Max Weber

I have to agree with several other posts which said there was nothing particularly new in Weber's lecture, but I did find several elements of it interesting. What stood out most to me was his discussion of the importance of journalism in politics. It often seems in studying history that the power of journalism is something which is only understood retrospectively, but it is clear here that Weber is well aware of the power of the media over politics. This may be a misperception on my part, after all the Spanish-American war clearly revealed the power of media, and it seems unlikely that people were unaware of the machinations of newspapermen, but in the era of 24 hour news networks it seems like a particularly apt observation. Also apt, and mostly ironic, in light of CNN and Fox News, is Weber's discussion of the necessary genius of good journalism. I couldn't help but wonder what he would have to say about the journalistic influence on the current election.

Also, looking at this article as it relates to Dune, it struck me that Paul's personas of Muad'Dib and Duke Atredies capture all of the types of power which Weber discusses. Muad'Dib's power is based almost entirely on "the authority of the extraordinary." He has the absolute devotion of his followers solely because they believed in him. His authority as the Duke, however, came through the "authority of eternal yesterday" and through "legality." It is interesting that he chose to claim authority when given the chance based on his authority as the Duke, cementing it with a marriage (again authority from inheritance and legality.) In his mind, that was the more legitimate source of power. However, it was Muad'Dib who inspired his followers to Jihad, and Muad'Dib who was powerful enough to regain the 'rightful' place for the Duke. I think this leads to some interesting questions about the nature and relative strength of the types of authority Weber discusses, both with regards to Dune and with regards to the state of the world today.