The Fremen monopoly of spice gives them and Paul considerable economic and diplomatic power, however what doesn't follow is that it allows his troops to go unopposed across the galaxy killing billions of people. Again, I could believe that Palestine gets recognized as a state and considerable economic power if it seized the sole gas fields on Earth - what doesn't follow is them just going to other countries, even ones like the US and Russia and China, and killing their entire populations and nobody else doing anything about it despite the Fremen being outnumbered like 1000:1
The only people going anywhere across the galaxy are the ones that are being carried on Spacing Guild ships, who follow the spice. Any information is carried on guild ships. Any goods are transported on Guild ships. As far as these feudal holdings are concerned, they are waiting for the next Guild ship to arrive with goods, messages, dignitaries, etc.
The Jihad is the Muad'dib Jihad. One of the major themes of the story is that the Atreides have sullied and stolen the noble struggle of the Fremen, which (textually, tragically) will leave the Fremen as nothing more than a cultural affect, an interesting museum piece where they recreate the Fremen culture behind a pane of glass with plastic crysknives. Stilgar is supposed to personify the way Paul has turned a noble and resilient people into sycophants caught up in the religious ecstasy of his cult. I would say one of the most collar-tugging part of the narrative is the only reason the Fremen follow Paul in the first place is because of a (again textual) millenia-spanning Jewish conspiracy.
The Fremen perpetrated the Jihad, with Paul (the evil Soviet Harkonnen) almost powerless to stop it, leaving him as just a figurehead. It’s like how European colonizers feared the colonized would lash out and unleash a reign of terror where they kill every white woman and child.
The Fremen monopoly of spice gives them and Paul considerable economic and diplomatic power, however what doesn't follow is that it allows his troops to go unopposed across the galaxy killing billions of people. Again, I could believe that Palestine gets recognized as a state and considerable economic power if it seized the sole gas fields on Earth - what doesn't follow is them just going to other countries, even ones like the US and Russia and China, and killing their entire populations and nobody else doing anything about it despite the Fremen being outnumbered like 1000:1
The only people going anywhere across the galaxy are the ones that are being carried on Spacing Guild ships, who follow the spice. Any information is carried on guild ships. Any goods are transported on Guild ships. As far as these feudal holdings are concerned, they are waiting for the next Guild ship to arrive with goods, messages, dignitaries, etc.
The Jihad is the Muad'dib Jihad. One of the major themes of the story is that the Atreides have sullied and stolen the noble struggle of the Fremen, which (textually, tragically) will leave the Fremen as nothing more than a cultural affect, an interesting museum piece where they recreate the Fremen culture behind a pane of glass with plastic crysknives. Stilgar is supposed to personify the way Paul has turned a noble and resilient people into sycophants caught up in the religious ecstasy of his cult. I would say one of the most collar-tugging part of the narrative is the only reason the Fremen follow Paul in the first place is because of a (again textual) millenia-spanning Jewish conspiracy.
The Fremen perpetrated the Jihad, with Paul (the evil Soviet Harkonnen) almost powerless to stop it, leaving him as just a figurehead. It’s like how European colonizers feared the colonized would lash out and unleash a reign of terror where they kill every white woman and child.