Interesting. However, the author did point out a culture similar to 'thar' values without its toxicity -- Japanese bushido. It may have helped that the bushi-cl

Interesting. However, the author did point out a culture similar to 'thar' values without its toxicity -- Japanese bushido. It may have helped that the bushi-class outlawed the use of guns for a good while, and they were essentially warrior-bureaucrats. As a counterpoint to what I just said, the original Bushido code was codified by a ronin, and the most recent literary work on the Bushido code, the Hagakure was written when the Japanese warrior class was already on their way out ... and the author thought the greatest shame was to meet his death in soiled underwear. Like any career path in any culture, you'll find people who obediently obey the well-worn paths. The warriors of a warring culture is no less the same. They were fertilizer then, and they are fertilizer now. And there's always the minority who are aware of their cultural blinders. The old initiations were meant to give this gift of awareness to the perceptive. In the old days, these were the warchiefs or the shaman; today, they are the military apprentices and the hackers.