved. Paul's father is still a man who ruled as an overload who did not have to answer to any of his subjects.

I disagree with the statement that the movie added intelligence to the sardaukar which was lacking in the books. The movies substitute the entire plot line developing the sardaukar and revealing the emperors use of a prison planet to forge this incredibly skilled force in favor of a bland warrior culture. The books didn’t rely on overt exploration of the culture of the sardaukar and instead relied on the development of parallels between them and the fremen to imply the depth of their culture. The movie, not the books, treat the sardaukar as generic shock troops.

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I think hyper capitalism is a weird buzzword to throw in there. Elites have always hoarded wealth regardless of the system. Dune is definitely techno feudalism in space tho.

Speaking of the "Pandemic". Fear is indeed the mind killer. And when fear is utilized properly by those in authority, multitudes surrender their autonomy out of the desire for survival and safety. Great video man, keep up the good work.

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