It has been a while since I made any deposits in the litter box but I'm sufficiently backed up to pinch off a few thought nuggests this morning.
It has long been a tradition in the Cyberverse to have a casus belli to justify a war. It didn't matter how flimsy it was or even if it was true. It was run up the flagpole and off to war people went. The discussions would be the usual "no u" back-and-forth nonsense depending on which side of the war the commenter was on. That is how it has always been and old habits die hard, it seems.
As time has gone on this demand for a casus belli has strangled the Cyberverse in many ways. You see tensions rise between groups and then dissipate without a shot fired because both sides crunch the numbers to see who has the advantage and the aggressor has to convince their allies that the casus belli is legit and solid enough to absolve their allies of any "wrongdoing" in the eyes of the general population.
This happens quite often on varying scales but I think the recent exposé from Sardonic shows us a real insight into how much this requirement has controlled the actions (and inactions) of alliances and blocs in the Cyberverse. The gymnastics that people went through in those logs gave me cramp just reading it. The thought process is backwards. They have already decided they want to take an alliance down but the hard work is apparently trying to make up a reason that justifies it under the Cyberverse's casus belli code.
As far as war is concerned, I'm personally not fussed going to war for a cause. My nation and my alliance are there to stand for what we believe in and if doing so means we get our backsides kicked then so be it. I loath contrived drama. I'm tired of people sitting in rooms concocting reasons to roll some alliance over some nonsense.
Here is where I get back to the casus belli requirement. Is it really that important other than for a public relations excercise? If you hate an alliance or you and your allies hate an alliance so much that you actually try and create a problem to give you a casus belli then why not just assemble your armies and attack them? I'd respect an alliance more for being honest and declaring war on a perceived enemy for the reason that they are perceived to be an enemy than some half-arsed casus belli contrived in an IRC channel. Do people think a flimsy casus belli will earn less ridicule than purely saying you hate the alliance you have delcared war on?
If you really believe something is worth fighting for then fight for it. If not then save us all the crap about contrived casus belli and assorted posturing. Stand for what you believe in our sit down and shut up.
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