I'm not about to claim that I made up this idea by myself, but I heard it recently and it struck a chord: let's bring back the duel in modern politics.
For those of you unaware of what a duel is, by definition it is an arranged engagement of combat between two people with matched weapons. The duel was prominent in American politics during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Just ask our friend Alexander Hamilton who was murdered in a duel by none other than sitting Vice President Aaron Burr.
Back then, when two politicians had a point of conflict or if somebody threatened each other's honor, one could challenge another to a duel. In many cases, the duel would bring parties that would negotiate terms and no shots would actually be fired. However, when shots did get fired, it resulted in the death of many.
Hear me out, we have so many conflicts in politics nowadays, why not implement the duel in order to solve issues? Imagine this: Bernie Sanders challenges Mitch McConnell to a duel. Now that's something I want to see.
Instead of pointless bantering back and forth between politicians and different sides of the spectrum, they would just duel it out. Long-term conflicts would become a thing of the past.
One of my favorite sayings is "ball don't lie". Well, in the case of duels, the bullet doesn't lie. Two politicians disagree over building the wall? Challenge each other to a duel. Whoever wins must be right. Bullets don't lie.
This could work in local politics as well. If two city planners have a disagreement over what to do with some new free space, just duel it out. No more argument necessary.
Surely the art of dueling will solve so many political standoffs that create partisanship today. It just makes sense.
Yes, this a joke. Still... I don't hate it.