http://www.debate.org/debates/?order=1&sort=&category=Politics Customize this RSS feed by going to http://www.debate.org/rss/ en-us 2009-11-07T10:28:13-08:00 2009-11-07T10:28:13-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Failed-Nations-are-a-greater-threat-to-the-US-than-stable-nations/1/ (Voting Period) I stand here in the firmest affirmation that failed nations are a greater threat to the U.S. than stable nations. First I'd like to define some key terms. According to the 2009 fund for peace a failing nation has charicteristics such as -loss of physical control of its own territory -inability to make collective decisions -inability to provide reasonable public services -extensive corruption -un even development -demographic pressures and many more A stable nation is not the exact opposite of a failed nation but quite close, therefore: -having control of its territory -a strong government that can make collective decisions -provides reasonable public services and so on I would also like to point out that it is nearly impossible to define every nation as either a failed nation or a stable nation. There are so many factors that go into describing failed vs stable. But of course there are the obvious nations that can be catagorized. Nations http://www.debate.org/debates/Failed-Nations-are-a-greater-threat-to-the-US-than-stable-nations/1/comments/ 2009-11-06T12:18:11-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Fascism-is-on-the-Rise-in-the-United-States/1/ (Voting Period) I do not mean the Democrats social welfare reforms by fascism. This is an example of projection from the right, which has at its most extreme core a proto-fascism which is rising and poses real danger to liberty in the United States, and from there quite possibly our entire world. Fascism is defined by one scholar as "palingenetic ultra-nationalist populism." Palingenesis is the concept of rebirth, a synonym for Christian baptism. This is revivalist, which fits with Christian fundamentalism in the United States. To a large extent much of the American Christian right fits this description. Specifically, the movement known as Dominionism or Christian Reconstructionism, with ideas that are channeled to many other people in the overall conservative, Christian, fundamentalist, evangelical movements, while for many are unaware of their full scope, only the underlying agreement they share. Historically fascist movements have been extremely militaristic, racist, viol http://www.debate.org/debates/Fascism-is-on-the-Rise-in-the-United-States/1/comments/ 2009-11-06T16:17:24-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Palestine-Should-be-Free-the-Israeli-Foundation-and-Occupation-are-Unjust/1/ (Voting Period) To begin with, I would like to say the following. I am not anti-Semitic. Nor do I call for destruction of the Israeli people, nor a democratic government they may hold. I am not a Muslim, nor advocate Islamic fundamentalism or religion generally. I do not agree with many tactics used now or in the past by Palestinian groups and their allies. I have every sympathy with the Jewish victims of the Holocaust and their desire for a homeland to escape persecution. However, I believe that Israel as established was unjust, along with the continued occupation of Palestinian territory. Separate, democratic entities representing both peoples must exist, with the right to defend themselves. Settlement building must cease, along with targeting civilians by Palestinian groups, both of which inflame conflict, along with other actions on both sides. I base this upon several contentions: Although understanding and sympathizing with the plight of Jewish people, their persecut http://www.debate.org/debates/Palestine-Should-be-Free-the-Israeli-Foundation-and-Occupation-are-Unjust/1/comments/ 2009-11-05T09:58:49-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Resovled-Liberlism-should-not-be-allowed-in-the-U.S/1/ (Voting Period) Liberalism is a political party that is against all american idealogy and is destroying america as a whole 1) It is making our country look lazy and ignorant for simply GIVING our citizens money without representation 2) It is against every thing that the founding father based the country off of 3) Liberalism will eventually ruin our country, further worsening the economy because you are spending money on people that don't benefit society. (the only exception is for people that have mental/physical disabilities) Thank you! http://www.debate.org/debates/Resovled-Liberlism-should-not-be-allowed-in-the-U.S/1/comments/ 2009-11-05T18:36:31-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/If-a-deceased-persons-wealth-can-be-inherited-then-so-should-their-debts./1/ (Voting Period) Here's a story. It's sad but true. Having been banned from driving for five years, a very good friend of mine celebrated the recent return of his licence by purchasing a 1963 Series III Bentley Continental Drophead Coupe finished in midnight blue with coachwork by Mulliner Park Ward, fitted out with magnolia Connolly hide and inlaid walnut appliqués. On the day it was delivered, he proudly drove off in the direction of the pub intending to show the car off to his mates but he had only gone a couple of blocks when disaster struck. Suddenly, and completely without warning, a middle-aged woman decided to cross the road right in front of him. She came out between two parked cars so there was absolutely no way he could avoid her and she subsequently hit the car square on. As a result of this collision, the woman went over the top of the car, causing a large rip in the colour-coded mohair soft-top roof in the process. Worse still, her wheelchair seriousl http://www.debate.org/debates/If-a-deceased-persons-wealth-can-be-inherited-then-so-should-their-debts./1/comments/ 2009-11-01T23:57:21-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Religious-references-should-be-removed-from-national-obligations./1/ (Debating Period) By definition, an obligation is "an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound." Meeting this formal definition is the act of pledging allegiance to the United States flag, to which a person is morally bound as an American citizen, and the act of using the legally required US currency. A resounding problem concerning these two national obligations is the reference to God that they both contain. There are other obligations that have the same issue, such as swearing on the Bible when speaking in court, but for the purposes of this debate, "national obligations" will be limited to the Pledge of Allegiance and US currency. Their "religious references," quite obviously, are the use of the words "under God" in the Pledge and the words "In God We Trust" appearing on US paper money and coinage. The term "under God" was officially added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954 under the presidency of Eisenhower. Eisenhower had attended a sermon http://www.debate.org/debates/Religious-references-should-be-removed-from-national-obligations./1/comments/ 2009-11-06T15:37:16-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/The-BNP-as-constituted-should-NOT-be-allowed-to-exist-as-a-political-party./1/ (Voting Period) Hello and welcome to readers and to my esteemed opponent Volkov. It is a pleasure to be debating someone with such an excellent grasp of international politics and I hope that his depth of knowledge does not show me up too much in this debate! We agreed to this debate in the comments section of a debate instigated by my opponent (sadly sabotaged by a troll). http://www.debate.org/debates/The-BBC-Was-Wrong-To-Allow-Nick-Griffin-On-Question-Time/1/ This is a subject close to my heart as a British citizen and the parent of a mixed race child. Although my arguments may seem emotive at times, I will attempt to keep them firmly grounded in logic and reason. I don't think there is much need for definitions in this debate as I believe my opponent and I understand each others positions very well, however I would like to clarify that the inclusion of the bracketed phrase "as constituted" is intended to make it clear that if they were to radically alter their con http://www.debate.org/debates/The-BNP-as-constituted-should-NOT-be-allowed-to-exist-as-a-political-party./1/comments/ 2009-11-04T14:52:36-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Failed-nations-are-a-greater-threat-to-the-U.S.-than-stable-nations/1/ (Post Voting Period) Skip the first round by placing a single alphanumeric. We'll each get a position and 2 rebuttals. http://www.debate.org/debates/Failed-nations-are-a-greater-threat-to-the-U.S.-than-stable-nations/1/comments/ 2009-10-30T14:55:45-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Queen-Elizabeth-II-could-out-debate-anybody-on-this-site./1/ (Post Voting Period) Greetings Tmhustler! Good luck, have fun and keep 'er clean. :D I am going to argue that Queen Elizabeth II could trounce anybody on this website very easily. She possesses a long history of politics. The Queen is old and wisened. Her life experiences outnumber those of any member here. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 on this site are not older than 25, correct? Wise is our own eyes, and perhaps possessing some ability to debate, but even so this is not even a professional debate club. Rather, one presents an argument and peers decide on which they like better. Sometimes voters are biased and vote in support of one or the other simply because they like one debater over the other or agree with the topic. However, the Queen has seen over fourty years of Parliament, observing political debates, Parliamentary gains, political jockeying etc. She's been around while some of the most famous Prime Ministers of all time have presided. She personally knew Winston Churchill, an http://www.debate.org/debates/Queen-Elizabeth-II-could-out-debate-anybody-on-this-site./1/comments/ 2009-11-03T00:21:12-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Gay-marriage-should-be-legal-in-the-United-States./1/ (Voting Period) I will be using a dual overlaying teleological/constitutional argument to contend that gay marriage should be legalized in the United States. In this project I will borrow the harm principle, as articulated by John Stewart Mill, to argue that the only reasonable circumstance in which a government can limit a citizen's liberty is to prevent that person from causing harm to others. This view when taken to its logical conclusion would entail the legalization of gay marriage. Contention 1: The Harm Principle Gay marriage is no more capable of harming anyone than heterosexual marriage. And the canard that gay marriage out to be outlawed because it is detrimental to society is evidenced by the other groups that we do allow to marry. Consider for a moment some of the people that we do allow to marry. Pimps, drug dealers, arsonists, felons of all kinds, known pedophiles, mobsters and other criminals are all quite free to marry and do so on a daily basis. [1 http://www.debate.org/debates/Gay-marriage-should-be-legal-in-the-United-States./1/comments/ 2009-10-18T09:35:15-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Gay-marriage-should-be-legal/10/ (Voting Period) First of all, my greetings and thanks to my opponent; hope this will be a good debate! :) PROPOSITION: Gay Marriage should be legal. DEFINITION: Gay Marriage: A legally recognized socio-economic union, treated as a single entity for tax and liability purposes, with or without religious sanction, between two humans of the same gender. Not arguing about the constitutionality or current legal status of same in America or any other country; just whether it SHOULD be legal. We are assuming that all humans have the same inherent rights, and that implementation is not an issue. I am approaching this debate from a centrist, authoritarian viewpoint, and will argue the CONVERSE. My opponent is welcome to argue any position he wants that AFFIRMS the proposition as stated. This is a philosophy debate; I don't have the time to dig out the most scholarly sources on this topic, and will not hold my opponent to a higher standard of research than myself. Wikipedia http://www.debate.org/debates/Gay-marriage-should-be-legal/10/comments/ 2009-10-31T03:10:48-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Society-Benefits-From-Globalization./1/ (Challenge Period) Globalization, the internationalizing of prices, products, labor, and profits, greatly benefits societies that participate. By allowing freedom of labor, trade, and the movement of capital, these nations experience a higher standard of living, as compared with to countries without these aspects. There are merits of Globalization that make it superior to other, more protectionist, policies. My opponent needs to address these issues in order to make a sufficient counter-argument. Some of these merits are as followed: 1) Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing is actually good and makes economies richer and more efficient. 2) Capital exports enhances the productivity of the exported capital, through means of comparative advantage. 3) Cheap imports benefit, not hinder, the domestic economy. Opponents of Globalization and free trade generally employ protectionist policies that actually hurt the economy, the complete opposite of the intended resul http://www.debate.org/debates/Society-Benefits-From-Globalization./1/comments/ 2009-11-05T18:36:55-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Fox-News......-unfair-and-biased/1/ (Voting Period) Is it me, or is Fox News the most unfair and biased "news" organization that has ever existed ? How do they get away with so much dis-information......It kind of sickens me to see how they are dividing the country with nonsensical statements, justified by their so - called talk shows like Hannity....... It's un-American... what ever happened to the truth and verifiable facts ! http://www.debate.org/debates/Fox-News......-unfair-and-biased/1/comments/ 2009-11-02T14:28:23-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Public-Forum-October-Topic-Poverty-Reduction-vs.-Environmental-Protection/1/ (Voting Period) NOTE: Disregard any contextual inaccuracies (my partner and I) that result from the direct usage of in-round formalities within both debaters' first respective speeches. To my opponent: feel free to copy and paste your in-tournament PRO case if you already have one prepared. In resonance with Public Forum conduct, I ask my opponent to exclude any attempts of refutation in his first speech. Resolution: When in conflict, the UN should prioritize global poverty reduction over environmental protection. As a human race, one of our greatest shortcomings has been something of an inability to foresee the long-term consequences of our actions. From excessive government spending to the recent reckless loaning methods that led to the economic recession, we often fail to realize that it is useless gain short-term wellbeing by sacrificing long-term stability. Only by looking into the future alongside the present can we accurately weigh the significance of our acti http://www.debate.org/debates/Public-Forum-October-Topic-Poverty-Reduction-vs.-Environmental-Protection/1/comments/ 2009-10-08T19:36:28-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Abortions-are-morally-wrong./1/ (Voting Period) I will be negating the resolution that abortions are morally wrong, and since most abortions occur in the first trimester this debate will only focus on abortions that take place during that time period. Moral philosophers, theologians, and medical practitioners have argued about the ethics behind abortion for quite some time. And many deeply ethical people have come to view abortion as being morally reprehensible. However, most of the arguments against abortion can be shown to be fallacious on their own merits. They are all either structurally invalid or contain premises which are unsound. For now, I will evaluate one of the central arguments against abortion. ============================================== The Biological Version of the Central Anti Abortion Argument ============================================== Throughout the years there have been many arguments put forth against abortion. However, most of them are derived from some version of the http://www.debate.org/debates/Abortions-are-morally-wrong./1/comments/ 2009-10-26T15:41:30-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/no-planes-on-9-11-thoery/1/ (Voting Period) Hello people my name is Tom. I am involved with a local portland truth group dedicated to exposing the truth about 9/11. I would prefer my opponent to already know at least some of the truth about what happened on 9/11. If you still believe people in a cave did this then please don't bother and go do some research for yourself. The reason why i am debating this is because it creates much controversy within the truth groups. I am here to explain how the world was duped into thinking that planes actually hit the towers. my first argument may be my strongest. The first shot we saw on live tv was a fox news helicopter shot. What we witnessed was a alleged plane strike the tower WITH THE NOSE EMERGING THROUGH THE OTHER SIDE COMPLETELY INTACT. look at the pictures http://www.911myths.com/index.php/Nose_out I think we may all agree that an ALUMINUM plane will not go through a steel building and come out intact. If you can't agree with that go learn your p http://www.debate.org/debates/no-planes-on-9-11-thoery/1/comments/ 2009-10-17T17:39:57-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Prostitution-should-be-legalized-in-the-United-States./5/ (Voting Period) I will be using a dual overlaying teleological/constitutional argument to contend that prostitution should be legalized in the United States. In this project I will borrow the harm principle, as articulated by John Stewart Mill, to argue that the only reasonable circumstance in which a government can limit a citizen's liberty is to prevent that person from causing harm to others. This view when taken to its logical conclusion would entail the legalization of prostitution. Contention 1: The Harm Principle For the sake of convenience I will grant to my opponent that prostitution may harm its participants albeit inadvertently. What conclusions can we draw from this? Clearly we can't conclude that prostitution should be outlawed solely on the basis of its potentially being harmful to its consenting patrons. If we were to take this route then we would also have to outlaw cigarettes, alcohol, skydiving, and driving. Alcohol has no known medical uses and its dan http://www.debate.org/debates/Prostitution-should-be-legalized-in-the-United-States./5/comments/ 2009-09-23T08:05:53-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Rush-Limbaugh-was-slandered-by-racist-charges./1/ (Voting Period) A campaign by Leftists accusing Limbaugh with charges of racism was a success. They succeeded in getting him kicked out of the investor group that is planning to make a bid for the St. Louis Rams. The important evidence against Limbaugh comprised his alleged comments praising Martin Luther King's assassin, his comment "Slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should bring it back. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark," and finally that he made disparaging remarks about the NAACP. All of these accusations were false. The first two were apparently fabricated by a left-wing blogger named Hooberman and the last by a columnist for the Kansas City Star. (http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/ ... Oct 15). Some of the comments were repeated, without a source, in Wikipedia. MSNBC and CNN featured them heavily, again without providing a source. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/nb-staff/2009/10/13/mrcs-bozell-demands-cnn-msnbc-sou http://www.debate.org/debates/Rush-Limbaugh-was-slandered-by-racist-charges./1/comments/ 2009-10-21T19:46:37-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/There-are-situations-conceivable-when-torture-can-be-justified./1/ (Voting Period) Imagine that you have been carted off against your will to some dank and sadistic dungeon. Upon arriving you are immediately forced to confront an ethical dilemma. Your captors tell you that you must torture an innocent man that now sits in front of you for 5 minutes. If you fail to comply with this request they will torture the man anyway and 100 other innocent people. And not only will they torture these innocent people they will torture them all to the point of death. So, now you must make a choice. You can torture this innocent person for five minutes and therefore save his life. Or you can refuse to torture him, but in doing this he and 100 other innocent people will be tortured to the point of death. ========= Conclusion ========= Given this state of affairs, in particular, it would seem that there is no harm in torturing this innocent man since doing so is the only way to save his life and the life of 100 other people. ======== De http://www.debate.org/debates/There-are-situations-conceivable-when-torture-can-be-justified./1/comments/ 2009-10-09T21:21:20-08:00 http://www.debate.org/debates/Gun-control-lowers-crime/1/ (Voting Period) The gun control licenses only abide to your good average citizen while thieves do not really care about these laws, causing a nuisence for lawful citizens and anopen field for criminals to do their work. in switzerland all men are required to be part of the militia and most keep fully automatis guns in there houses , yet there is virtually no gun violence there. citizens with guns deter crime not promote it. http://www.debate.org/debates/Gun-control-lowers-crime/1/comments/ 2009-10-14T17:54:43-08:00