Resolved A just government ought to
prioritize civil liberties over national security.
This resolution is probably my favorite of all the proposed 2016-2017 resolutions. Those who want to default to a utilitarian calculus may do so to their hearts' content. Those who wish to engage debates from other philosophical may also do so to their hearts' content. Frameworks and facts will clash and it should be glorious.
More importantly, this will be a great resolution for the novice. The discussion about civil liberties and national security occur frequently in the public sphere. In debate world, the arguments inherent in this resolution--the eternal Star Trek argument about the goods of the many verses the harms to the few--will be covered in nearly every Lincoln-Douglas resolution that students debate.
Personally, I would prefer this one for January and February. I am afraid it will become and March-April or Nats resolution which means most of our students won't get to debate it.
1 comment:
Good LD resolution. The current presidential discourse is dealing with the issue of national security, individual liberty, american values of freedom, etc. Maybe our students could do a better job debating this issues than the presidential candidates!
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