He was born and raised during the peak of the Cold War and that's going to do nasty things to a motherfucker's brain.
But that first book was downright prophetic in so far as it spelled out the collapse of the then-modern bipolar global regime. Nation-states mired in a backwards technology, yielding more and more power to regions with the largest excess reserves. Native peoples engaging in asymmetrical warfare to topple global behemoths. The way in which zealous religious conviction - once a fundamental lever of control over the public - mutates into something far beyond the empire's control.
The ecological aspect of the book was also profound (although, that may just be from my 21st century-pilled brain's perspective). Re-imagining the Middle East as an Eden-like ecological paradise, contingent on warring imperial factions halting their voracious consumption of fossil fuels? That's good shit.
I think Herbert has a very dark and cynical take on the trajectory of human development. And that looks bad on paper. But he also recognizes the potential for revolution and a re-imagining of civilization. He just sees these as fruit of a tree planted by prior generations and not something the current people - even the Mentats and Messiahs - have an easy hand in manipulating in the moment.
The only bio of Herbert was written by his son and sucks, but it also has a lot of interesting details. Herbert hung out with Marxist artists when he was young, but his dad was a cop in the white ethno state known as Oregon, and Herbert himself worked for awhile as a speechwriter for a Republican senator. He would also subject his own children to lie detector tests.
He was born and raised during the peak of the Cold War and that's going to do nasty things to a motherfucker's brain.
But that first book was downright prophetic in so far as it spelled out the collapse of the then-modern bipolar global regime. Nation-states mired in a backwards technology, yielding more and more power to regions with the largest excess reserves. Native peoples engaging in asymmetrical warfare to topple global behemoths. The way in which zealous religious conviction - once a fundamental lever of control over the public - mutates into something far beyond the empire's control.
The ecological aspect of the book was also profound (although, that may just be from my 21st century-pilled brain's perspective). Re-imagining the Middle East as an Eden-like ecological paradise, contingent on warring imperial factions halting their voracious consumption of fossil fuels? That's good shit.
I think Herbert has a very dark and cynical take on the trajectory of human development. And that looks bad on paper. But he also recognizes the potential for revolution and a re-imagining of civilization. He just sees these as fruit of a tree planted by prior generations and not something the current people - even the Mentats and Messiahs - have an easy hand in manipulating in the moment.
The only bio of Herbert was written by his son and sucks, but it also has a lot of interesting details. Herbert hung out with Marxist artists when he was young, but his dad was a cop in the white ethno state known as Oregon, and Herbert himself worked for awhile as a speechwriter for a Republican senator. He would also subject his own children to lie detector tests.
wtf why did he do that
He was training them to lie, probably.
None can deny a Truthsayer Saddiya.