How Dune Explains Political Power

TITLE: How Dune explains political power CHANNEL: Brendan Miller DATE: 2024-06-16 ---TRANSCRIPT--- there are many themes in the film June it’s a film about war love but it’s also a film about politics when we get to oracus we’ll face enormous danger what danger fman desert political danger this is a world of great houses an emperor religious orders and an oppressed people all clashing in their Quest for autonomy and control and it’s the story of one individual whose understanding of power leads him to its Summit in this video I want to look at how political power Works in June how it’s used by Paul to rise from Refugee to Emperor and the danger we all face when we fail to understand how that power works

I want to start here with this moment between Paul’s father juk letto and still a fman leader it’s a quiet conversation but it reveals a lot about how power really works I believe your people in mine have much to offer one another you are outworlders you come here for the Spice you take it giving nothing in return that’s true the first thing to note is that letto is not trying to use brute force to get what he wants you dismissed my mother in her own house come here the voice that compels obedience the control of important natural resources like spice fs and military power hard coercive force is a big part of how power works in the junior universe and as the leader of a great house du letto has soldiers and weapons at his command with which you could attempt to use brute force to compel the fman to do his will but letto wise about power knows that it’s smarter to see if he can win support or at least consent from the people he now rules I know you’ve suffered at the hands of the harinen name what you want if it’s in my power to Grant I’ll give it and ask for nothing letter understands that his power the ability to have his wishes obeyed is built on both coercive force and legitimacy the belief that his authority is right and Justified

it was Max Faber often described as the father of sociology that reintroduced the idea of legitimacy to Modern thinking at the beginning of the 20th century and it’s common for new observers of politics to miss how important both of these factors are I’m sorry but the UN must be firm with you let me see your whole Palace or else or else what or else we will be very very angry with you and we will write you a letter telling you how angry we are one side liberals sometimes ignore the importance of hard coercive power While others see only Force as important and miss the importance of beliefs consent and persuasion but the truth is even with tyrants that appear to rule by force legitimacy still matters for while such a person can intimidate a few individuals with with physical strength to rule a large group or Nation he needs soldiers and supporters and what makes these supporters loyal to him or her is certainly not the ruler’s ability to intimidate them physically

and in fact the haran’s return to arus is a good example of the limits of hard Cove Force now that the spis fs have been secured I strongly recommend bringing our troops out of Fran territories we losing too many men to the desert without any kind of legitimacy amongst the fan without any kind of belief that their Authority is right and Justified the Harkens face incredible difficulties so we understand that power is built on coercive force and legitimacy but back in the meeting with sgar Paul can see that his father faces a problem as sgar and the fmen don’t recognize jl’s legitimacy I ask for this do not seek our sies do not trespass in our lands the desert was ours long before you came so come and dig your spice but when you have it go back to this side of the shield wall and leave the desert to the Freeman you will address the Duke as my Lord or S just just a moment du letto is part of a powerful Imperial order by the grace of shadam for of house Corino ascendant to the golden line Throne of Pisha emperor of the known universe I stand before you as Herald of the change as we’ll see later there’s a complex arrangement of power behind this Imperial order but with its ceremony and ritual we can also see that it’s supported by what Max Faber called traditional legitimacy the idea that the political order is valid because it has been there for a long time few regimes today are built purely on traditional legitimacy but we can see its power from the way political systems both old and new will use ceremony and appeals to the past to cement their Authority but the problem for letto is that this Imperial order means nothing to the fan you will address the Duke as my Lord or S gy just just a moment letto is smart enough to notice this and instead tries to appeal to fine interests I cannot promise not to travel into the desert if dudy compels me but your sies will be yours forever and you will never be hunted while I govern here but unfortunately it’s a strategy that has little time to bear fruit

after escaping the invasion of the hinin Paul with his mother encounters the fman again and like in the last meeting the difference between how legitimacy Works in pwal and fman Society is Stark you talk like a leader but the strongest leads we might call this martial legitimacy the idea that Authority belongs to the strongest fighter Ru there’s no yielding under the unel rule only death is the T of them Paul wins this fight and acceptance to the fman community at which point it becomes clear that his position is supported by another type of legitimacy we can call this religious legitimacy and we got the first hints of it when Paul and his family arrived on the planet they were pointing at us what are they shouting listen Al voice from the outer world it’s standing for messiah when Paul and his mother join the fman Paul sees the potential of this type of legitimacy to help him and a JZ propaganda has taken route some of them already think I’m their Messiah others false prophet I must sway the non-believers and when Jessica becomes the Reverend mother this is a strategy she uses to increase Paul’s support amongst the fman you’re right if we want to protect your brother we need all the fman to believe in the prophecy we must convert the nonbelievers one by one we need to start with the weaker ones the vulnerable ones the ones who fear us

you can see religious legitimacy used in the political regimes of our universe often operating in a similar way to traditional Authority God Save the King but in June the religion is more political more forward looking the will change the face of Aris he will bring back the trees could bring back a green Paradise still and other fine hope Paul is the Fulfillment of a prophecy that will transform the planet from a desert to a garden this makes it more similar to the kind of legitimacy found in Revolutionary movements as well as this utopian Vision there’s also a more short-term goal the PO Becomes emblematic of then I will go further north the further north you go the more likely it is you die not he thaty FR a green Paradise for the planet and freedom from the hearken Paul symbolizes both of these goals we can call this ideological legitimacy when people give political support to a regime because of a belief in the future world they believe it will create

added to all these sources of authority there is another type of legitimacy the B gains as a story progresses what Max Faber called charismatic Authority the absolutely personal devotion and personal confidence in Revelation heroism or other qualities of individual leadership as exercised by the prophet warlord ruler or party leader indeed both prophecy and War build up Paul’s charismatic legitimacy he’s effective in combat against the hearkening and he appears to fulfill prophecies yet even as gains legitimacy from these different sources there is attention you don’t believe in the Lan Al we believe in fman Bela you want to control people you tell them a messiah will come then they’ll wait for centuries after meeting channy Paul starts to resist being seen as a prophet in fact this becomes the central dramatic tension of the story they used to be friends now they’re followers mu the prophet why is that a bad thing use it it’s not that simple you have the power to avenge your father and you’re afraid to use it spice opened my mind gurnie I can foresee things if I go South all my Visions lead to horror billions of corpses scattered across the Galaxy although Paul resists the pressure on him to take advantage of his religious support grows when the northern homes of the fman come under attack and so with a hope for Visionary power Paul relents to taking on the role fate seems to have in store for him go bring your people to safety and I will do what must be done

as Paul’s rise to power progresses there is another story of legitimacy taking place that of the padar Emperor as a leader he also wields hard cessive power in the form of the Fierce and Sardar Fighters but like a medieval European king these forces are not enough to defeat the combined armies of his Nobles and this makes his legitimacy all the more important we spoke earlier about how the emperor is supported by traditional legitimacy but his rule is also built on a deal that he will protect individual houses from attacks by others and will in return for Allegiance respect their autonomy this is somewhat similar to what fa described as legal rational legit imacy where power is supported by a belief in predictable law and rules there are many virtues to this type of legitimacy but unfortunately for the emperor if the fact he has broken the terms of this deal comes out his legitimacy and thus his power is hugely weakened and should the great houses learn that your father was behind the liquidation of the atrais your father will face war and lose the throne even for someone who wields strong coercive power legitimacy remains vital

Paul agrees to go south but unknown to chany he also decides to take the Water of Life a deadly liquid extracted from the sand worms of the planet hoping that it will give him Clairvoyant visions that will help him defeat the Harkens however drinking the liquid almost kills PA and channy is called to help channy realizes Paul has used her to strengthen his religious Authority it’s a betrayal here from this point onward Changed by the Water of Life Paul appears to lose his ambivalence about seeking power and by the time he arrives at the war council we can see an Unapologetic pursuit of it using every type of legitimacy available to him if you wish to share your voice you must take his place by defeating him and returning his water to the well you think I’m stupid enough to deprive myself of the best of us we do not thing be Z take my life UL it is the only way I’m pointing the way first Paul claims martial legitimacy G then we have religious legitimacy she sh this is my father’s dual signant I am paules Duke of arus

once Paul has become Undisputed leader of the freman much of the rest of the story is about hard coercive power fire and after all the missiles sandworms and hand toand fighting Paul still has One Last Enemy left to defeat there was a master mother in orbit Paul has won the battle but to gain full Victory he has to undermine the emperor’s legitimacy you’re facing a full invasion fman how can you be so sure the great houses are here for me they may be curious to hear my side of the story don’t you think I am Paul atres son of Leto atres Duke of arus Paul’s need for legitimacy also explains why he claims marriage to the emperor’s daughter even if it means a betrayal of the woman he loves and so after a little hand to-and combat Paul is the new emperor

so where does that leave us by understanding and harnessing various sources of legitimacy Paul Rises to the position of Emperor it’s an exhilarating story even though we’ve been warned it will lead to horrendous pain if I go South all my Visions lead to Horror in fact a warning was partly what the writer of June was trying to achieve with this story uh don’t trust leaders to always be right um I I work to create a leader in this book who would be really an attractive charismatic person for all the good reasons not for any bad reasons uh then power comes to him he makes decisions some of his decisions made for millions of people Millions upon millions of people don’t work out too well what Frank Herber means here by decisions that don’t work out well is a genocidal holy war though we only get hints of that in these movies Frank Herbert wanted to show how a leader comes to power but do so in a way that seduced the audience into the process and it works I read the Jun books twice before realizing I was rooted for a Hitler even in the movies where chane character is Rewritten to oppose pole it’s still easy to get caught up in the excitement in the combat the prophecies and the politics we start off observing the story of a hero but by the end we’re cheering on a tyrant