Over the years I've often had a strange fascination with War. Unlike some people who prefer one side or another, I've often been stuck in the middle. On one hand, I like so many people all over the world at least had one or two family members serve. In my case two great grandfathers of mine fought in World War II. It often made me proud that when the chips were down they would go after the Nazis. However, on the other hand. I also know the consequences of War. Whether it's major battles like the ones going on right now or petty disputes between people during opposing views, which often escalate. People have died either way.

Now the solution seems simple, to stop all war. However it's not as simple as you think. We as a species despite our need for peace, will never achieve it that way because it doesn't feel earned. Much of the reasons why some wars even continue, is because one side, the other or both feel unsatisfied with winning without rubbing it in their faces. Even if said rubbing happens after they killed. Some of which feel unsatisfied because they killed less people than they hoped, despite the whole point being to solve your grievances with less loss of life Soldier and Civilian. That's when it struck me.

https://cieirmusic.newgrounds.com/news/post/1248362

As I once mentioned it has occurred to me, that like other aspects of life, war is just an unfriendly competition to the world leaders. Some care about the win. Some care about killing as many people as they can to prove whatever point they were trying to make. So it got me thinking. There has to be an alternative way the countries can settle their disputes. A way that would let us divulge in our bloodlust, but at the same time minimize casualties at the very least at a level sustainable for both sides. That's right I said both.

Before I say how, I want to point something out. Regardless of our views, the world is not black and white. Despite many people believing in grey areas, we can't help but view the world that way, because there are things that are clearly good and clearly bad, but the problem is we only see the surface. Case in point, I hate Nazis. I hate White Supremecists. I hate dictators. I hate Terrorists. I hate anyone that uses bullshit excuses to justify systematically killing other human beings. However at the same time I also know, that no matter how much I hate these people, like us, they are set in their ways. When you take away all the bullshit, the isms and the phobes that drive them to do what they do, what do you see? People. Ordinary people with families of their own, be it blood or surrogate that are set in their ways and doing what they think is right. Their families would be just as grief stricken of their deaths, as we would be of ours even if they are the ones that killed them. They are so set in their ways, that in their twisted POV, we are the bad guys. It doesn't help, that we both have a sense of fulfillment and joy regarding killing each other. Not only that, but let's just say hypothetically someone from their ways decide to convert to our ways or find a balance between both. We wouldn't accept them, because of where they came from. A former Nazi for example could attempt to make up for the atrocities his or her fellow bretheren made in the past, by doing something signifigant to help the Jewish, but while some individuals would be thankful the rest are so pissed off at what he and his friends did in the past, that they rather see him or her get executed. Making them no different than the people that hunted their friends and families down. So needless to say, everyone in the world still needs a way to vent that anger and frustration albeit in a more healthy way.

Funny enough the way I found, was from a very unlikely source:

This is Robot Jox. Filmed in 1987 and released in 1990. Directed by Stuart Gordon of Re-Animator and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, this was the west's first attempt to cash in on the Mecha Craze that was going on in the 1970s - 1980s. Trying to become as great as Voltron or the Gundam franchise and for a low-budget film with little to no CGI it did a great job. I suggest you all watch it. I myself haven't seen this movie since I was a little kid.

The movie itself takes place in a future where all war is abolished, yet to settle the greivence between countries, they replaced it with a gladiator style match between two robot warriors piloted by humans known as Jox. Because all this was being filmed during the tail end of the Cold War, it does have somewhat of a black and white viewpoint of the world. With the Market taking the place of USA and their allies and The Confederation taking the place of the Soviet Union at the time. The rules are simple, each Jox is contracted to participate in 10 straight competitions. Whether they choose to continue after that is their choice, but that's the main thing. However there's a catch, the judges can declare an exception if certain circumstances, like say the fight ending in a draw. Then they invoke their oldest rule. "It isn't over until one wins." Meaning even if you fought 10 straight matches, if one didn't have a clear winner, unless you decide to breach the contract and retire, you have no choice but to fight until one wins. Once you two are within punching distance of each other, the referee can choose to prohibit the use of long range weapons, in favour of a straight up fist fight. That's right, you can shoot at each other or beat the shit out of each other in giant mechs and whoever wins, their respective team gets to take over the land they fight for. In the case of this movie, there are two champions. One for the Confederation named Alexander, presumably named after Alexander the Great. Who's mech would make Darth Vader so intimidated, he'd want to make his own. As well as Achilles, who's obviously named after Ligryon whom you know as the Greek Hero Achilles. Also while it's not encouraged, the winner decides whether or not the loser is allowed to live. So naturally Alexander gets to kill his fallen opponent, which is how he earned his reputation as one of the most deadliest champions of the sport.

While the matches are meant to replace war, they are treated as a somewhat friendly competition between the two. No different than any sport on TV. At least for the most part. One thing I noticed was regarding Alexander, the Confederation's champion, is that he cares not for the rules or even the team he represents. He just wants to kick his opponent while he's down and kill them when he's finished with them. No different than any gung ho soldier that wants to go in the front lines to kill their enemy. However, while the movie itself, spoilers, is meant to end on an Aesop that you don't have to kill each other to be victorious, the one thing that impressed me about this movie, rewatching it now, was that with the exception of an event that was deemed as tragic as any real life civilian casualities, this was the perfect example of how disputes should be settled. Two people. Each one representing their side, their politics, their belief system, their everything, beating each other until one gives up or one dies. Granted we all want to live in a world where we don't have to kill everyone. Two people is a hell of a lot better than the following statistics below:

World War I: 40 million.

World War II:

The actual fight: 70 - 85 million.

The Holocaust: 6 Million Jewish. 5.7 Million Soviets Civilians. 2 - 3 million Soviet POWs. 1 - 3 Million. 300 - 600 thousand Serbians. 270 disabled people. (and people wonder why I think Anti-Autsitic Anti-Vaxxers are scum.). 130 - 300 thousand Romani. 80 - 200 thousand Freemasons. 20 - 25 Thousand Slovenians. 5000 - 15 thousand Homosexuals. 3,500 Spanish Republicans. 1500 Jehovas witnesses. At least one known black person while the rest were put in camps. Since people are still counting the bodies to this day, who knows how many others are really there? And that's not even counting mixed races. The sum total of that number though is roughly 16.6 million people. All dead.

Hiroshima: 66 Thousand dead. 69 thousand wish they were. Out of a population of 255 thousand.

Nagasaki: 39 Thousand. 69 thousand wish they were. Out of a population of 195 thousand.

Soldier and Civilian alike.

And that's just World War Fucking II.

Korean War: 5 Million

The Cold War: 50 - 56 Million direct military casualties. Civilain and Soldier.

Vietnam: 58.2 Thousand U.S. Soldiers. 250 Thousand South Vietnamese Soldiers. 1.1 Million Vietcong. 2 Million Civilians on both sides.

I could go on. The point being that despite or best efforts on either side, we as a species has killed over millions of people. With the major bulk of them not even soldiers. Civilians. People whom like us just want to live their lives no matter what politics disagree with us. They never done anything wrong except parrot the bullshit their governments and soldiers spew. Nobody like to think about these things because it eliminates all justification regardless of whose side you're on. It's easier for us to think of them less like people and more like numbers on paper or screen. It's even easier for Goverments regardless of which party to sweep this under the rug, because they themselves are not the ones fighting. They don't have to look a fellow human in the eye when they are taking their lives. It's not easy for soldiers to do it, unless they are really bloodthirsty. Of course save for some who did start out as soldiers, telling them to go out and do the fighting for us, would be a major waste of time. While it is true in the olden times, wars have gotten to the point where even the kings and queens would be in the front lines fighting alongside their fellow country men and women. Somewhere along the line, said rulers and their political successors have grown soft, cowardly, would do almost everything not to get killed. Truth be told, when they stopped fighting for us, I think we lost what it means to be a human being. Instead they spend bill

Now I'm not saying we should just go around making giant mechs and beating the shit out of each other. That technology hasn't been improved on yet but there are close things such as this:

No word of a lie this exists. But these can only do so much in a fight.

What I am saying is that I there are alternatives that could very well do more good than harm. And while we as a whole are blood thirsty, some of us are well open to these ideas.

There was a study I found:

https://www.historynet.com/men-against-fire-how-many-soldiers-actually-fired-their-weapons-at-the-enemy-during-the-vietnam-war.htm

That out of 10 men in a squad of fresh recruits, only as few as three would directly fire at a living person regardless if they are Vietcong. The rest would either fire over them or preoccupy themselves other tasks. It was one of the things that inspired the likes of Jim Channon to try to utilize that inherent flaw and turn it into the strength.

His idea was to create what was known as the First Earth Battalion:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Earth_Battalion

Which was made famous by the hit movie, The Men Who Stare at Goats:

Now the movie takes certain liberties, while Channon did work on the notion of creating psychic soldiers, his main goal for the first Earth Battalion was finding non-lethal solutions to resolving conflict. Ironically he was also the person who invented the U.S. Army Slogan: "Be all you can be."

While these are noble, it only solves one problem. No matter how much we try to repress it, we can't contain that dark side of ourself. It's like caging a wild animal. Sooner or later that animal will get angry, will get free and cause 10x more damage than you think would do.

So here is what I propose. Rather than fight wars, we should settle a dispute with a modern twist of the old fashioned way: Duels.

Here's how it should go:

All soldiers of all countries lay down their arms. Then pick someone who is you believe is your best fighter. With some time, train them in every way of combat. Hand to hand, melee weapons, firearms and portable explosives. After you're both good and ready you both drum up a contract. While some rules are subject to change, these are the most simple of them:

1. Whomever you pick represents your respective country. For example if USA was going against Russia. Their best fighters, would represent USA and Russia Respectfully.
2. The dispute is the title prize of the match. So say for example, Russia wants Ukrane, but Ukrane doesn't want them there. They settle it with their best fighters.
3. Once the terms are set, the match regardless of who's allied with whom, will take place in a neutral territory. Switzerland being the best one because they take no sides, but other countries are welcome to lend their land should they take interest.
4. Now because people are more likely to get injured or die in it than mech fights. Each fighter is allowed 5 runner ups to replace them. No more no less. Whom are not allowed to even set foot on the battle ground unless their team mate is in no condition to fight or dead. If all 6 soldiers on one side are eliminated or their rep surrenders, they lose.
5. Death is allowed, since this isn't child's play. However, if the losing opponent yields, they are bound by Geneva convention to arrest them and treat them fairly until at the very least the match is over. Controversial I know, but let's face it this is supposed to be an alternative to war.
6. Obstacles such as land mines, booby traps and other man made hindrances are prohibited. The only explosives you're allowed to have are grenades. This is meant to be a fair fight between two people.
7. The referee must come from an unbiased source. So that they can enforce the rules fairly.
8. Long range weapons are allowed at a far distance but at close range, only hands and melee weapons are allowed.
9. If one fighter has the upper-hand, but the opposer still lives,the opposing fighter has a choice to surrender or die. I put this one in because some would rather die than lose and I'd say let them. While others would rather live and see their loved ones again even if they did their best to win. So I say let them too.

That's just a rough few. I may come up with more, but I want to save some space for the other things. You are welcome to suggest rules and even offer changes in hopes to think of something better.

Much like a Gladiator match, each conflict takes place in an arena. Said arena is mostly open land, but with more natural obstacles, rocks, buidlings, things like that. The idea being that it allows each fighter to utilize all their skills to get to the other. The arena would be Olympic sized, with two gates for each fighter. No spectators though as people could get seriously injured. You wanna watch it, then cameras will be placed all over the bleachers behind bomb proof glass. Civilian lives should NEVER be taken. EVER!!

Now initially just seeing two people try to injure or kill each other would seem bleak. So taking cues from Robot Jox WWE and Death Race 2000, I believe each fighter should have their own gimmick. Since they're gonna die or get hurt anyway they may as well go out having fun and entertaining the world. This would include promos, pre-fight taunts things like that. However it can't be too fun and I'll tell you why. I believe that once someone vents out their frustrations through this, they would feel a lot more better and hell, maybe even just end the fight peacefully eventually. But we'd have a long way to go before we get there. Until then, this is the best shot we got.

Of course if I can't appeal to the hearts of the people and the government, I could always appeal to their wallets.

It costs over $17 Thousand Dollars for one U.S. Infantry soldier to go fully equipped and there is an average 1000 soldiers in one platoon. That's over $17 Million Dollars for just one squad alone and if all don't make it, it'll be another $17 Million more to replace them. And that's just the US government. Because so many soldiers die all over, that means if a war continued forever, eventually one side or the other or both would go bankrupt.

So if you don't care about the lives of human beings, maybe you would care how much it would save you in money alone just to allow one to six people to go against one to six others. Money that could be used to restore your respective countries and make lives better for the people you claim to be protecting. But hey that's just me.