Why Dune endures

<p>Harkonnens. Messiahs. Deadly, insect-like hunter-seekers. A secretive all-women order of spies, nuns, scientists, and theologians that’s bending history to its will. A spice harvested from an arid desert that enables space travel. ’Thopters. Interstellar war. Giant sand worms.</p> <p>The world of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert-ebook/dp/B00B7NPRY8/ref=sr_1_1" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert-ebook/dp/B00B7NPRY8/ref=sr_1_1?ascsubtag=[]vx[p]22393482[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder","subtag_max_length":99,"subtag_delim_length":2,"subtag_key":"ascsubtag","subtag_data":{"ascsubtag":"[]vx[p]22393482[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]d-placeholder"},"encode_subtag":false}'><em>Dune</em></a> is a wild one, a tale spun by Frank Herbert in the tumultuous 1960s that mixes fear of authoritarian rule and environmental collapse with fascism, racism, and hallucinatory imagery. The 1965 novel, which eventually garnered widespread acclaim, was followed by a universe of sequels for its rabidly devoted fans. The trappings of its imagined, distant-future world feel wondrous, unfamiliar, and strange.</p> <p>Or they would, if we hadn’t been steeped in <em>Dune</em> fever for so many years, even prior to the recent arrival of Denis Villeneuve’s extraordinary and resolutely abstruse film adaptation. Even the most <em>Dune</em>-averse person can hardly avoid the long tail of Herbert’s saga, whether they realize it or not.</p> <p>The story has been referenced by pop stars like Lady Gaga, who made a <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/1633938/lady-gagas-telephone-video-pop-culture-cheat-sheet-part-ii/">sly nod</a> to <em>Dune</em> in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U">“Telephone” music video</a>, and Grimes, whose debut studio album, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/7HO6IZ3Ff5J9YoRBI8hm1O?autoplay=true"><em>Geidi Primes</em></a>, is a concept album based on <em>Dune</em>. Fatboy Slim’s song “Weapon of Choice,” the one with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDIYvFmgW8">music video starring Christopher Walken</a>, is one big reference to the book (“Walk without rhythm / It won’t attract the worm”). Video games like <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/398g6c/do_you_think_mentats_are_a_reference_to_frank/"><em>Fallout</em></a> and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/dune/comments/2mu8cz/dune_reference_in_the_latest_wow_expansion/"><em>World of Warcraft</em></a> contain references to <em>Dune</em>, as do plenty of TV shows from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYdWO3wjeGU"><em>Scooby-Doo</em></a> to <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/dune/comments/dwqvnv/rick_morty_dune_reference/"><em>Rick & Morty</em></a> to <a href="https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Sandy,_SpongeBob,_and_the_Worm"><em>SpongeBob SquarePants</em></a>. There’s a crater on the moon <a href="http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/1662">officially named</a> Dune<em>,</em> and some of the features on Saturn’s moon Titan have been named for planets from the series.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634915472_7458_231487" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945168,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_1RpHxUyCM_PZ2i071P_z-w4ctA=/0x0:1200x676/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/VsAeXnKuUQo_ks0HXecYDZ2loJo=/0x0:1200x676/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6Z4TeqqQw2uzEBf-Je6SHvoWAg4=/0x0:1200x676/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0cSLgDVM_Ce7WNd7JELefSBLa2k=/0x0:1200x676/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/F6PKzpCHkWTiHgzBWJ0r7Oekouk=/0x0:1200x676/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZcaJjqSzprTBG8J25QTxP7wB0BU=/0x0:1200x676/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/l2g74aP9Iqw12p-bUugxZL-fDK4=/0x0:1200x676/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KFUK34nepWOBAmRrh4Dx8HU1pxs=/0x0:1200x676/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7sd0XkPTGOLKtBnO77bX-i5n8uI=/0x0:1200x676/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A cartoon of a giant worm chasing two smaller cartoon characters." data-upload-width="1200" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/74-nlXYQPxUHN3S91aVOOzqp8-g=/0x0:1200x676/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fPP8uDnxN9r_IbUWGC4piTveIlQ=/0x0:1200x676/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nfcrRgnnjRhQGW2cAMlmQnpnRWA=/0x0:1200x676/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/7-Wm9n08UdmohflGLir46QkEChM=/0x0:1200x676/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cE4dwvlWg_eWLFLzuUeH5mko9D0=/0x0:1200x676/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NkpbC7PoHoNL6ChHWt1UUPu4oLE=/0x0:1200x676/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/dcco1mhnoc6JcYb7yydWHB4j1EM=/0x0:1200x676/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qh0LQ4fjUjDzcy-rWnHhTZnXHwg=/0x0:1200x676/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gmeqKWHeXjqstqpsDSjEZC89LpI=/0x0:1200x676/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Fnh8T8oinAuQlFG_uynoVUAADBU=/0x0:1200x676/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1200x676):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945168/dunespongebob.png 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">That’s a <em>Dune</em> reference in <em>SpongeBob SquarePants</em>.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Nickelodeon</cite></span></figure> <p>Then there’s all the original storytelling <em>Dune</em> has inspired. The most notable example, perhaps, <a href="https://nerdist.com/article/everything-star-wars-borrowed-from-dune/">is George Lucas’s <em>Star Wars</em> trilogy</a>, which shares so much with Herbert’s series that Herbert and a few colleagues organized the farcical “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/02/another-shot-at-dune-the-sci-fi-novel-hollywood-has-yet-to-tame-gets-a-director/">We’re Too Big to Sue George Lucas Society</a>.” If you’ve watched the <em>Star Wars</em> films, <em>Dune</em>’s reluctant, petulant, fated hero living on a desert planet in the shadow of a looming empire and the battle for the fate of the galaxy will feel a little familiar.</p> <p>This long line of descendants shows the expansive influence of <em>Dune</em> on a wide swath of pop culture. But it doesn’t really explain <em>why</em> it’s so compelling. What is it about Herbert’s books — especially the first one — that exerts such a magnetic force on everyone from 13-year-old sci-fi readers to megafamous musicians?</p> <p>There’s no single answer to that question. But as Villeneuve — who’s shown his sci-fi chops as a filmmaker in movies like <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/11/11/13587262/arrival-movie-review-amy-adams-denis-villeneuve"><em>Arrival</em></a> (2016) and <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/10/3/16403178/blade-runner-2049-review-bible-gosling-villeneuve-spoilers"><em>Blade Runner 2049</em></a> (2017) — takes a crack at the story, new audiences will encounter Paul Atreides, the planet of Arrakis, and the unnaturally blue eyes of the Fremen. So the matter of <em>Dune</em>’s staying power is once again in the air.</p> <p>As a <em>Dune</em> newbie (a <em>Dune</em>-bie?) this year, I dug into Herbert’s novel, previous attempts to make a good movie out of it, and the way that people interact with the sprawling world it envisions. What I realized is that there’s no one reason <em>Dune</em>’s fans love the world Herbert created. Its enduring significance traces back to its history as a cultural phenomenon, its difficult-to-adapt story, its capacious complexity, and, perhaps more than anything, the room it leaves for the audience to have an experience all their own.</p> <p><em>Dune</em> predates <em>Star Wars</em> by more than a decade. The first installment of Herbert’s story was published in 1963 as a serial, then collected into a novel in 1965. (The version I read this summer was 896 pages long, including a lengthy and limpid appendix.) Herbert went on to write five more novels: <em>Dune Messiah</em> (1969), <em>Children of Dune</em> (1976), <em>God Emperor of Dune</em> (1981), <em>Heretics of Dune</em> (1984), and <em>Chapterhouse: Dune</em> (1985), and his son and other science fiction writers have continued building out the narrative for eager fans. That’s a lot of <em>Dune</em>.</p> <p>Most people just read the first novel, though; fans sometimes note that the quality drops off precipitously afterward. So that’s the one to know about.</p> <p><em>Dune</em> is set in the year 10191, which is actually about 20,000 years into our future; the year is roughly calculated from a time in which humanity overthrew and destroyed all human-made intelligent machines, like robots and computers. Now people live an interstellar existence, without any AI to threaten them, and the extinction of human-made intelligence is so far in the past that it doesn’t come up as more than a distant historical fact for <em>Dune</em>’s characters. It’s as if the Roman Empire fell 10,000 years ago, instead of just under 2,000.</p> <p>The novel begins the epic saga of Paul Atreides, a 15-year-old son of a duke. House Atreides, one of the “great houses” in the Galactic Padishah Empire, has recently been tasked by the Emperor to move from their lush, green home world of Caladan to the desert planet Arrakis. Arrakis is colloquially known as Dune, and most recently overseen by the ruthless House Harkonnen; the Emperor mysteriously ordered Harkonnen to vacate rule of Arrakis, and Atreides is set to take over.</p> <p>Arrakis is a barren and seemingly barely habitable planet, but it’s important for one big reason: It’s the only place to mine a spice called melange (or just “spice”), which among other things makes accurate interstellar travel possible. A fierce people called the Fremen live in the desert there, wearing “stillsuits” that harvest precious body moisture for drinking. They don’t control the spice, however; until recently it’s been harvested by the cruel Harkonnens.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634915472_5472_231488" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945172,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XuVmWGjLg_mFtG8KLsfgSAW8weA=/0x0:3000x1949/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YMEFQw_spjLAMWITehb9yVyVuxY=/0x0:3000x1949/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yNSsQ0wWoNRHGPBl7rO3cmktpMA=/0x0:3000x1949/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oAU5egR19NN4ylv55_kIEUeaAUI=/0x0:3000x1949/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fX06az_xXVd9bhN5ASdJYhrKuOg=/0x0:3000x1949/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QaFqJh7TO2t6bhPB71devH0CcaU=/0x0:3000x1949/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wAGdoAUFEDElLcLUEPKzewybZfY=/0x0:3000x1949/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eCp6wrv3XxwoYkiVHfXLKs4YqPI=/0x0:3000x1949/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eA84-BylLStWjtomnwdysaFrV3Q=/0x0:3000x1949/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A young man in a white shirt and dark pants crouches in a wood-panelled room, looking upwards." data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Gk6ntq0LGC8fAwFSCbXbabtuGzw=/0x0:3000x1949/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lNk3lnTrbWDQwKAJ2t9XhHh97XI=/0x0:3000x1949/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AlSooqUHUd43Zz5X4YxqV2Hi0qU=/0x0:3000x1949/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mjGtgoHwXDueZPGBrwIBhkok7LQ=/0x0:3000x1949/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9GH-hqZPpjrHVhqiKRV191cRsmM=/0x0:3000x1949/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BKNuYtkr2g6hVZuwfIUFbGpfAOY=/0x0:3000x1949/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I8fbAndAOsTU7MkzNp8gfmpqmXM=/0x0:3000x1949/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/pjIcFPtvIKlGJE-v4wsKQNLoPz0=/0x0:3000x1949/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fmgSqFsjySR-tOMqreSbAuXdaw4=/0x0:3000x1949/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ijPFsyly5hQJd9GU5UUPlOSqgFo=/0x0:3000x1949/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x1949):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945172/dune5.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Timothée Chalamet plays the young Paul Atreides in the newest big-screen version of <em>Dune.</em></span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Warner Bros.</cite></span></figure> <p>Predictably, sending House Atreides to Arrakis in place of Harkonnen doesn’t exactly endear Atreides to the Harkonnens. But the possibility of violence between those houses is all part of the Emperor’s big plan.</p> <p>Meanwhile, there’s Paul. His mother, Jessica, is the longtime mistress of Duke Atreides, and they love one another passionately. But there’s a deeper story here, too: Jessica is one of the Bene Gesserit, an ancient sisterhood of women who pull the strings of history. (This part of the story is incredibly cool.) For thousands of years, they’ve been cultivating the conditions necessary for the rise of the Kwisatz Haderach, a male leader who can bridge space and time with his mind, heal the divide between the Houses of Atreides and Harkonnen, and ascend the Emperor’s throne. Most importantly, he would be under Bene Gesserit control.</p> <p>The Bene Gesserit’s efforts have involved 10,000 years of careful cross-breeding to create a young man whose genetics will permit him to become the Kwisatz Haderach; they’ve also seeded a belief in a future leader, comparable to a messiah or savior figure, within the ancient religion of the Fremen. As part of this long game, Jessica was supposed to bear the duke a daughter, who could then be bred to a Harkonnen man and produce the Kwisatz Haderach, bridging the enmity between the two houses.</p> <p>The complicating wrinkle is that Jessica loved the duke, who wasn’t aware of the Bene Gesserit’s plan — and he wanted a son. So she bore him a son instead: Paul. (Among the many powers of the Bene Gesserit is the ability to decide these sorts of things.) From his childhood, Paul learned the ways of the Bene Gesserit from his mother, and Jessica has become convinced he is, in fact, fit to be the Kwisatz Haderach.</p> <p>When House Atreides moves to Arrakis, palace tumult and betrayal ensues. Jessica and Paul find themselves in the desert outside the palace walls, among the Fremen. It seems the way for Paul’s ascent has been laid. But to truly take the reins of power, he’ll need to harness the power of the Fremen, and that path won’t be easy.</p> <p>It’s all very exciting and sweeping, at least in plot-summary form. Herbert’s writing is another matter, pretentious and ponderous at times — it’s obvious that <em>Dune</em> was originally published as a serial. But the story, and the mystical web it weaves, has been immensely attractive to readers for decades. The novel <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/61381/15-facts-about-dune">has sold more than 20 million copies</a>, and it’s often cited as one of the greatest science fiction books ever written.</p> <p>Despite the popularity of <em>Dune</em>’s world, cinematic adaptations of the novel, to this point, have flopped — and in rather legendary ways. In the mid-1970s, the Chilean-French filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky was tapped to direct a version of the story, to be produced by Michel Seydoux (the great-uncle, incidentally, of actress and most recent Bond girl Léa Seydoux). Jodorowsky’s vision for the film was psychedelic and wild and altogether unfilmable in the pre-CGI 1970s, if not also today. As he told an interviewer in 2013, “I wanted to make a film that would give the people who took LSD at that time the hallucinations that you get with that drug, but without hallucinating.”</p> <p>Jodorowsky hired incredible artists to come up with frame-by-frame storyboards and concept art, and he had wild plans to change the story in multiple ways, from depicting Duke Atreides as having been castrated to filming a totally different ending from the novel. He had incredible casting ideas, too, envisioning Salvador Dalí as the Emperor (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190312-is-jodorowskys-dune-the-greatest-film-never-made">Dalí wanted to be paid $100,000 an hour</a>) and Orson Welles (the director of <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/21618200/mank-citizen-kane-netflix-kael-auteur-welles-hearst"><em>Citizen Kane</em></a>) as Baron Harkonnen. Jodorowsky’s teenage son was slated to play Paul. He trained for two years in martial arts and other fighting techniques to prepare for the role.</p> <p>It all came to naught, unsurprisingly. Big studios were not going to make such an expensive, unwieldy, hugely risky film. All that remains of Jodorowsky’s grand plans are several enormous copies of the book of art and storyboards. But in 2013, the documentary <em>Jodorowsky’s Dune</em> told the story of the movie that never was, with Jodorowsky’s full participation, and it weaves a mystical tale all its own. The film is well worth watching, if only to spend some time with a man who went on a Don Quixote-like mission and is still full of passion for his quest decades later.</p> <p>Also unsurprisingly, Hollywood’s desire to capitalize on <em>Dune</em>’s literary popularity didn’t abate. Through some typical industry twists and turns, the film rights landed in the hands of producer Dino de Laurentiis, who tried to figure out what to do with it. Initially he hired Herbert himself to write the screenplay, but the result was far too long. Then Ridley Scott signed on, but he ended up deciding, instead, to make <em>Blade Runner</em> in 1982<em>.</em></p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634915472_2114_231489" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945176,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/C7RJH9LqmbgcVizHV5HExsGN_8g=/0x0:2000x1270/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rHYKC3G79zQlJtxzysIiPcB7hcU=/0x0:2000x1270/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zj7aIBMsBW85tHCGtslIzs5TV4I=/0x0:2000x1270/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2dNQ0PGLK3ftV73pHr682JbSEjQ=/0x0:2000x1270/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IstQI_jPGs8OGjDr3AAZCSNnNQw=/0x0:2000x1270/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nrFeLE10_vetF6uTGekxrMrPGhM=/0x0:2000x1270/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OvmwxtM4MI5TJHLuBpioxAkZfuk=/0x0:2000x1270/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NQ6zPt6KuFfuOwZDVM8u8FmkH04=/0x0:2000x1270/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MSbF33Zsk1qFDWKN5ZSdhVivdo8=/0x0:2000x1270/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A white young man in a black armor outfit stands against the white sands of a desert, with a line of people in black suits behind him in the desert." data-upload-width="2000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nH6lu6y7Cev68uNdl4kFCjvvd-Q=/0x0:2000x1270/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xTV1OoJmYfg3huj0t88wRgd4Vdg=/0x0:2000x1270/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0AnQN-5fw3VtNEoP9IrR9k4zxjU=/0x0:2000x1270/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/H8agwACC1Uw1gDAHeSBLk0Xqb1Y=/0x0:2000x1270/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MIiqDL0Hq-sPOGvdaSgaIvPCRrc=/0x0:2000x1270/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eLs9qcBTD61zoQ6059FfBIeP8Dg=/0x0:2000x1270/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Dh1_LJ1j6vDrOHwGsiHKS6o4bQM=/0x0:2000x1270/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/zaooHkgDVOMuKstVeAsXiyjt6zU=/0x0:2000x1270/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qA4ZemRh6Cqv0QUrTbkRZcfeEzo=/0x0:2000x1270/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n_I5dsLl8wJqK5amZ1o730goxBk=/0x0:2000x1270/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1270):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945176/dune6.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides in David Lynch’s 1984 version of <em>Dune</em>. Lynch hates the movie.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Universal Pictures</cite></span></figure> <p>Eventually, David Lynch got a call about the project, and though he had offers to direct other movies — including <em>Return of the Jedi</em> (just imagine!) — Lynch agreed. At the time, Lynch was a young director with a knack for the surreal and bizarre, and he’d made two films: <em>Eraserhead</em> (1977) and <em>The Elephant Man</em> (1980)<em>.</em> (Jodorowsky says in the 2013 documentary that he was surprised and even delighted by the hiring news, since Lynch seemed like a good fit for the material.) So Lynch got to work.</p> <p><em>Dune</em>, the Lynch version, came out in 1984, and starred fresh new face Kyle MacLachlan as Paul. (McLachlan would go on to frequently collaborate with Lynch, most notably on Lynch’s seminal TV show <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/19/15660502/twin-peaks-explained-showtime-david-lynch"><em>Twin Peaks</em></a>.) It also stars Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell, Virginia Madsen, Linda Hunt, Max von Sydow, and Sting, among others, with music by Toto.</p> <p>The movie is ... bad. It’s cumbersome, overloaded with explanation, and not particularly well-acted in many spots. Now a cult classic, it does have certain charms, and isn’t quite as bad as Lynch seems to think it is; he disowned the film upon release, even removing his name from some versions, and hates talking about it. It bombed at the box office and became a bit of a punchline. And other than a workmanlike but forgettable 2000 miniseries on the Sci-Fi Channel, <em>Dune</em> would not be adapted again.</p> <p>Until now. Denis Villeneuve is an ideal match for the material, and the movie he’s made — which covers only a little over half of the first novel — is, on the whole, excellent. It’s like the novel in many ways, chiefly in that it shrouds much of its terminology and mythology in mystery. This <em>Dune</em> is not interested in explaining itself to the audience. You have to pay attention and accept that some of what’s happening onscreen isn’t going to make a ton of sense, at least not at first, especially if you’ve never read the book. (Reading it before you watch isn’t necessary, but knowing some of the plot does help.)</p> <p>It’s also one of those pure cinematic experiences that remind you why you go to the movies. Expertly cast — Oscar Isaac as the Duke Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica, and especially Timothée Chalamet as Paul and Zendaya as Chani, the daughter of a Fremen leader — the film feels like the book come to life, but without some of Herbert’s more ornate and purple prose. Instead of following Lynch’s lead and using voiceover to let us in on his characters’ inner monologues — an important part of the novel — he allows the actors to clue us in via facial expressions and body language.</p> <p>And the imagery is, frankly, quite stunning. With Herbert’s bloated flourishes stripped away, the breathtaking imagination of <em>Dune</em>’s world can come to life. No matter that the characters, with the possible exception of Jessica, are essentially cogs in a machine without much of a rich inner life. Villeneuve knows how to shape that kind of story and fill it with wonder and awe. The film moves slowly at times, and that’s entirely on purpose. Cinema is primarily a visual medium, and <em>Dune</em> provides a terrific opportunity to lean in and experience what that really means.</p> <p>The long, long, <em>long</em> and storied history of bringing <em>Dune</em> to the screen has, in a sense, been exactly what the film adaptation needed to put some wind in its sails. People have been talking about adapting <em>Dune</em> for so long, or trying and failing, that its legend has grown. Even if you’ve never read <em>Dune</em>, or have no real grasp of what it’s about, you may have considered reading it at some point. The buildup is part of the appeal. And that’s a big part of why some people are so invested in the new film.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634915472_8767_231490" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945181,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MpYgX3Rwv82KcOzK9At2DyD1tR0=/0x0:2000x1333/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/voJLBwcZupzF6YJp125QakByM_k=/0x0:2000x1333/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yHeUjaPYOaljX1th-BJgIUr2OKg=/0x0:2000x1333/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vV2K_x41S2qqa1Lpxvup7Qq4vBs=/0x0:2000x1333/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jWJtoc2SyXzlv9po_jxr_Vo__d8=/0x0:2000x1333/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5PsKfYmapwAo2J7-q6BPAmNpca8=/0x0:2000x1333/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4eqnhJ1Cyv-gdYld7WmMLIzHnBY=/0x0:2000x1333/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FNwcJ7KrhXpZaK6H-AyZuEPpyME=/0x0:2000x1333/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/20xa_b0AI5Py6jZ7nhXQ2B1lP-I=/0x0:2000x1333/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Four people in grey-black stillsuits stand against rocks in a desert." data-upload-width="2000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qTTFX8e0wFmSVgzlytndNH_2vKA=/0x0:2000x1333/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LxjN5zY30bpZEjNwuCp59V5UDWk=/0x0:2000x1333/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wHtZW2QSl6_kwpEEDQOPZaPORiA=/0x0:2000x1333/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rDFHV2C-MJrwrQ-Og4JYIcbMcVo=/0x0:2000x1333/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K78hMDmKLrTKK8jqO41wywCxHtQ=/0x0:2000x1333/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3iy7CUCVrApdumCbWA4ERtiUQiE=/0x0:2000x1333/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jKUkcs68MH5d6YyJWlZhaJx5jhQ=/0x0:2000x1333/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NjaD9kpSvTQDUy2-F9tx2iIf87Y=/0x0:2000x1333/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/yqolxpAI7-vAE1cC0qgr5WXmQhY=/0x0:2000x1333/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nzm7KyMNMkaZAuVNV5txM40fr50=/0x0:2000x1333/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:2000x1333):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945181/dune4.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Timothée Chalamet in <em>Dune</em>.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Chia Bella James/Warner Bros.</cite></span></figure> <p>But there’s still more to <em>Dune</em>’s allure than just all the pent-up anticipation for a good film. <em>Dune</em> looks like a story about a chosen one, a hero, who will save the world. That’s a common trope in science fiction and fantasy.</p> <p>Of course, as with many stories, it’s a little more complicated than that. Paul, for instance, is not the de facto Kwisatz Haderach; throughout the novel, there’s the distinct feeling that he could turn out to be a dud, and the Bene Gesserit make it clear that they have other candidates in waiting elsewhere. They’ve been hedging their bets. After all, Paul is not a chosen messiah of the universe, at least not by some transcendent deity; he’s the product of a program of eugenics.</p> <p>More importantly, though, Paul succeeding as Kwisatz Haderach will in no way guarantee a rosy future for the universe — a fact of which he is well aware. He can see the future, or the possible future, and talks of seeing people waging a bloody “jihad” (the novel’s terminology) in his name. (Villeneuve’s version opts to call it “holy war.”) Future books chronicle the fallout from his ascent to power, revealing the staggering fact that the “holy war” will take the lives of 61 billion people. Planets are pillaged and sterilized. Whole religions and groups are wiped out, all in service to Paul’s vision for the future of mankind.</p> <p>That’s all very complicated, and has <a href="https://www.paulsturtevant.com/dune-eugenics-colonialism/">led some to argue</a> that now is, at minimum, an awfully weird time to be adapting a novel with this kind of hero. Add to that Herbert’s characterization of the Fremen — typical of the period, but no less uncomfortable to contemporary ears — in distinctly Orientalist terms, as well as the possibility of interpreting Paul as a “white savior.” Many <a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/race-consciousness-fascism-and-frank-herberts-dune/">contemporary fascists and figures of the alt-right</a> (including the prominent white nationalist <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/11/4/20947833/richard-spencer-white-nationalism-audio-milo-alt-right">Richard Spencer</a>) are avowed fans of the book, perhaps seeing it through a distorted lens as a triumphant story about a leader who violently overturns a depraved empire and creates an ethnostate. Meanwhile, plenty of folks on the left love it as well, for entirely different reasons, and sometimes in spite of itself.</p> <p><a href="https://www.lareviewofbooks.org/article/heresies-of-dune/">Herbert’s personal politics were complex and often reactionary</a>, which probably accounts for the various messages people have taken from it. A distant relative of Joseph McCarthy, Herbert opposed the Vietnam War but supported Richard Nixon; he helped anti-labor efforts, was openly homophobic (which is clear in the novel) and racist, and espoused, above all, a rugged individualism. <em>Dune</em> has been held up as supporting a range of ideologies, from anti-authoritarian conservatism to fascism to neoliberalism, and everyone’s kind of right. <a href="http://courses.oermn.org/mod/page/view.php?id=13763">Herbert, for his part, explained</a> that his books were meant to critique authoritarianism, declaring that “superheroes are disastrous for mankind.”</p> <p>“Even if we find a real hero (whatever or whoever that may be),” he wrote, “eventually fallible mortals take over the power structure that always comes into being around such a leader.”</p> <p>That all means there are a lot of different ways to think about the book. You can read it as a warning tale about fascism or, if you want, a story about the inevitability of the triumph of fascist ideology in any world. You can read <em>Dune</em> as a screed about the uselessness of religion, or an argument about the incredible usefulness of it. It’s a book about the cost of fixing environmental disasters, and about individual destiny taking precedence over the collective.</p> <p>So much malleability undoubtedly adds to <em>Dune</em>’s appeal. Science fiction aims to give us ways to confront our own world from another angle; <em>Dune</em> provides that in spades. The idiosyncrasies of its author and its politics leave a lot of room to swim around in. So <em>Dune</em> is still relevant, if you’re willing to slog through some narrative mush.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634915472_3620_231491" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945189,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/cqCYZM-XUDjpW-sIB0WRDZJovXc=/0x0:1990x1140/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_rOTwN78qgG5XBcV8YctQcGphaQ=/0x0:1990x1140/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jyr9-Nx4A_-XC1Kka40Qms_f8mg=/0x0:1990x1140/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/om94AouF1ye847PWnNeZP7Nfgvk=/0x0:1990x1140/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BIKhviBXHzwbR3zXqBCLtssVD4o=/0x0:1990x1140/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/AWt660oUEomzi_2Qyb2yJDcpqlM=/0x0:1990x1140/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/e9p-0r9FA96DzphkyWW5hNDQv1U=/0x0:1990x1140/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sxnwUgGkMrVeocddpovuE-W6peA=/0x0:1990x1140/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4XcA16NA-1ywP4VLOeLoW82IOJQ=/0x0:1990x1140/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="A young man in all-black clothing walks on a beach, gray skies and flying ships in the air above him." data-upload-width="1990" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4_JLXKbSxq9lRkKqonI_hz_RYho=/0x0:1990x1140/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/L1QrLjClqA6ctBOhjzkVr4R93Fk=/0x0:1990x1140/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/RjLXquL1YU-TPpCFlMvRO08wqbE=/0x0:1990x1140/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/J8KK36cCzotzusi_YrCE_1MWLjY=/0x0:1990x1140/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4Tp9MQJoGeGRKy1Ze6lyNP2AdMA=/0x0:1990x1140/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aek20FJ5yFPjJbYQofCx4lEdlZk=/0x0:1990x1140/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MHiIe7T8bDkYaIH0CF4jZ49zXdA=/0x0:1990x1140/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/O7b7mlzIENDvLJWWXHp1RLceIqo=/0x0:1990x1140/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0dOLvzB_3_2DUVSRJmqaCtzI1N0=/0x0:1990x1140/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8vBvw69krHRzx7KTMsugemZDJq0=/0x0:1990x1140/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:1990x1140):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945189/dune3.jpeg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Timothée Chalamet in <em>Dune</em>, on Paul Atreides’s home world of Caladan.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Warner Bros.</cite></span></figure> <p>The keenest reason that <em>Dune</em> endures may simply be baked into its structure. The chapters of the novel are introduced with quotations from texts about the history of the world, written by a character to whom we haven’t yet been introduced — and we slowly realize that she, whoever she may be, may be playing an angle of her own. The novels are among the pantheon of science fiction and fantasy novels with a capacious historical imagination, extending way into the future and the past.</p> <p>And in the world of <em>Dune</em>, the readers (and viewers) themselves kind of exist. Our oft-imagined future — in which the machines take over and we have to fight them — is in the very distant past of <em>Dune</em>’s characters. They give us a way to project ourselves into the future, as a species, and think about what might happen.</p> <p>That’s a common storytelling technique in fantasy and science fiction. Think of how <em>The Lord of the Rings</em> universe hangs on J.R.R. Tolkien’s exquisitely detailed histories of a world that far predates our own. Or how <em>Star Wars</em> takes place “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Or how my personal favorite (and another classic work of the genre), Walter Miller’s <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/science-fiction-classic-still-smolders"><em>A Canticle for Leibowitz</em></a>, mixes past and future in its explosive, apocalyptic tale. (Someone needs to adapt that one into a movie!)</p> <p><em>Dune</em>, and stories like it, spins a legend that extends far before and after the events of the book, and that makes the reader feel like they’re part of something. In that way, these types of stories are not unlike the sacred texts and oral mythologies that form the basis of religions. Perhaps that explains why they’ve given rise to such rabidly invested fans. <em>Dune</em> is, in some ways, about the dangers and powers of religion, and how it can be manipulated to accomplish dubious ends. But it’s also, in a sense, its own religious text. Who wouldn’t be excited to see that come to life?</p> <p>Dune <em>opened in theaters on October 21 and</em> <a href="http://voxmediapartner.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=2&aff_id=1&source=Vox&aff_sub=VoxDune2021&aff_unique1=https://www.hbomax.com/same-day-premieres"><em>is streaming on HBO Max</em></a><em>.</em></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22629441/dune-review-villeneuve-lynch-jodorowsky-herbert">https://www.vox.com/22629441/dune-review-villeneuve-lynch-jodorowsky-herbert</a>

vox Why Dune endures

Harkonnens. Messiahs. Deadly, insect-like hunter-seekers. A secretive all-women order of spies, nuns, scientists, and theologians that’s ben...

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The future of vaccine mandates will likely come down to Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r5m_l_mvkhILZc7nJPS3oobenDY=/0x0:4774x2499/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22853160/1230693165.jpg" /></div> <p>On October 29, Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention will start enforcing a rule requiring <a href="http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/21-1826P-01A.pdf">all health care workers in the state to be vaccinated against Covid-19</a> — unless the Supreme Court intervenes to stop it.</p> <p><a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/21a83.html"><em>Does v. Mills</em></a> is the first significant case to reach the justices that places a Covid-19 vaccination requirement against “religious liberty” claims brought by individuals who refuse vaccination. It is unlikely to be the <a href="https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/21a0234p-06.pdf">last</a>.</p> <p>It’s also significant that <em>Does</em> involves a government mandate requiring certain individuals to be vaccinated. Under <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15783181943891982721&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">existing law</a>, private employers have broad authority to require that their workers get vaccinated. The government, however, is subject to constitutional restrictions that do not apply to private companies.</p> <p>So while <em>Does</em> isn’t likely going to overhaul the reality facing many Americans — one where their employers implemented vaccine mandates voluntarily — it is likely to shape the government’s role. As the first case to reach the justices, <em>Does</em> is also likely to reveal a great deal about how the conservative Court will balance the public’s interest in reducing the spread of Covid-19 against most justices’ belief that people of faith should enjoy broad legal exemptions.</p> <p>On the one hand, the Court has thus far not shown much sympathy for anti-vaxxers. Last August, for example, Justice Amy Coney Barrett <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/08/barrett-leaves-indiana-universitys-vaccine-mandate-in-place/">denied a request</a> by a group of students at Indiana University to block that school’s vaccination requirement. The fact that Barrett acted alone suggests there was little, if any, support for these students among her colleagues.</p> <p>On the other hand, a majority of the justices were extraordinarily sympathetic to religious plaintiffs that sought exemptions from other public health rules intended to slow the spread of Covid-19. Shortly after Barrett joined the Court, giving Republican appointees a 6-3 majority, the Court handed down its landmark decision in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20a87_4g15.pdf"><em>Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo</em></a> (2020). That decision allowed many houses of worship to ignore New York’s occupancy restrictions imposed at the height of the pandemic — <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/2/21726876/supreme-court-religious-liberty-revolutionary-roman-catholic-diocese-cuomo-amy-coney-barrett">radically changing the Court’s approach to religious objectors</a> seeking exemptions from the law in the process.</p> <p><em>Does</em> sits at the intersection of these two approaches to the pandemic. The plaintiffs in <em>Does</em> are health care workers who <a href="http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/21-1826P-01A.pdf">say they oppose abortion on religious grounds</a> and claim that the three Covid-19 vaccines available in the US are either manufactured using cells derived from an aborted fetus or were researched using such cells. Accordingly, they seek an exemption from Maine’s requirement that they be vaccinated.</p> <p>(The Johnson & Johnson vaccine was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/09/15/pastor-donate-vaccine-religious-exemption/">produced with lab replications of fetal cells</a>. The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were not developed using fetal cell lines, but their manufacturers did use cell lines derived from fetuses to test whether the vaccines worked.)</p> <p>Maine’s reason for denying the <em>Does</em> plaintiffs an exemption is straightforward. As the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit explained in an <a href="http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/21-1826P-01A.pdf">opinion</a> rejecting the plaintiffs’ arguments, “Health care facilities are uniquely susceptible to outbreaks of infectious diseases like COVID-19 because medical diagnosis and treatment often require close contact between providers and patients (who often are medically vulnerable).”</p> <p>And health care workers are also the very people who need to intervene in order to prevent a public health crisis. If Covid-19 spreads like wildfire among these workers because too many people in hospitals and similar settings are unvaccinated — and thus <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/22291959/covid-vaccines-transmission-protect-spread-virus-moderna-pfizer">more likely to contract and spread the disease</a> — such an outbreak could disable the very workforce needed to treat Covid-19 patients.</p> <p>One reason why this case is potentially troubling, moreover, is that if religious exemptions to vaccination are allowed, it will be very difficult to prevent people with political or other nonreligious objections from claiming religious motivations for their opposition to the vaccine.</p> <p>Few of the major religions in the US teach their adherents not to take the Covid-19 vaccine. The Catholic Church, for example, says that it’s “morally acceptable” to be vaccinated. Pope Francis <a href="https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2021/09/16/pope-francis-covid-vaccine-skeptics-communion-abortion/8362288002/">likened not getting the vaccine to “suicide,”</a> a grave sin. Anti-vax sentiment is more common among white evangelical Protestants, but even there it is a minority view. As of late June, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-june-2021/">58 percent of white evangelicals</a> had received at least one dose of the vaccine.</p> <p>Nevertheless, at least one <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/09/15/pastor-donate-vaccine-religious-exemption/">pastor appears to be profiting</a> by offering documents to donors claiming that the individual has a religious objection to Covid-19 vaccines — in exchange for a donation. And while the law typically requires someone seeking a religious exemption to have a “sincere” religious belief, courts are ill-equipped to prove sincerity. Many judges will simply have to rely on an individual’s word.</p> <p><em>Does</em>, in other words, potentially pits the health of entire communities against the religious beliefs of a few health workers — and against some workers who may not even have sincere objections. It is far from clear which of these interests the Supreme Court will care more about.</p> <p>In 1990, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision about religious objectors in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/494/872"><em>Employment Division v. Smith</em></a>. Religious objectors, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority, must follow the same laws everyone else must follow. “To make an individual’s obligation to obey such a law contingent upon the law’s coincidence with his religious beliefs,” Scalia warned, risks permitting that individual “by virtue of his beliefs, ‘to become a law unto himself.’”</p> <p>Instead, people who raise religious objections to a law must obey all “neutral law[s] of general applicability.” The government may not single out a particular religious group for inferior treatment. But so long as a law treats people of all religious beliefs alike, it is constitutional, and everyone must follow it.</p> <p><em>Smith</em> <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21150692/supreme-court-religion-discrimination-lgbtq-foster-fulton-philadelphia-first-amendment">sparked an enormous backlash</a>, and many religious conservatives continue to revile it because they believe it provides inadequate legal protections to people of faith. Indeed, just last term the Court heard <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf"><em>Fulton v. City of Philadelphia</em></a> (2021), which asked the justices to overrule <em>Smith</em>.</p> <p>Although Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito arguing that <em>Smith</em> should be overruled, a majority of the Court punted on most of the important issues presented by <em>Fulton</em>. Barrett, however, penned a brief concurring opinion explaining that, while she found many of the arguments against <em>Smith</em> “compelling,” she was not yet sure “what should replace <em>Smith</em>.” Her opinion was joined in full by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.</p> <p>Yet, while Barrett’s <em>Fulton</em> concurrence left <em>Smith</em> in a bit of a limbo state — and made clear that she and Kavanaugh are the most likely fifth votes in religious liberty cases — Barrett’s uncertain approach was a bit surprising because she and Kavanaugh made deep cuts against <em>Smith</em> earlier in the same term.</p> <p>Recall that <em>Smith</em> requires religious objectors to follow a “neutral law of general applicability.” In both <em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em> and a related case, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20a151_4g15.pdf"><em>Tandon v. Newsom</em></a> (2021), the Court — with Kavanaugh and Barrett in the majority — ruled that places of worship should be exempt from certain state public health rules imposing limits on how many people may worship at the same time.</p> <p>“Government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable,” the five most conservative justices wrote in <em>Tandon</em>, “whenever they treat <em>any</em> comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.” But the Court also <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/12/22379689/supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-religion-california-tandon-newsom-first-amendment">defined what constitutes “comparable secular activity” very broadly</a> in <em>Tandon</em> and <em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em>.</p> <p>Prior to those two decisions, the Court permitted anti-Covid regulations to impose occupancy limits on places of worship so long as the same rules were imposed on similar secular institutions. In May 2020, for example, the Court <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/30/21275379/supreme-court-churches-roberts-kavanaugh-south-bay-united-pentecostal-newsom">upheld a California rule</a> imposing occupancy limits on houses of worship. As Chief Justice John Roberts explained, the California rule was acceptable because “similar or more severe restrictions apply to comparable secular gatherings, including lectures, concerts, movie showings, spectator sports, and theatrical performances, where large groups of people gather in close proximity for extended periods of time.”</p> <p>But then Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, and Republican appointees gained a supermajority on the Supreme Court. The new majority ruled in <em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em> that places of worship could be exempt from public health rules if different rules apply to businesses — that are nothing like religious institutions — where large crowds of people gather to socialize, chant, and sing, such as “acupuncture facilities, camp grounds, [and] garages.”</p> <p><em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em> suggests, in other words, that religious institutions must be subject to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/2/21726876/supreme-court-religious-liberty-revolutionary-roman-catholic-diocese-cuomo-amy-coney-barrett">most favorable rules applied to any other institution</a>, even if there are very good policy reasons to treat these institutions differently. <em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em> deemed it irrelevant that public health experts believed that houses of worship — like any other place where large groups of people gather for extended periods of time in an auditorium-like setting — are more likely to host superspreader events than, say, a grocery store.</p> <p>Beginning on October 29, Maine will require all health care workers to be fully vaccinated — with one lonely exception. Health care workers who could suffer health consequences if they received the Covid-19 vaccine, such as someone with a severe allergy to the vaccine that might prove fatal, are exempt from the requirement.</p> <p>The plaintiffs in <em>Do</em>es<em>,</em> relying on decisions like <em>Roman Catholic Diocese</em>, claim this singular exemption to the vaccine requirement forces the state to also exempt people with religious objections. “Maine has plainly singled out religious employees who decline vaccination for religious reasons for especially harsh treatment,” the <em>Does</em> plaintiffs claim in a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21A90/196983/20211020152710123_Application%20-%20Emergency%20Writ%20of%20Injunction%20Pending%20Cert%20FINAL.pdf">brief to the justices</a>, “… while favoring and accommodating employees declining vaccination for secular, medical reasons.”</p> <p>It’s worth pausing to consider just what these plaintiffs are arguing. They claim that if the state offers <em>any</em> exemption whatsoever to the vaccine requirement — even an exemption for people who will literally die if they are vaccinated — then it must also provide an exemption to religious objectors.</p> <p>The First Circuit held that policymakers do not have to make such an impossible choice. Quoting language from <em>Fulton</em>, the First Circuit noted that state policies run afoul of the Constitution when they prohibit “religious conduct while permitting secular conduct that <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf">undermines the government’s asserted interests in a similar way</a>.”</p> <p>But the purpose of Maine’s vaccine mandate is to promote the public health. Requiring health care workers, regardless of their religious beliefs, to become vaccinated advances that goal. By contrast, requiring people who could suffer serious health consequences from vaccination to risk their lives and their health does not. There’s no valid medical rationale for requiring someone to risk a serious allergic reaction or similar consequence.</p> <p>Will that be enough to convince Kavanaugh or Barrett? The truth is that we don’t know yet.</p> <p>It should be noted, however, that <em>Does</em> presents the strongest possible case for not allowing religious exemptions to a vaccine mandate. It is, after all, a case about workers on the front lines of a pandemic. The public health consequences of not vaccinating these workers are likely to vastly exceed the consequences of, say, not vaccinating college students or police officers.</p> <p>In other words, should the Court rule in the plaintiffs’ favor in <em>Does</em>, it’s likely to open up a significant loophole to vaccination requirements.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22737016/supreme-court-covid-vaccine-religious-liberty-brett-kavanaugh-amy-coney-barrett-does-mills">https://www.vox.com/22737016/supreme-court-covid-vaccine-religious-liberty-brett-kavanaugh-amy-coney-barrett-does-mills</a>

vox The future of vaccine mandates will likely come down to Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett

On October 29, Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention will start enforcing a rule requiring all health care workers in the state...

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MLMs might not be able to get away with their shady promises much longer

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ADbZ0vhFJpD5qTJ56AYKP09yd9Q=/0x152:2121x1262/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22939195/GettyImages_1218981051.jpg" /></div> <p>Say I’ve got a business selling bananas, and I want you to sell bananas, too. Presumably, you’d want to know some details about this banana business opportunity, such as whether I’ve ever been sued for lying about my business, whether the amount of money I say you would earn is accurate, and what happens if, after selling for a while, you want to quit. Perhaps you’d want to take a week to think about it before signing on.</p> <p>For most business opportunities in the United States, that’s the legal standard I would have to follow to get you on board. It doesn’t apply to multilevel marketing companies (MLMs), though. They’re exempt — at least for now.</p> <p>A decade ago, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2011/11/ftc-adds-new-protections-consumers-seeking-work-home">put in place</a> the “<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/business-opportunity-rule">business opportunity rule</a>,” which basically describes a set of requirements for people trying to get others involved in a business opportunity, such as a work-from-home job (<a href="https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/pass-it-on/work-at-home-scams">some of which are scams</a>). The rule says that people offering such opportunities have to provide support for any income claims — if I tell you that you can make $1 million a year in my banana business, I have to prove it. They must also disclose whether they’ve been involved in certain legal actions (such as any involving fraud), and list them out if they have; detail their refund and cancellation policy (if they have one); and provide a list of at least 10 other people who have bought in, all seven days before the person they’re recruiting pays any money or signs anything.</p> <p>There were <a href="http://www.mlmwatch.org/06FTC/business_opportunity/taylor.html">plenty</a> of <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/business-opportunity-rule-535221-00108/535221-00108.pdf">people</a> who believed that MLMs should be included in the FTC rule when it was enacted a decade ago, but they were granted an exception following massive pushback from the industry. “That’s the power of lobbying for you,” said Douglas Brooks, an attorney who specializes in MLMs.</p> <p>That could be about to change. The FTC <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2021/06/ftc-schedules-review-business-opportunity-rule">announced</a> in June that it would review the business opportunity rule as part of a revised 10-year review schedule — and there is hope that, this time around, MLMs might be roped in.</p> <p>Earlier this year, then-FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra (who was recently confirmed as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), put out a <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/public-statements/2021/06/statement-commissioner-rohit-chopra-regarding-business-opportunity-rule">statement</a> urging that MLMs and gig-economy platforms be included in the rule. Now that Chopra’s at the CFPB, the other commissioners — including FTC Chair Lina Khan, a protégé of Chopra’s, and Noah Phillips, a Republican-appointed commissioner <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/ftcphillips/status/1388251341655523328">who has criticized MLMs in the past</a> — are expected to take a look at the issue.</p> <p>Outside the FTC, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/01/anti-mlm-reddit-youtube/617816/">anti-MLM sentiment has been on the rise</a> of late as people involved have felt more emboldened to speak out about the pitfalls of the business model and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22648447/lularich-lularoe-amazon-streaming">high-profile</a> <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/30/18114919/the-dream-jane-marie-mlms">media projects</a> have called attention to the issue.</p> <p>MLMs are certain to push back against their inclusion. One lawyer I spoke to, who asked to withhold their name because they have clients in the industry, told me that the rule would be “disastrous” for MLMs and likely “decimate” the industry. Whether the FTC actually makes any changes to the rule is uncertain, and the process could take months or even years. But it’s a start.</p> <p>To back up a bit, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/5/12/11577466/multilevel-marketing">multilevel marketing</a> is a business model where sellers derive profits in two ways — by selling a product or service, and by recruiting other people to sell that product or service. Generally, the latter is more lucrative than the former.</p> <p>It’s a big industry. The Direct Selling Association (DSA), a trade group representing MLMs, <a href="https://www.dsa.org/events/news/individual-press-release/direct-selling-association-releases-data-showing-record-high-sales-sellers-and-customers-in-the-u.s.-in-2020">says</a> it was worth $40 billion in 2020 and encompasses millions of sellers. It’s also a controversial one: The vast, vast majority of sellers <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/15/17971410/lularoe-lipsense-amway-itworks-mary-kay-mlm-multilevel-marketing">make little, if any, money in MLMs</a> (they often lose money), and consultants and companies have been caught on <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/04/ftc-sends-warning-letters-multi-level-marketers-regarding-health">multiple occasions</a> making misleading claims about earnings potential and product effectiveness. Critics say MLMs are in essence <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/insights/what-is-a-pyramid-scheme/">pyramid schemes</a>, where only people at the top make money, and do so by constantly recruiting new members. MLMs reject this characterization, but at the very least, some MLMs have gotten into trouble with regulators for bad behavior, including <a href="https://pyramidschemealert.org/analysis-amway-accused-of-fraud-pays-150-million-wheres-the-ftc-and-doj/">Amway</a>, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2019/10/ftc-settlement-ends-advocares-alleged-pyramid-scheme-bans">AdvoCare</a>, and <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2016/07/herbalife-will-restructure-its-multi-level-marketing-operations">Herbalife</a>.</p> <p>MLMs aren’t completely unregulated — the FTC and <a href="https://www.sec.gov/oiea/investor-alerts-bulletins/investor-alerts-ia_pyramidhtm.html">Securities Exchange Commission</a>, for example, have some purview over them. But it’s hard not to wonder whether there could be more guardrails, including with something like the business opportunity rule, which MLMs have vociferously opposed.</p> <p><a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2006/04/ftc-proposes-new-business-opportunity-rule">First proposed in 2006</a> and finalized in 2011, the business opportunity rule is meant to protect consumers from “bogus business opportunities” by laying out some basic requirements about what potential recruits need to be told and when. When the rule was first proposed, the MLM industry went into overdrive to try to make sure it wouldn’t apply to them. As <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/8/5590550/alleged-pyramid-schemes-lobbying-ftc">The Verge outlined</a> in 2014, the DSA got over 17,000 people to send comment letters to the FTC opposing the then-forming rule being applied to MLMs. (By comparison, MLM critics sent under 200 letters.) MLMs also boosted lobbying expenditures and got dozens of members of Congress to write to the FTC urging it to let MLMs be.</p> <p>“They just swamped the FTC with things basically saying, ‘If you do this to us, it’ll destroy the industry,’” Brooks said.</p> <p>MLMs were successful: The FTC decided that they should be exempted from the rule, <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/federal_register_notices/16-c.f.r.part-437-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-final-rule/111122bizoppfrn.pdf">determining</a> that it “would have imposed greater burdens on the MLM industry than other types of business opportunity sellers without sufficient countervailing benefits to consumers.” An FTC <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/federal_register_notices/16-c.f.r.part-437-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-final-rule/111122bizoppfrn.pdf">staff report</a> said that some MLMs do engage in bad practices and are pyramid schemes, but that would better be determined on a case-by-case basis and the “record developed was insufficient as a basis for crafting MLM disclosures that would effectively help consumers make an informed decision about the risks of joining a particular MLM.”</p> <p>Looking at how MLMs operate, critics have questioned whether the FTC’s decision was the right one — and hope they’ll decide differently now. There’s been increased scrutiny by the public on MLMs in recent years, and regulators have continued to take notice of their practices. The FTC has sent out warning letters to MLMs during the pandemic over their earnings and product claims (<a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22688317/mlm-covid-19-pandemic-recruiting-sales-paparazzi">companies and sellers have taken advantage of the crisis</a>). The regulator <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2019/11/ftc-alleges-neora-formerly-known-nerium-operates-illegal">is currently enmeshed in a lawsuit</a> against Neora, which sells skin care and wellness products, over allegations that it is a pyramid scheme.</p> <p>The public has taken more notice of MLMs and the business model as well. For a long time, many people who were involved in MLMs and failed (which most do) didn’t talk about it — they were embarrassed, or they felt guilty over roping their friends and family into it, too. Former sellers and experts say that MLM culture is one where leaders place blame for failure fully on the shoulders of the individual. Sellers are told that if it doesn’t work out, it’s their fault and their fault alone. But there has been an explosion of growth in anti-MLM communities on the internet, and there seems to be a greater awareness of the drawbacks the business model brings with it.</p> <p>In other words, the FTC won’t just be flooded with comments from the pro-MLM community this time around, it’s also likely to hear more from the anti-MLM community as well.</p> <p>“I would expect that there are going to be many comments, and I would expect that the MLM industry will gather its troops,” said Bonnie Patten, executive director of Truth in Advertising, a consumer advocacy nonprofit.</p> <p>The FTC’s exact timing here is unclear. Patten said she expects action to begin in December, though she acknowledges it’s a bit of an “informed guess.” Even then, <a href="https://www.winston.com/en/direct-sellers-update-regulation-law-and-policy/the-future-of-the-mlm-excemption-from-the-business-opportunity-rule-is-at-risk.html">there’s a long road ahead</a>, as the FTC will have to solicit public comments, send notices to lawmakers, and could hold arguments regarding changes. “This is a slow and laborious process,” Patten said.</p> <p>Now that Chopra is at the CFPB, there have been some doubts among MLM critics as to how efforts to include MLMs in the business opportunity rule will proceed at the FTC. Chopra was the commissioner who had explicitly mentioned including MLMs under the rule, and now, the FTC has four commissioners instead of the usual five, so votes could come down to a two-two split. Still, Patten said she’s relatively optimistic. “If we’re focused on MLM, I think of all the deceptive marketing issues in a deck of cards, MLM is the one that it appears all commissioners agree is an issue,” she said.</p> <p>The FTC declined to comment on the matter, noting that they generally don’t speak publicly about rule-making processes as they are underway.</p> <p>When you watch something like <a href="https://www.vox.com/22648447/lularich-lularoe-amazon-streaming">the LuLaRoe documentary</a> or listen to a podcast like <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-dream"><em>The Dream</em></a>, it’s sometimes hard not to land in the same spot: How in the world can this be legal? Or at the very least, why isn’t more being done to look out for people before they get sucked in?</p> <p>Most people don’t make money; plenty lose money. Some companies make earnings disclosures available, but they’re generally really difficult to read and understand. Even if it’s relatively clear that eight in 10 consultants make less than $10 a month, recruits are sold on the hope that they’ll be one of the lucky few to make $100,000.</p> <p>Many MLMs don’t really know where their products go once they arrive at the sellers, who are often encouraged to buy in order to stay active in the company and show their commitment. (Their uplines, the people above them, make money when they buy.) Whether sellers are actually offloading those lotions or essential oils or earrings to other people, or just piling them up in their garage, the corporate office often is unaware.</p> <p>Including MLMs in the business opportunity rule wouldn’t be a panacea, but at the very least, experts say it could be a good start. “All this rule would have required were some pretty basic disclosures and a seven-day cooling-off period, and you’re saying this is going to destroy the industry?” Brooks, the MLM attorney, said. “What’s going on here? Why would that be so destructive?”</p> <p>A sample <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/attachments/disclosure-important-information-about-business-opportunity/111122bizoppappendixa.pdf">disclosure form</a> on the FTC’s website doesn’t look that complex. Yet, Brooks said he expects it to be a “knock-down, drag-out” fight if it looks to the industry like MLMs will get included in the business opportunity rule. “I don’t doubt that they will go to Congress and try to get a law passed that will sort of preempt that effort,” he said. Indeed, there is a <a href="https://www.dsa.org/advocacy/caucus">direct selling caucus</a> in Washington, DC, with more than three dozen members, Republican and Democrat alike.</p> <p>In a statement to Vox, Joseph Mariano, president and CEO of the DSA, said the organization “looks forward to a constructive engagement with the FTC on any prospective rule-making that might apply to direct sellers.” He said the DSA “has a long history of encouraging self-regulation and consumer protection as a complement to appropriate and reasonable government regulation” and pointed to the DSA’s <a href="https://www.dsa.org/consumerprotection/code-of-ethics">code of ethics</a>, which member companies and sellers must abide by, and the DSA’s <a href="https://www.dsa.org/dssrc/direct-selling-self-regulatory-council">self-regulatory council</a>.</p> <p>Brooks thinks efforts to curb MLM activity should go further than the business opportunity rule and other tools currently in the FTC’s toolbox. (Earlier this year, the Supreme Court curbed some of the FTC’s <a href="https://www.crowell.com/NewsEvents/AlertsNewsletters/all/The-Supreme-Court-Limits-FTCs-13b-Powers">ability to seek monetary relief</a>, which has prompted some of the conversation around the business opportunity rule.) In his view, regulators need to have harder lines around what MLMs can and can’t do in the first place.</p> <p>“The FTC should prohibit certain types or aspects of MLM compensation plans, because the real problem with these companies is in the compensation plans, it’s the whole structure of the thing,” Brooks said. “People end up spending thousands and tens of thousands of dollars having thought that this was originally a $50 investment.”</p> <p>So back to my banana business. At the very least, many experts say, I should have to tell you if the banana sellers under me are making $1 or $1 million a month. If I promise you that you’ll be a banana billionaire, I should have proof, and also tell you if there was a banana-related fraud lawsuit in my past, and give you a few days to decide if you want to get in on the bananas — whether I’m an MLM or not.</p> <p>The harder question — and one the FTC isn’t looking at now, but perhaps should — is whether I should be able to get you in on the banana business at all if I know you’re almost sure to fail. If 99 of 100 sellers are in banana bankruptcy, just how hard can I sell you on the 1 in 100 dream of being a banana billionaire? That’s a question for another day.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22732586/ftc-mlm-rohit-chopra-business-opportunity-rule">https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22732586/ftc-mlm-rohit-chopra-business-opportunity-rule</a>

vox MLMs might not be able to get away with their shady promises much longer

Say I’ve got a business selling bananas, and I want you to sell bananas, too. Presumably, you’d want to know some details about this banana...

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The fate of the planet will be negotiated in Glasgow

<p>Almost every country in the world signed the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">2015 Paris climate agreement</a>, a monumental accord that aimed to limit global warming. But it was forged on a contradiction: Every signatory agreed that everyone must do something to address the urgent threat of climate change, but no one at the time pledged to do enough.</p> <p>In the years since the agreement, the emissions that trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere have continued to rise.</p> <p>The Paris Agreement aimed to limit global warming this century to less than 2 degrees Celsius, compared to temperatures before the industrial revolution, with a more optimistic goal of staying below 1.5°C. Both of these goals would require rapid and radical shifts away from fossil fuels — and eventually, zeroing out emissions of greenhouse gases entirely.</p> <p>Signatories did agree that they would set more ambitious targets for themselves over time and eventually get on track to meet global climate goals. Whether they will actually do so is about to be tested at <a href="https://ukcop26.org/">COP26</a>, the most important international climate conference in years.</p> <p>“This is definitely the biggest [climate meeting] since Paris, and it has to be a turning point if we’re going to be successful,” said <a href="https://www.wri.org/profile/helen-mountford">Helen Mountford</a>, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute.</p> <p>The meeting will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, between October 31 and November 12. More than 100 <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/which-leaders-will-attend-cop26-full-list-of-country-heads-visiting-glasgow-for-climate-change-summit-3392176">world leaders</a>, including US President Joe Biden, are expected to attend a portion of the conference.</p> <p>The world has already failed to meet many earlier targets, drawing the ire of climate activists. “Build back better. Blah, blah, blah. Green economy. Blah, blah, blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,” Swedish climate activist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/28/blah-greta-thunberg-leaders-climate-crisis-co2-emissions">Greta Thunberg said in September</a>. “Words that sound great but so far have not led to action.”</p> <p>Some thorny issues that derailed past meetings, such as payments for developing countries that are living through climate disasters, remain unresolved. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic, which delayed COP26 from its original dates in November 2020, is still claiming thousands of lives per day, leading to national lockdowns and disrupting trade. Even after a year of devastating hurricanes, heat waves, and wildfires, climate change may not be every country’s top priority.</p> <p>But there’s no time to lose: The window for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement is closing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported in 2018 that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/9/17951924/climate-change-global-warming-un-ipcc-report-takeaways">staying below 1.5°C of warming</a> required the world to roughly halve emissions from current levels by 2030. This year, the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22613027/un-ipcc-climate-change-report-ar6-disaster">IPCC reported</a> that the world is poised to miss this target even in the most optimistic scenarios they studied.</p> <p>“Scientists tell us that this is the decisive decade,” Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/22/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-virtual-leaders-summit-on-climate-opening-session/">said in April</a>. “This is the decade we must make decisions that will avoid the worst consequences of the climate crisis.”</p> <p>Some countries, seeing the brightening spotlight of COP26, have begun to announce more aggressive climate goals in the runup to the meeting. This week, the UK put out its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-58973826">road map for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions</a> by the middle of the century. But the most scrutiny will fall on the world’s largest emitters — China, the US, and India — and whether they will take tangible steps to curb their pollution. Biden and the US delegation are now counting on Congress to pass a suite of climate policies to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table.</p> <p>The Paris climate agreement aims to solve a global crisis, but its bureaucratic constraints have frustrated the process.</p> <p>Joining the accord is voluntary, which means any signatory can leave if they want to, as the <a href="https://www.vox.com/21545960/paris-agreement-accord-exit-leaves-trump-biden-election-2020-climate-change">US did briefly last year</a>. And even the countries that stay in have the freedom to set their own goals for cutting greenhouse gases. If they miss their targets, there is no penalty.</p> <p>It may seem odd that an agreement to save the world from itself would have so few firm rules. However, the Paris Agreement was the culmination of two decades of stalled diplomacy, and many countries shot down stronger language around binding greenhouse emissions targets, oversight, and punishments.</p> <p>The Paris Agreement is thus a delicate balancing act, accomplishing its goals mainly with nudges and incentives. It aims to steer everyone — developing countries, oil economies, regional rivals, island states threatened by sea level rise — toward a common objective, and that’s a very tall order.</p> <p>Here are some of the key items on the agenda for COP26 (officially known as the 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).</p> <p><strong>Getting countries to do more:</strong> Under the Paris Agreement, every country is required to publish a climate change target and a route for getting there, or what’s called a <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs/nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs">Nationally Determined Contribution</a> (NDC). The first round of NDCs put forward in 2015 were clearly inadequate, putting the world on course for roughly 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century.</p> <p>Climate leaders hoped that in the runup to COP26, countries would roll out new commitments for the coming decade, as well as long-term strategies for eliminating emissions by the middle of the century. As of October 21, 114 countries and the European Union have <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/climate-target-update-tracker/">submitted new NDCs</a>. Some major emitters like the US, United Kingdom, and China have proposed or submitted stronger targets. But others, like Russia, Brazil, and Australia, <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/climate-target-update-tracker/list-non-updating-countries/">did not meaningfully ramp up their goals</a>. Still others like India have yet to submit a new NDC.</p> <p>The leaders at COP26 will try to create carrots and sticks to motivate the laggards and holdouts to take more aggressive action. Many countries are now adamant that the limit for warming this century should be 1.5°C, now that many countries have already suffered the tolls of disasters worsened by climate change — a sign that 2°C of warming would be far worse.</p> <p>According to the IPCC, the difference between 1.5°C and 2°C includes 2 extra inches of sea level rise, putting an extra 10 million people at risk of coastal flooding and related problems. Two degrees of warming would double the number of people exposed to extreme heat at least once every five years. This extra warming would also lead to greater declines in fisheries, crop production, and habitats for vital species like insect pollinators.</p> <p>“Because of that new science, I think certainly in the climate community, 1.5°C de facto is now what everyone is talking about,” Mountford said.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634914843_3689_177447" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945956,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Mo5QYzZaJHHA-UmXEM7k0UOsvj0=/0x0:5309x3533/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/eB849yTfjuUliVej61Ag4p0rU_8=/0x0:5309x3533/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gZMyQyAQio6_W_3LjTsbuAdee7E=/0x0:5309x3533/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MfICoIREtVFhIUiX6Akbz71mKT0=/0x0:5309x3533/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/37LOyGYB7y_VnpsoywKZ0CeYKeM=/0x0:5309x3533/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/M0YjvMTuZYCbpwlquc04mQ93KNg=/0x0:5309x3533/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HeiDnUGE8rstleYdUdWkqpFnL-g=/0x0:5309x3533/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PUbq1JIvx7HVeRKVykRMHq6qJA0=/0x0:5309x3533/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/aJy6nE2BuXen--2Pe_fAlV_ARDQ=/0x0:5309x3533/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="Two painters, one on a ladder, create a mural on the side of a brick building titled “Our Climate Is Changing.” Half of the mural depicts flowers and blue sky, the other half shows fire and black clouds." data-upload-width="5309" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fk4VPIu5doQArwfBEhuMey2ykXc=/0x0:5309x3533/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0qUCC9b6knCv88vPaOCogTv6nZo=/0x0:5309x3533/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mRHGRMaqw2NRW8PF-XxaLax2TO0=/0x0:5309x3533/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-GuyRr_9c_TrUyIS26Byhm-JQvs=/0x0:5309x3533/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UV7FrVCIj5SVqQvE7PJGOxc1OcU=/0x0:5309x3533/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0qz-HIyWNBhGNvCzUIfm1xeVkn8=/0x0:5309x3533/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/s9HBfkRYcSwEXdaUjceSumqllbk=/0x0:5309x3533/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hQjjXCwqjOaAV7KF6Kq_h35MCGs=/0x0:5309x3533/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I1ZO6kv_1S6eKKwTk7oglBLEGW8=/0x0:5309x3533/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/LFuag7LGYXkncMYPQzI_ArD8rrA=/0x0:5309x3533/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5309x3533):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945956/GettyImages_1346389439.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">Artists paint a mural on a wall next to the Clydeside Expressway near the Scottish Events Centre, where COP26 will take place.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>Technology for cutting carbon out of the economy, like renewable energy, has also improved since the Paris Agreement was signed. Some countries and many activists argue that a tougher target is essential to taking advantage of these improvements and that mitigation needs to begin right away.</p> <p>This conference has to signal a “shift from making commitments to actually taking action,” said <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/leaders/marcene-mitchell">Marcene Mitchell</a>, senior vice president of climate change at the World Wildlife Fund. Countries not only need to make bigger promises, Mitchell added, they need to match them with actual policies.</p> <p><strong>International carbon markets:</strong> One of the ways countries are aiming to meet their climate change goals is by pricing carbon dioxide emissions and creating accounting mechanisms for reducing them. That can take the form of credits or offsets that are traded with other countries. Under <a href="http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2019/12/02/what-you-need-to-know-about-article-6-of-the-paris-agreement/">Article 6</a> of the Paris Agreement, wealthier countries can compensate for their higher emissions by financing clean energy in developing countries or helping restore carbon-absorbing ecosystems like rainforests.</p> <p>The trouble is that if these markets are not designed well, they may simply end up as a way for wealthier countries to buy their way out of reducing their own emissions. Without proper verification, the credits may not deliver the carbon reductions they promised. In past climate meetings, countries like the US, Australia, and Brazil pushed for language in these rules that would grant them more flexibility. However, most other countries found these provisions unacceptable because they would weaken the program. This issue forced several previous meetings to go over their allotted times. It remains unresolved and may not be settled at COP26.</p> <p><strong>Loss and damage:</strong> The core injustice of climate change is that the people who contributed least to the problem stand to suffer the most. Though not strictly part of the Paris Agreement, a key part of the discussion at COP26 will be around how to <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/the-big-picture/introduction-to-loss-and-damage'">compensate countries facing the impacts of climate change today</a>, from rising sea levels eroding shores to more devastating extreme weather.</p> <p>Securing this funding is a huge priority for many countries, particularly island countries and those with small economies. However, wealthier countries that have historically emitted the most greenhouse gases have resisted language that would force them to chip in and instead advocated softer language that would make these wealth transfers voluntary. And so far, countries have not made much progress in closing the gap. “It’s a contentious issue, it’s a big issue, it’s a complicated issue,” said Mitchell. “This is my own personal view: I don’t think that will get resolved here at this COP.”</p> <p><strong>Climate finance:</strong> It’s expensive to build resilience to climate change and shift from fossil fuels toward clean energy, particularly for developing countries. The UNFCCC created the <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/news/gcf-board-accelerates-climate-finance-ahead-cop26-meeting-approving-usd-12-billion-new">Green Climate Fund</a> in 2010 to finance these projects around the world with grants and loans. It includes programs like developing sustainable agriculture in Thailand and building cooling facilities for residents in countries like Bangladesh facing extreme heat.</p> <p>Governments meeting at COP26 set a target of deploying <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/climate-finance-roadmap-to-us100-billion.pdf">$100 billion a year</a> in international climate financing through programs like the Green Climate Fund by 2020. But so far, countries haven’t contributed enough to meet the target, falling short by <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/growing-ambition-role-green-climate-fund-scaling-finance-climate-action">$20 billion in 2018</a>, the most recent estimate available.</p> <p>More international climate financing would help drive down greenhouse gas emissions from developing countries and motivate them to set more ambitious goals. However, some countries now say that even $100 billion isn’t enough. A negotiator representing African countries, for example, told <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20211006150426-vxjzu/">Reuters</a> that international climate financing should be scaled up to $1.3 trillion by 2030.</p> <p>The US has the dubious distinction of being the only country to complete a 360-degree turn on the Paris Agreement. It helped convene the accord in 2015, yet former President Trump withdrew the US in 2020. President Biden signed an executive order in January to rejoin and the US was <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-officially-rejoins-the-paris-agreement/">formally back in the Paris accord in February</a>.</p> <p>Since the US is the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/business/united-states-is-the-richest-country-in-the-world-and-it-has-the-biggest-wealth-gap.html">wealthiest country in the world</a> and the <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/24/18512804/climate-change-united-states-china-emissions">largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases</a>, it plays a prominent role in climate negotiations and has an even greater obligation to act on the crisis. At COP26, the US not only has to make up for lost time, it also has to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22401917/biden-climate-plan-summit-republicans-congress-midterm-elections">rebuild trust</a> with other countries and show that it’s willing to be more ambitious.</p> <p>“There is this sense of exhaustion about how long is it going to take for one of the biggest emitters in the world to do its fair share,” Rachel Cleetus, the clean energy policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Vox’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">Rebecca Leber</a> earlier this month.</p> <figure class="e-image"><span class="e-image__inner"><span class="e-image__image" data-original="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1634914843_7347_177448" data-cdata='{"asset_id":22945975,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3LmuCkzfDqYgEoBy3SNpMW-cwlE=/0x0:5848x3899/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DziPWg9RUHV5S4bMSJqQlH_u1Es=/0x0:5848x3899/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/YXaTMioJZQtDgKgaYNnRA8qD8mU=/0x0:5848x3899/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u0KWNcFWcrg1gHYAgEtS-EQ-__k=/0x0:5848x3899/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G0JMzFwnPkJjQKnUsSkXOsrerRY=/0x0:5848x3899/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ovQJXSCERGNq3UruAyMUYokIgjs=/0x0:5848x3899/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DnPNqGQBLXVMxWavB-RA3uhfDOQ=/0x0:5848x3899/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PMmUERPvcHYC4_h55Vv3kpSMDmo=/0x0:5848x3899/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bd22uAZDHzkbIMibmGCHBm9XOAI=/0x0:5848x3899/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5848" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8feYNVa3Ijns6aN3H6EZwWRZdCE=/0x0:5848x3899/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HV47LPpqEVxdNqHV4vedl_oCe4s=/0x0:5848x3899/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/hWwuXIRgbROnkCddZN_T3pzO9V4=/0x0:5848x3899/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UwOMclhKh8Zecz0kjeH7rRh6y-w=/0x0:5848x3899/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/OJrg1bMjPjwrXw_m94H1RO6NgKg=/0x0:5848x3899/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2j4h-8yyTHnT5izH-i7xDrLlndQ=/0x0:5848x3899/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/woWwH_gnhzxej72cGaOtUKT7zYc=/0x0:5848x3899/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WnKTfATCV8KudA-a-164CV03gZs=/0x0:5848x3899/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9wM5voR8UNvHOixQHe8jvH1gzHM=/0x0:5848x3899/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ErXVtSi1w1jNvdeUxcf_jn66MT8=/0x0:5848x3899/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5848x3899):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22945975/GettyImages_1314031112.jpg 1920w" /></picture></span></span> <figcaption><span class="e-image__meta">President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a virtual summit on climate at the White House in April. The president pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030.</span></figcaption> <span class="e-image__meta"><cite>Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</cite></span></figure> <p>In April, Biden announced that the US was adopting a new climate goal: cutting emissions within the decade by <a href="https://www.vox.com/22397364/earth-day-us-climate-change-summit-biden-john-kerry-commitment-2030-zero-emissions">50 to 52 percent</a>, compared to the US emissions peak in 2005. That’s a big step up from the previous target, which aimed for 26 to 28 percent reductions by 2025. US emissions have been declining since 2005, with a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1b1dfaf0-4dfb-4788-9270-f880242b2a56">precipitous drop in 2020</a> due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/20/carbon-emissions-to-soar-in-2021-by-second-highest-rate-in-history">greenhouse gases are already starting to rebound</a>.</p> <p>President Biden has already used some of his <a href="https://www.vox.com/21549521/climate-change-senate-election-joe-biden">executive power to drive actions on climate change</a>, like setting targets for electric vehicle production, limiting new oil and gas production on public lands, and pushing financial institutions to incorporate climate risk into their assessments.</p> <p>But the fate of the largest parts of Biden’s climate agenda is in the hands of Congress, not the White House.</p> <p>Democrats in Congress have been hurrying to put these plans into action with the <a href="https://www.vox.com/22685920/democrats-infrastructure-build-back-better-climate-change">bipartisan infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act</a>. These bills, as originally written, could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade. With midterm elections looming next year, Democrats may not get another chance for years to advance major climate change legislation.</p> <p>“If that’s done before COP, I think that would actually give a number of countries quite a bit of reassurance that what the administration is committed to will be delivered,” said Mountford. “If it’s not quite done before COP, I think people will still be viewing them with some skepticism.”</p> <p>But the US delegation may arrive in Glasgow with a weaker hand than they had hoped for because the legislation is already being whittled down as Democrats are <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/10/16/22729648/manchin-climate-change-reconciliation-clean-electricity-program">forced to compromise</a> in the Senate. “For [the US] to have credibility and leadership, we need to not just come with a statement and commitment, but actually the money to pay for it,” Mitchell said.</p> <p>What happens now, first in Congress and then in Glasgow, will help shape the ambitions of countries around the world as they meet the challenge of climate change. It’s not a stretch to say that the future of our planet as we know it is at stake.</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22714800/cop26-un-climate-change-conference-glasgow-explained">https://www.vox.com/22714800/cop26-un-climate-change-conference-glasgow-explained</a>

vox The fate of the planet will be negotiated in Glasgow

Almost every country in the world signed the 2015 Paris climate agreement , a monumental accord that aimed to limit global warming. But it w...

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She Creeps Me Out

<p><strong>After a week-long campaign of hysterical fearmongering during which the media and public technocrats lobbied for new restrictions, scientific modelling reveals that COVID cases in the UK are actually set to plummet.</strong></p> <p>Whoops. Narrative fail.</p> <p>As we highlighted last week, the mass testing of children returning to school and students returning to university caused a spike in UK COVID cases.</p> <p>The media responded by completely ignoring the fact that around half of the cases were children, the vast majority of whom show no symptoms and don’t need to be hospitalized.</p> <p>Media outlets like CNBC also <a href="https://summit.news/2021/10/20/wrong-cnbc-lies-about-covid-hospitalizations-in-effort-to-amplify-calls-for-new-lockdown/">outright lied</a> in claiming hospitalizations had risen when in reality they had flatlined.</p> <p>By creating a climate of alarmism, health technocrats and the press attempted to force the government into re-imposing restrictions like mandatory mask mandates (despite the fact that the UK recorded its previous COVID case high when mask mandates were in place and had been for 10 months previously).</p> <p>However, it has now been revealed that the government’s own COVID-19 modelling shows virus cases are set to plummet within weeks.</p> <p>“One model, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, suggests that cases will soon peak before falling steeply in the winter months, even without Plan B,” reports <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/10/24/coronavirus-cases-slump-winter-say-scientists/">the Telegraph</a>.</p> <p>“Other unpublished models seen by the Government have also shown similar imminent drops, with experts indicating that cases could fall to around 5,000 cases a day before Christmas.”</p> <p>The report highlights what we emphasized last week, that the case spike is largely due to kids returning to school.</p> <p>“Much of the current wave is being driven by high case rates in children,” states the article, adding that this will run out of steam soon due to rising levels of immunity.</p> <p>No doubt mask freaks and other lockdown fetishists will be devastated when COVID-19 cases do begin to fall over the next few weeks.</p> <p>As we document in the video below, the same technocrats keep making the same spectacularly wrong predictions in an effort to pressure the government into rolling back basic freedoms.</p> <p>Why are we still listening to them?</p> <p>[embedded content]</p> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Follow on Twitter:</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong></p> <p>In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/"><strong>Locals</strong></a>.</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/10/25/she-creeps-me-out/">https://summit.news/2021/10/25/she-creeps-me-out/</a>

revolution summit She Creeps Me Out

After a week-long campaign of hysterical fearmongering during which the media and public technocrats lobbied for new restrictions, scientifi...

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Joe Rogan Calls Don Lemon A ‘Dumb Motherf—er’ For Continuing ‘Horse De-wormer’ Smear

<p><strong>The National Theatre of Scotland has banned the word “spooky” over its “racial connotations” despite nobody complaining and despite there being no record of it ever being used as a racial slur in the United Kingdom.</strong></p> <p>Yes, really.</p> <p>“A source at the Scottish theatre told the Daily Record that no one has complained about the term “spooky” but they were concerned the word could become problematic in the future,” reports <a href="https://www.rt.com/uk/537748-scotland-theatre-spooky-woke-banned/">RT</a>.</p> <p>So based on the prospect that somebody, somewhere, might be offended in the future by a completely non-controversial word, it has to be banned.</p> <p>Apparently, the word “spooky” may have been used in America 80 years ago during World War II to refer to black pilots, meaning it must be expunged from our consciousness for eternity.</p> <p>The reason for the elimination of the word becomes clear when we learn it happened as a result of “a lot of training and meetings since the [Black Lives Matter] movement” about how “[National Theatre Scotland] should change.”</p> <p>In other words, the social engineering brainwashing struggle sessions have claimed another victim, this time a prosaic word.</p> <p>The theatre said it will “always interrogate language choices” for “historically oppressive connotations” in order to satiate the mere threat of the baying thought police mob.</p> <p>There was some backlash to the announcement, although since these institutions never listen to it, and always default to what a minority of unhinged extremists wants, it’s always rather pointless.</p> <p>Professor Sir Geoff Palmer said he’d never heard of “spooky” being used as a racial slur, adding that the theatre was “doing more harm than good.”</p> <p>“Does anyone actually want this? Is it just high up white people doing what they think is right without actually trying to learn and understand where the problems actually are?” asked a Twitter respondent.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="7.5614754098361"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Does anyone actually want this? Is it just high up white people doing what they think is right without actually trying to learn and understand where the problems actually are? <a href="https://t.co/hlyjj6RVvB">https://t.co/hlyjj6RVvB</a></p> <p>— Nicola (@missxwilliams) <a href="https://twitter.com/missxwilliams/status/1449994258476322819?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2021</a></p> </blockquote> <p>“Can anyone find a single instance of “spooky” being used as a racial slur in the UK since, say, 1960?” asked another person.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="9.8717948717949"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr" xml:lang="en">Can anyone find a single instance of “spooky” being used as a racial slur in the UK since, say, 1960?</p> <p>— Emily Elephant (@ee_elephant) <a href="https://twitter.com/ee_elephant/status/1449842081380409356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2021</a></p> </blockquote> <p>“It really is a sickness now,” commented another.</p> <p>Remember when they said ‘political correctness is just being nice to people’?</p> <p>Oh, how far we’ve descended.</p> <p><strong>SUBSCRIBE on YouTube:</strong></p> <p>Follow on Twitter:</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <p>Brand <strong>new merch</strong> now available! Get it at <a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><strong>https://www.pjwshop.com/</strong></a></p> <p><a href="https://www.pjwshop.com/"><img alt="PJW Shop" border="0" height="600" src="https://cdn.summit.news/2021/07/merch.jpg" width="348" /></a></p> <p><strong>ALERT!</strong></p> <p>In the age of mass Silicon Valley censorship It is crucial that we stay in touch.</p> <p>I need you to sign up for my free newsletter <a href="https://summit.news/newsletter">here</a>.</p> <p>Support my sponsor – <a href="https://bit.ly/TURBOFORCE">Turbo Force</a> – a supercharged boost of clean energy without the comedown.</p> <p>Get early access, exclusive content and behinds the scenes stuff by following me on <a href="https://pauljosephwatson.locals.com/"><strong>Locals</strong></a>.</p> <p>———————————————————————————————————————</p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://summit.news/2021/10/25/joe-rogan-calls-don-lemon-a-dumb-motherf-er-for-continuing-horse-de-wormer-smear/">https://summit.news/2021/10/25/joe-rogan-calls-don-lemon-a-dumb-motherf-er-for-continuing-horse-de-wormer-smear/</a>

revolution summit Joe Rogan Calls Don Lemon A ‘Dumb Motherf—er’ For Continuing ‘Horse De-wormer’ Smear

The National Theatre of Scotland has banned the word “spooky” over its “racial connotations” despite nobody complaining and despite there be...

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