People think that because what they are doing is arcane or complicated that it then has the right for the code to be arcane and complicated.

This is not a local effect. Many compilers have more use of goto than you might expect - because goto is acceptable in some parts of a compiler, it becomes less unacceptable in parts where it should remain so.

It doesn't help that C is an awful programming language, which actively encourages repetition and the expansion of the surface area from which bugs can occur.