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*#REDIRECT [[Hydraulic empire]]▼
'''Hydraulic despotism''' is a term for [[despot|despotic rule]] supported by control of a single, necessary resource. In its first instances, it was literally [[water]] that was controlled: in ancient [[Egypt]] and [[Babylonia]], the [[government]] controlled the irrigation channels; good subjects received plentiful water for their [[crop]]s, while bad subjects were starved of water so that their crops died. The term can be used to indicate any tyrannical rule propped up by control of a vital resource. [[Frank Herbert]]'s [[Dune]] establishes a universe centered around a hydraulic despotism; the spice, [[Melange]], is essential for, among other things, space travel; it is said that "He who controls the spice controls the universe".
== See also ==
▲* [[Hydraulic empire]]
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