Imagine for the moment that the Templin Institute
has completed its mission, and we now have a exhaustive catalog of every nation, faction,
and organization from across every alternate world. And we’re no longer investigating them,
but placing them into categories. Each civilization bears their own eccentricities
and unique qualities, but we can at least begin to classify them along broad lines. We have the federation builders, who seek
to unite disparate elements to achieve a common good. The Hegemonic Imperialists who work tirelessly
to impose their own brand of order upon its citizenry and the plucky rebellion fighting
to overthrow them. Then there’s the loose coalition of renegades
and independents, or the unknowable Hive Mind whose legions act in singular purpose. Slaving deposits, erudite explorers, xenophobic
isolationists, however you might choose to label these categories, it's clear that different
civilizations can share similar attributes and might be grouped together. So if we further imagine that we have all
these categories all filled out, might come the temptation to compare them against one
another. It's difficult to gauge what kind of civilizations
are the most successful or have the greatest potential. But all things being equal, will Federation
Builders always triumph over Hegemonic Imperialists? Will Evangelizing Zealots reliably conquer
Harmonious Collectivists? Who can say, there are far too many variables
to make any kind of firm proclamation. But I think we can go out on a limb, and make
a very strong argument that one category, one kind of civilization, is ultimately and
perhaps tragically, doomed to fail: what we’re gonna call: the Proud Warrior Race. Now chances are based on the name alone, you
can think of at least one nation or faction that fits into this category, but before going
any further, it's still important to define exactly what we mean by this term. There’s no single definition of course,
but the Templin Institute’s classification of a proud warrior race would be based on
these central tenets or elements: Immense value placed on the mastery of combat
techniques. The life of an individual warrior is dedicated
almost solely to their craft. A strong but strict code of honor, outlining
the norms, rules and responsibilities of the individual, usually as related to warfare. A decentralized governmental structure in
which rival familial clans, or some kind of tribal structure competes with or supersedes
any national identity. A disproportionate devotion, or reverence
towards war at the societal level that comes at the expense of economic, industrial, scientific,
cultural, or another expression of state power. Now this definition doesn’t perfectly fit
every civilization that might be named a Proud Warrior Race, there will always be exceptions. Nor does every warrior race have these elements
in equal amounts, but for our purposes, it should be close enough. So what is it about societies that embody
these qualities that make them doomed to fail? Well, I think it comes down to a relatively
simple answer: these four central facets of the Proud Warrior Race become increasingly
inefficient and counterproductive as technology advances. And that’s the key part, a civilization
with these traits can easily be successful during what we might call a Stone Age, Bronze
Age, Iron Age, or maybe even later era, it might even be uniquely suited to thrive in
these ages, but eventually technological progress will reach a tipping point. These central tenets become obsolete and what
before might have been a major advantage, now becomes a glaring weakness. Let's look at them one by one. Immense value placed on the mastery of combat
techniques. The life of a warrior is dedicated almost
solely to their craft. In an era where the most powerful weapons
are swords and bows, this makes a lot of sense. These weapons and others like them require
a great deal of skill to wield effectively. A force of trained warriors who have spent
decades practicing the intricacies of martial combat, are probably going to cut right through
even a far larger army of untrained conscripts. But sooner or later, somebody is going to
invent a new kind of weapon, one that can be deadly even in the hands of a novice. In most cases, you would expect this to be
some kind of firearm and its invention starts the first ticking clock for the Warrior Race. Now it might take a while for this weapon
to be refined and be made available in large enough numbers, but once it reaches a tipping
point and becomes the new standard, the nature of warfare changes. Practice and training are still important,
but devoting your life to mastering the art of personal combat starts leading to diminishing
returns. A master warrior who has devoted their entire
life to the study of combat, who has mastered every weapon, is just as vulnerable to being
killed by a bullet, as a novice conscript. Except the death of that master warrior now
hits far harder, because it represents the loss of decades of investment in time, money
and experience. While that conscript by contrast, was comparatively
cheap to arm and train. His loss is no big deal. And it's only going to get worse and worse
for the Proud Warrior Race. As civilization continues to advance, warfare
becomes more and more mechanized and sophisticated. The influence of the individual soldier on
the course of any major conflict, that human element if you pardon the expression, starts
to get stripped away. Artillery, tanks, aircraft, drones, walkers,
interstellar starships, all of these things and hundreds of other elements are all just
more nails in the coffin of a master warrior. As none of them require that a life be dedicated
to their mastery, by contrast, the easier they are for an untrained person to learn,
the better. So let’s move on to our second element: A strong but strict code of honor, outlining
the norms, rules and responsibilities of the individual, usually as related to warfare. Now in every war, there will invariably arise
a moment in which a decision must be made between taking an action that has the potential
to shorten the conflict, and upholding certain moral principles. And it should be stressed that when those
moral principles are based around reducing needless cruelty or destruction, this is not
a bad thing. Intentionally killing civilians and prisoners
of war, torture, hostage taking, misuse of a flag of truce, these are all things that
should not be acceptable, even on a battlefield during a time of war. But all too often, the strict code of honor
of the Proud Warrior Race has more to do with personal glory and honor than limiting carnage. Weapons and tactics might be deliberately
discarded, not because they cause unnecessary suffering, but because according to whatever
code, they would damage the honor of whoever is using them. This
can be admirable, but while Codes of Honor might attempt to bring some kind of fairness
or sense of responsibility to a conflict, they also have the potential to needlessly
prolong it, wasting even more lives and resources. And what happens if whoever the Proud Warrior
Race is fighting, doesn’t share the same moral code? Well, as the old saying goes “Stand in the
ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer.” As gruesome as it is to say, having a flexible
sense of morality is often useful in warfare, and sometimes necessary in hastening its end. Was eradicating the Formic race necessary
for the survival of Earth? I don’t know, but I would want the discussions
deciding that question to based on rational thinking, rather than some ancient code of
behavior. A strict code of honor based around personal
glory represents a possible weakness that just isn’t present in most other societies. Onto our third tenet: A decentralized governmental structure in
which rival familial clans, or tribal structures competes with or supersedes any national identity. For whatever reason, the Proud Warrior Race
is often divided into Great Houses, Clans, Tribes, Kindreds, or whatever else. These groups act like states within a state,
with their own governments, militaries and economies. Rivalries and civil wars between them are
often a fundamental aspect of how political control over the greater nation is maintained
or reformed. In some cases this is a near perfect representation
of feudalism, while in others it’s been refined into something else. The
proud warrior race is not the only kind of society to have this element present, but
when combined with their other defining aspects, it aggravates even further the existing issues
with this kind of civilization. So what are these issues? Whether in wartime or peace, the potential
of any civilization is going to be closely linked to its internal unity. A coherent national identity that can create
solidarity across even diverse groups, a strong political order that can accommodate or suppress
internal divisions, and a belief in the legitimacy of state institutions are all effective tools
a nation can rely on. But when powerful families are competing with
the national government, those tools can’t be used to their full effect because they’re
inherently dangerous to these different tribes, clans or houses. The weaker the national government, the stronger
the houses. And if a nation is in the middle of being
invaded, it would be disastrous for the armed forces to be split between a number of rival
groups each with their own doctrines, strategies, and equipment. If some of those groups have rivalries with
each other, and maybe even refuse to work alongside one another, then the problems get
even worse. It’s even possible that some of these groups
might be more willing to work with the enemy if they think they’re standing might be
improved by the defeat of the central government. This is not how a stable nation functions. This brings us to our last tenet. A disproportionate devotion, or reverence
towards war at the societal level that comes at the expense of economic, industrial, scientific,
cultural, or another expression of state power. For this one, we need to look at the concept
of “total war”. This is a type of warfare first discussed
in the 18th century but was really solidified as a concept during the two world wars. And the timing I don’t think was any accident. By the 20th century, the methods by which
a war might be fought had grown so all-encompassing, that basically nothing was excluded. Every resource, every piece of infrastructure,
every person became a tool needed by the war effort. This was the new way in which large scale
conflicts would be fought, anything less than a total war would be disastrous for the side
that couldn’t fully commit. But ironically, most examples of the Proud
Warrior Race are less suited to fighting a total war, because of their rigid consideration
of what does, and doesn’t contribute to the war effort. They only look to the obvious. To them, only the jobs directly involved with
fighting on the front line are honorable or worth investing in. This is a narrow view incompatible with total
war. Industrial workers, economists, engineers,
scientists, these are all professions with limited direct involvement in battles and
campaigns, but they all contribute enormously when mobilized under the doctrine of total
war. And those careers are just the start of a
very long list. Let’s pull a job out of a hat and look at
meteorologists. I think most Proud Warrior Races would say
that studying the weather is no fit job for a warrior. And yet, right around the 2nd World War, military
meteorology drastically grew in importance. Turns out if you’re sailing 100,000 men
across the English Channel, it’s very helpful to know ahead of time when the seas are going
to be calm and the skies clear, or at least calm and clear enough. Let’s pull another job out of the hat. Italian Chef. Again, the Proud Warrior Race would say, making ravioli
is no fit job for a warrior. But again, right on schedule during World
War 2 it became increasingly critical to keep large armies fed, no matter where they were
in the world. And that’s how Ettore Boiardi, or you know,
Chef Boyardee, gets awarded the Order of Lenin for his contributions in supplying rations
to the Red Army. Admittedly, these are
just some fun random examples, but I include them to support my greater point. Wars are not only won on the battlefield,
but across the entire nation that's fighting them. And in an era in which technology is evolving
so quickly, it’s not always obvious what elements of society will be the key to a military
victory. By ignoring certain facets of their own civilization
in favor of only those elements that are obviously related to the military, they’re weakening
their ability to win a war, not strengthening it. But you don’t have to take my word for it,
let’s look at some examples of the Proud Warrior Race and see how the central tenets
of their civilizations have contributed to their decline. And I think we have 3 very good case studies:
The Klingon Empire, The Krogan, and the Mandalorians. These are all civilizations that while successful
during earlier periods of their history, now struggle as an interstellar nation. For most people, the Klingon Empire is going
to be the archetype for the Proud Warrior Race and with good reason; their civilization
expresses all four of our central tenets to an almost cartoonish extent. But the Templin Institute has discussed the
decline of the Klingon Empire before, so in this instance I’d like to focus on their
Great Houses and how they represent such a huge weakness in the integrity of the state. By the 24th century, the Klingon Empire had
begun to run out of places to expand. Their major neighbors were equally powerful
and capable states and there was no guarantee of any easy victory in any potential war. In fact it was far more likely that a major
conflict would be just as damaging to the Klingons as it would be to their opponents. For the Proud Warrior Race, this is a major
problem. When your entire culture is focused on warfare,
but warfare is not good for your culture, what do you do? If you’re one of the Great Houses of the
Klingon Empire, powerful families with their associated armies and fleets, your answer
is you begin to turn on each other. This isn’t unusual, not since the time of
Kahless have all the houses been truly united, but without a common enemy to periodically
unite them, the Empire starts to fracture. And because of this, there is no civilization
in the Alpha or Beta Quadrants of the galaxy as easy to destabilize as the Klingons. All the Romulans need to do for example is
begin secretly funding a House who doesn’t like the reigning government, and in a very
short order you have all the conditions necessary for a civil war. Whereas the Romulans, and pretty much every
other government rivalling the Klingons, are entirely immune to this same kind of destabilization
being effective against them. Compared to the Klingons, the Romulan government
is robust, centralized, and most importantly, the Romulan people consider themselves to
be Imperial citizens first, and members of whatever family or sub-group they might belong
to, a distant second. Any aspect of the Romulan Star Empire hostile
to the government, is likely a weak fringe group, and even the assistance of the Klingon’s
won’t change. Even a state like the Federation with thousands
of different peoples or groups within it, can’t be manipulated in the same way. Partially because Starfleet maintains a sizable
monopoly on the use of force, but mainly because every group in the Federation benefits when
they work together. A useful discovery on Vulcan isn’t greedily
reserved for their use alone, but instead distributed across the entire Federation. The Klingon Great Houses however, have no
such incentive, individually, they can really only benefit at the expense of their rivals. So what about the Krogan? Well to me, the Krogran represents the natural
end-state for any Proud Warrior Race that fails to evolve into something else. When discussing that first tenet, we talked
about how the invention of firearms is the kind of development that can really shatter
the traditional notions of what it means to be a trained warrior. So what happens then, when a culture obsessed
with warfare invents nuclear weapons? Well this. When a civilization possesses weapons capable
of destroying itself, it’s often described as walking a tightrope stretched across some
never-ending abyss. For that civilization to save its people from
a nuclear holocaust or whatever else, they just can’t use these weapons, theyhave to
keep walking the tightrope no matter how difficult it might be. The alternative is extinction. In our own world, mankind has been walking
the tightrope for just about 80 years and has been mostly successful so far. And we have countless examples of world leaders
throughout history, warning the public on the dangers of possessing weapons. I particularly like this quote from John F.
Kennedy "World order will be secured only when the
whole world has laid down these weapons which seem to offer us present security but threaten
the future survival of the human race. That armistice day seems very far away. The vast resources on this planet are being
devoted more and more to the means of destroying, instead of enriching human life but the world
was not meant to be a prison in which man awaits his execution "State of the Union Address, January 11, 1962 Now can you imagine any Korgran, or any other
member of a Proud Warrior race expressing these sentiments? It is completely inimical to their way of
life. And if a Krogran did try to express these
sentiments, it clearly didn’t work. Their homeworld became exactly what JFK described:
a prison on which the Krogan awaited their extinction. It was only through the actions of the Citadel
Council that they eventually became a spacefaring civilization. Most examples of the Proud Warrior Race won’t
be so luckly, and I’m willing to bet that 9 out of 10 will end up as nothing more than
a pile of bones in an irradiated ruin. Now our final example, the Mandalorians. At first glance, they might seem better suited
to avoiding the pitfalls of the Proud Warrior Race. The idea of the Mandalore seems to have really
come into its own after the development of blasters, not before, so they’re able to
better integrate these weapons into their society. There was a strong national government that
had mostly constrained the power of the individual Clans, and had even attempted to become a
more pacifist state. The problem with the Mandalorians is that
they just weren’t given enough time for this transition to be completed. By the time the Empire became wary of their
potential power, they were split between competing ideologies and unable to present a unified
defense. Now it's true that against the power of the
Empire their world was probably doomed, but the potential existed for the Mandalorians
to create a government in exile, scattered refugee colonies and a hidden fleet that might
one day join the Rebellion. Instead, the Mandalorian national identity
was just too brittle to survive the destruction of their homeworld. In its place, the survivors have mainly retreated
into their old Clans with their old ideologies. But these Clans are uniquely terrible at re-asserting
Mandalorian statehood. We can see this particularly in the actions
of the Tribe, a Mandalorian Clan that routinely splinters itself and throws away opportunities
to better the position of their people. Its members might call themselves Mandalorians,
but they’re really members of the Tribe first, and rarely work with any other Clans. Their creed seems to promote individualism
above all, but this is strangling the potential of the larger whole. Most cultures for example would hold their
coming-of-age ceremonies somewhere not too likely to be attacked by a giant sea monster,
but not the Tribe, that wouldn't fit the code. Mandalorians are nearly extinct and these
people can’t even induct a new member into their group without it turning into a net-loss
for their total population. Honoring some ancient practices, is overriding
every pragmatic concern. The Mandalorians seem like a people that were
given guns, jetpacks and spaceships very earlier in their history, and rather than reforming
their military and society to make the best use of these tools, just decided to jam them
into whatever systems existed at the time. It’s not enough to have these weapons if
you don’t really know how to use them effectively. You can give uncontacted tribes people in
the Amazon M4A1 rifles and Apache Helicopters, but they’re not gonna instantly turn into
the US Army. Something like this though, is what I’m
pretty sure happened to the Mandalorians. And we can see this in the aforementioned
sea-monster incident. A heavily armed group of Mandalorians is attacked
so you would think they would be pretty good at dealing with this situation, but they’re
not. In their response we can see the total lack
of any unifying structure. When confronted, every Mandalorian does their
own thing. Some rush into a position to fire, without
checking to see if they’re blocking the sightlines of those already firing. Orders are given, but not to anyone specifically. Who was supposed to get the young ones to
the cave? Some jetpack onto the monster’s back, further
interfering with those trying to lay down fire from the ground. Mandalorians might be formidable warriors,
but their Creed is more concerned about individual actions than a collective response. Din Djarin didn’t even radio ahead to say
he was shooting torpedoes into this whole mess, he just did it. It’s a miracle he didn’t kill his own
people. If the Mandalorians were truly concerned about
being formidable warriors, their code would look less like this: Don’t ever take off your helmet. And more like this: https://www.benning.army.mil/Infantry/DoctrineSupplement/ATP3-21.8/appendix_j/BattleDrill_3/Introduction/index.html#:~:text=(1)%20Return%20fire%20immediately.,assault%20through%20the%20kill%20zone.&text=(2)%20Return%20fire%20immediately.,position%20and%20throw%20smoke%20grenades. And this
leads me to my final point. Which is the same as my first one. Over the course of this video I’ve tried
to argue that the Proud Warrior Race is less and less successful as technology advances
and to survive, it needs to evolve into something else. But what does the Proud Warrior Race need
to evolve into? Well, it’s what I’m going to call the
“Martial State”. Both types of civilizations are what we might
call “warlike” but the Martial State expresses this in a different way. Its tenets look like this: Immense influence placed within a military
industrial complex that can drastically affect public policy. Earlier traditions, practices and ceremonies
considered useful are adopted, exploited and modified to support the aims of the state. A centralized government that exerts unrivaled
authority across its constituent parts. Civilian institutions include paramilitary
elements, designed to ease the transition between peacetime and wartime. This kind of government has its own advantages
and disadvantages, but a thorough investigation into the Martial State will need to wait for
a future video. Instead let’s quickly look at one example:
The Turian Hierarchy. The Turians are the perfect example of a civilization
that has successfully completed the transition from Proud Warrior Race to Martial State. A period of public service is required of
every citizen. Its government and entire society are organized
under militaristic principles. Its military includes codes of honor, but
are centered around discipline rather than personal glory. And perhaps most importantly, though so much
of their society is dedicated to warfare, it’s not because they are actively seeking
it out, rather they want to be prepared for it should it arrive unexpectedly. What the Martial State has that the Proud
Warrior Race does not, is a more thorough understanding of how wars are fought and won. An understanding that can evolve and be refined
as technology advances. The Proud Warrior Race by contrast. is stuck in the past. It accepts any new ideas that can fit into
its society, and rejects the ones that don’t. It is rigid, outdated, and doomed to fail. But that of course is just my opinion. And even though I will challenge anyone who
disagrees with me to ritual combat inside the Arena of Truth, I’d like to hear your
thoughts. What civilization comes to mind first when
you think about the “Proud Warrior Race”. Do you agree with my assessment? And has a giant alligator ever attacked your
birthday party? Let me know in the comments below, and until
next time, this has been incoming.
