I see what you're saying about possibilities, but there are definitely patterns to history. Historians will be the first to say that "history rhymes." The pattern of events that we've been seeing unfold over the past few years has occurred countless times before, and surprise surprise, it's never ended peacefully.

As much as I wish that we, as a society, could have learned enough from the past not to keep falling into the same routines, I see no evidence that we've matured that far as a species yet. If the building of tensions has led to violent breaks over and over again throughout history, what makes "now" so special as to be immune from the same fate?