Are Combat Sports Ethical? Con

What we do for fun says a lot about us.

What entertains the masses is more often than not, a reflection of the times that the people of a society find themselves in.

Fishermen would climb into their boats, go out to the Nile and beat each other with their oars and pointed gaffes to entertain the pharaoh, and the blood would attract crocodiles and hippos to get into the fight.

In the days of Ancient Rome, the colosseum would be filled with men, women, and children who wanted to see slaves fight each in gladiator battles, or see a man fight a tiger to the death.

As of 2017, we are paying professional boxers such as Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts champions like Connor McGregor hundreds of millions of dollars to punch each other till blood pours and eyes swell while millions watch them on the flickers of their TV or cellphone.

Though the content of these sports might be a different, they all share one thing in common: they are all organized violence.

            Most people abhor violence and try to avoid it in their own lives, but there are many people that pay to watch two people get into ring and punch, kick, slam and choke each other till one or the other is writhing on the floor covered in blood, or knocked out completely.

            Though in cases of self-defense and the prevention of further violence combat is sometimes necessary. However, violence should always be seen as a last resort that is only to be used after all other options have failed.

            Television and movies so often display violence as being the solution to any problem, and as a way to show masculinity and domination. Combine this with the proliferation of boxing and other combat sports that have gained popularity in recent years, and you have an exaggerated but accurate representation of a lot of issues faced in the world today.

            Seeing someone smashed to a bloody pulp has been cheered for so long, that we have almost become desensitized to it. We cheer for it. We become less wary of it and allow it to become an expected and trivial part of our society and everyday lives.

            Entertainment serves as an escape for people; a way to leave the troubles of the world and have fun. There is violence in our world, and for the most part, people are not entertained by it. It brings pain, destruction, and sometimes death.

            What reflection can one get from escaping one violent world, and excitedly going into another? Perhaps people are not trying to reflect, but give in to the visceral and primal experience of seeing one being fight another.

            With the entertainment of combat sports, we have become more of a society that accepts violence, and wash over the destruction it can bring until a more extreme act of violence shocks us out of complacency.