[commandlinefan]

I'm 44, and either I'm just getting old enough to notice things I never noticed when I was younger, or there's something very concerning brewing - it seems to me like a small but growing subsegment of western society is working as hard as they can to escalate civilization to an actual violent conflict. And, based on my understanding of history, the biggest losers in that conflict will be the ones pushing the hardest for it right now.

[Zelphyr]

I don't think there's a concerted effort to escalate. I think it's more of an emergence phenomenon. But yes, the outcome you describe is likely inevitable if something doesn't change soon.

[UncleEntity]

This "small but growing subsegment of western society" was rioting on the street on a regular basis a year or so ago and had an actual date set for a violent revolution (in the US at least). They seem to have petered out though, probably because they were deemed a domestic terrorist organization.