I had never made that exact connection, but my impression of the Dune universe was that it was hopelessly dark and horrific, basically humans being relentlessly awful to each other with no way out.
I don't think its quite reducible to that. Take a step back and look at how you have an Emperor whose power is offset by both the Landsraad and the navigator's guild. This arrangement has all come about because of a scarce resource only available on one desert planet which makes space travel possible, and which has a population who have been fiercely fighting a guerilla war for centuries. It was all bound to come undone whether Paul accepted his part or not.
It’s kind of presented that way from the view of anyone under the oppression (Paul, Fremen, Jessica, etc). Therefor Paul’s vision is the way out, right? The whole thing is a mechanic to subdue the reader before they reveal that Paul doesn’t care he just wants to do things the way he sees it and controls it.
The golden path was to break prescient vision and prevent any possible extinction of the human race. Paul actually turned his back on the golden path and became the preacher, trying to prevent it, but after his death, his son, Leto II, followed the path.
