A parable about zero-sum thinking, self-harm, and who profits from the fight
Here's an analogy:
A boxer has a disconnect in his brain — a severed corpus callosum (split-brain syndrome). He only thinks of himself as "one side." He knows there's another side there, but doesn't feel like it's him.
He lines up at a punching bag, and every time he throws a right hook, his left hand hits him in the face. He doesn't identify with the other side of himself, so he gets angry, and hits harder. Somebody keeps hitting him. He doesn't understand why, so he gets madder and madder, and his exercise routine means he gets stronger and stronger.
As hard as he's punching, it just escalates to the limit of his power. Nobody's going to just get punched in the face forever.
Eventually the fighter stops punching, and starts getting really serious. In the 1700's, the boxer had a rifle.
Now add a promoter — someone who understands the boxer's biological limitation perfectly. He doesn't tell the boxer the truth. Instead, he tells him the "other side" is his enemy — because as long as the boxer keeps fighting himself, the promoter keeps collecting the prize money. Win/lose.
The promoter knows what he's doing, so he built a shelter behind the ring, but the boxer got his hands on a nuke.
Nobody wins.