Imperial Conditioning
This Wikipedia entry for Dune Terminology clearly states the following:
IMPERIAL CONDITIONING: a development of the Suk Medical Schools: the highest conditioning against taking human life. Initiates are marked by a diamond tattoo on the forehead and are permitted to wear their hair long and bound by a silver Suk ring.
So I dog-headedly mangle the intentions of Mr. Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece and redefine “Imperial Conditioning” for the rasx() context—for the sake of science fact. Let me start with this: Imperialism institutionalizes gluttony. There is no accident that the BBC reports “US people getting fatter, fast.” It is their Imperial Conditioning at work. Are you confused about how the hell I am connecting Frank Herbert, gluttony and obesity together? Well… it’s your Imperial Conditioning at work. You don’t have to try to ignore this Blog post. You just will.
Empires do not preserve all human life. Empires preserve and protect the liberty and freedom of a small group of synthetically rich families who were naturally impoverished. This small cartel—this minority—rules the majority. And they hold on to power through Imperial Conditioning. What you may call wisdom and “human nature,” I would probably see as excellent Imperial Conditioning at work. Hey, what’s on Tee Vee? Imperial Conditioning. What’s in the next Potter Boy Wizard book? Imperial Conditioning. Why are attractive women and children treated as sex objects? They are Imperial booty to be stolen and used up. In an empire, human life does not come from women and children. It comes from macho soldiers with unisex family values conquering foreign lands and “out sourcing” the inhabitants. When humanity is acquired in bulk, the value of human life drops.
So it may appear to Dune fans that they are ‘free’ to hate what I have done to their sacred fictional words but to me this is an illusion. Such free haters have very few mental/emotional choices beyond cynicism, hate and fear—for this, again, is the Imperial Conditioning at work. Now they are ready for war… as errand boys sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill.