The Mech Touch

hat originated from the New Rubarth Empire in response to the old and stagnant Greater Terran United Confederation. ”

”What are you talking about? ” Ves frowned.

”It ’s called the Societal Vitality Theory.
The Rubarthans came up with it when they studied a large range of human and alien societies. ” Javier enthusiastically explained.
”The theory states that the strength and health of a society is determined by how much they fight and how hard their people must struggle to live and prosper.
In the early days of humanity ’s ascension into the stars during the Age of Space, we were some of the lowest species in the galaxy.
Yet we somehow managed to outwit superior alien races and get the better of them.
Do you know what those supposedly superior races all had in common? ”

”They were weak? ”

”They were strong.
They benefited from greater numbers, larger military and technological superiority.
Yet we beat them anyway despite our weaknesses! The main reason why we rolled over them is because they turned out to be weaker than on paper.
The alien empires were stagnant and every alien leader gained their positions through taking advantage of their birthright and their political maneuvering.
However, when confronted with actual war, most of them turned out to be incompetent when it came to the survival of their species! ”

Ves knew the story wasn ’t so simple, especially in light of the recent revelations about the Five Scrolls Compact guiding humanity from the shadows.
Still, Lord Javier ’s explanation sounded oddly sensible.

”So a state that ’s been peaceful for a long time is weaker than a state that ’s been through constant wars? What about the losses and all of the destruction that ensues whenever a war is waged? ”

”That ’s a valid concern.
It ’s difficult to find a war that doesn ’t hurt yourself more than you can get back. ” Lord Javier chuckled again.
”That ’s the beauty of the Bright-Vesia Wars, though.
They ’re so predictable and regular that both sides know the overall score.
The battles might change, but the outcome will always roughly be set in stone.
To the adherents of the Societal Vitality Theory, the wars are the perfect vehicle to keep our states from stagnating into a bunch of paper tigers like the Reinald Republic! The more intense the fighting, the more our invigorated our states become! ”

Ves suddenly gained a realization.
All his wondering about whether there was a conspiracy behind the Bright-Vesia Wars turned out to be true!

It was just that the conspiracy took on a different form than he expected.
It wasn ’t as if a small number of powerful people from both states met together in a shady, smoke-filled room and diabolically laughed with each other as they plotted to drive their own subjects to their deaths.

Instead, both sides ascribed to this weird theory and believed they would both become stronger if they waged a war every now and then! It was an open if unspoken conspiracy that required no explicit meetings or agreements to commence!

He didn ’t quite know yet how to regard this perverse circumstances.
It seemed extraordinarily callous to him that war was being treated as a tool to shape societies.

”In fact, the Societal Vitality Theory also caught on with the MTA and CFA. ” Lord Javier boldly claimed.
”Do you think they like it that the various human states in the galaxy focus so much on fighting each other instead of the aliens? They probably don ’t, but they think it ’s necessary to keep the space peasants busy and on their toes.
If they relax too much, not only will their star systems become too overpopulated, their birth rates will also fall below a level that is sustainable if the state ever meets a crisis. ”

Ves looked up at that.
”That sounds contradictory.
How can a stagnant state be overpopulated yet find it problematic that their birth rates fall? Isn ’t that a natural response to overpopulation? Can ’t states just terraform new stars to settle on if they need more space? ”

”It doesn ’t quite work that way, Ves.
Terraforming is an investment and not every planet or star system is valuable enough to exploit.
Just take the Reinald Republic again for example.
Because they ’re part of the Frozen Leaf Alliance, no one wants to pick a fight with them.
The lack of wars not only lowered their war readiness, they are also suffering from headaches on what to do with their crowded settlements.
They ’re greedy for money for a very good reason, you know.
They need money to pay the terraforming companies to make new terrestrial planets habitable to human life.
However, these new colonies are mostly a net drain to Reinald ’s treasury. ”

”I see. ” Ves replied.
”What about the overcrowding and the lower birthrates? How does that affect the Reinald Republic? ”

”The overcrowding and lack of threats makes the Reinaldans complacent.
They don ’t birth as much offspring, they marry later in their lives and generally don ’t feel any urgency in living their lives.
This also means they don ’t work hard enough to excel in their lives.
They have less expert pilots and less Senior Mech Designers than a state of their size ought to have! ”

”Is that true? ” Ves asked.

”Oh, I ’m not a numbers wizard, but all the scientists who studied the Societal Vitality Theory all said so.
They say that a society ’s life pattern adjusts itself to the predominant circumstances.
Peace begets a slow, peaceful life pattern because that is the most optimal way the people are able to live their lives.
War on the other hand forces people to grow stronger, fight harder and live their lives to the best of their abilities.
All the deaths also eases up the overpopulation issue and sustaining high birth rates is seen as the key to sustain a state in the even of a major crisis! ”

Ves had mixed feelings about this supposed theory.
Lord Javier obviously appeared to be a proponent of the Societal Vitality Theory, and Ves did have to admit that the logic sounded plausible.

It explained some of Senator Tovar ’s policy decisions.
To a shepherd of a state, leaders like him constantly worried over how to strengthen a state and retain its dynamism.
Perhaps to Senator Tovar and his ilk, a regular, generational war sounded like just the right answer to maintain the liveliness of the Bright Republic!