The Animal's Game

Book excerpt: Man is threatened only by fellow man. Great is that threat because man, throughout history, has fought fellow man. All impactful nations of our world fight other nations and must spend enormously because they must be ready to fight. It seems that we cannot outgrow fighting. This book imagines a world in which man does not engage in war. Animals are surrogates, and only animals engage in fighting to the death. Such practice is beneath civilized man, but he is not totally removed. Humans are obsessed with watching animals fight to the death. The animals do not mind. What happens when kids try it? Once the passion for fierce fighting enters the blood, can humans resist the urge to engage in war? Yes, they are superior to animals, but can humans refrain from doing the thing they believed they were too smart to ever do?