skeletonotherkin posted:

"The place of the permanent armies as we know them will gradually be taken by professional forces of volunteer war-keen soldiers; and from millions we shall revert to hundreds of thousands. But ipso facto this second century will be one of actually Contending States. These armies are not substitutes for war---they are for war, and they want war. Within two generations it will be they whose will prevails over all the comfortables put together. In these wars of theirs for the heritage of the whole world, continents will be staked---India, China, South Africa, Russia, Islam called out, new technics and tactics played and counter-played.... The last race to keep its form, the last living tradition, the last leaders who have both at their back, will pass through and onward, victors."

I'd hate to serious post in GBS, but I'm curious about something, and I'm too dumb for D&D. Is it just me or does Spengler seriously downplay the transformative power of technology? I don't really see how a new warrior aristocracy would even function in a world were war is increasingly mechanized, and the human element is gradually being reduced. Nevermind the fact that he was unable to take into account something like nuclear deterrence.