I looked at the motions for both tournaments. The Asians motions were mostly brilliant. Nicely balanced, and potentially explosive motions. AUDC motions were dry, political, and symptomatic of the mindset that brought to the birth of the AUDC in the first place. They had 3 motions related to conditional aid. 3! Sure, they were to be debated under different contexts, but at least show some form of imagination. There is so much more to the art of argument than just world issues.
Here are a few of the Asians motions that actually got me wide eyed and wanting to debate.
THBT humanity will not reach the 22nd Century. Duh. Of course I'd love to debate this. I've been building the case file since I began forming logical thoughts.
THW not eat whales and sharks. How is that for a motion. I'd love to do this value judgment.
THBT standardized testing is the enemy of learning. Anti-establishment motion! And totally related to students at that!
TH prefers need based higher education scholarships to affirmative action in admissions. Malaysian university quota systems!
THW require all elementary and secondary schools to include debating in the curriculum. Need I say more?
The semifinal theme was Buddhism! Dude!
THBT the Dalai Lama uses his position for personal gain.
THBT all Buddhist orders should ordain woman as monks.
THBT non-violent Buddhist social movements do not lead to social change.
How cool is that? How many people know enough about Buddhism to debate? No one really cares about what Buddhism stands for, and it has never been a debate before. The second and third motion would require at least some basic understanding of the workings of Buddhism. Which is totally cool considering how everyone seems to need to have a basic understanding of Christianity and Islam in debates before this, but never about any other religion.
The south Asians seem to be having all the damn fun. =S
Sigh.
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