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in the US civil war and the Chinese civil war, both sides' generals were, in many cases, drawn from the same military academies (West Point and Whampoa respectively)
additionally, in many internal conflicts there will be a pool of various criminals, bandits, and mercs that end up finding different political sponsors.
the first wave of internet of beef/great weirding combatants in 2014-16 were more or less drawn from the same broad social milieu and in some cases the same actual forums
the decision by mainstream institutions to use these figures as proxies, intervening on their behalf and providing them with formal and informal sponsorship, had catastrophic consequences.
This, as is the case in most proxy wars, broadened the conflict and raised the stakes by energizing the participants with infusion of outside interest and support.
and, as is the case in most internal conflicts in general, it also blurred together low-level motivations and interests (petty squabbles, greed, outlets for anti-social behavior) with high-level "holy causes"
I used to warn people about the consequences of this but I don't really see much point now because what's done is done. It's impossible to go back to the world we had before all of these decisions were made.
I also have stopped because I realized I was implicitly treating it as a mistake rather than an intended outcome
Institutions with significant ability to focus attention, resources, and passions -- for various reasons -- wanted a world in which baroque collections of nuts, sociopaths, and generalized lolcows broke through the containment barriers
well, they got their wish. what remains is now adapting to that world as need be.
