Ves didn't know whether he should be thankful or regretful to Lord Javier. On one hand, the Vesian noble generously filled him in on the Societal Vitality Theory. On the other hand, it also destroyed his faith in the higher ups of both states!
He used to think that even if the original reasons for the wars no longer applied, both states still warred over legitimate reasons.
The Vesians wanted to conquer the Bentheim System so that they would be able to gain an invincible economic stranglehold on all of the commerce and trade that passed through the surrounding regions.
Bright Republic simply wanted to maintain its territorial sovereignty and defend itself against the foreign aggressor.
Those reasons still applied, but in the backdrop of the Societal Vitality Theory, they rang a little hollow now. To Ves, this diabolical theory served as a force that pushed its proponents to action rather restraint, sometimes to disastrous results!