Tournament: all of them | Round: 1 | Opponent: everyone | Judge: everyone
When we enter the world of debate, we separate ourselves from the real world. We put on tinted glasses and see the world as an objective, a source from which we may squeeze information and supposed strategic advantages so that we may one up those sitting opposite us. We look at atrocity and see opportunity, we see the death of Nelson Mandela and it means not the death of an apartheid hero, but rather, a new politics DA. When we enter the debate space we leave the real world behind and look from above as a controlling, manipulative, and oppressive force, distorting and corrupting the truth to fit our own supposed meaning. But it is not our fault, it is just how we were taught to think.
We Role-play weighing our decisions in “objective rationality” and “logic”. We take events and peoples around the world who we have no knowledge of outside of the surface superficial semblance of wisdom required to debate about them for 2 hours then throw the cards away and forget that their struggles ever existed. Debate destroys our sympathy and in our sympathy lies our humanity.
More so, we role-play as the United States government, a historically and contemporarily oppressive system that conforms to Eurocentric imperialistic and neoliberal ideals that crushes those under it and abroad and creates a dystopian monoculture.
So, before we enter in earnest into this round, we must analyze debate. We frame debate not as a competition or game, but as a pursuit of the ontological truths of the world.
Ours is not a pursuit of polarization, of us and them, but a collaborative discussion in which there is no winner or loser, but cooperation to better refine and spread the message we preach.
Narratives of that which we may not explicitly see in the world, or that which we may discard as an inevitable truth are key to the space of our debate in that it allows for sources previously unheard to enlighten us.
My partner and I attempt to enlighten as we have been enlightened, and hope to educate within and outside of the round. Our “solvency” is not a hypothetical on paper goal, but in saying this succeeding sentence, I achieve my goal of spreading our perceived truth of the world.
The academic sphere and its subsequent pursuits including politics and debate are fundamentally predicated upon Eurocentric and racist standards that exclude, corrupt, and delegitimize very real minority struggles that have not and likely will never be handed the microphone. They restrict the microphone. We are here to liberate it back.
But we as debaters are privileged. We may not recognize it at first but by virtue of the fact that we are here, and have the voice not granted to the voiceless we are fundamentally at an advantage in the realm of our Eurocentric society and it is by none of our own doing. Thus, we will never know the suffering of the suffering masses. We will never know about that which we preach. But this does not mean we may not attempt to sympathize with and assist these peoples, it only means that we have ever more responsibility to respect their struggle and recognize and spread their pleas. We may not ever truly understand, but we may try, and in what understanding we are granted we maintain the responsibility to help these people.
This is where the debate space comes in. We the privileged masses of self-proclaimed academics must humble ourselves, toss out our egos, and prothselize the liturgy of the word of the oppressed. We must serve as microphones to amplify the voices of those too small to be heard in a previously uncaring world. We are the ground floor of the monument to freedom. We are the base of a social revolution. When we amplify the voice of the voiceless we start a social revolution. We are here to start a social revolution. You are here to start a social revolution.
The role of the ballot in this round is to grant legitimacy previously unrecognized by the world, and to serve as the breach in the wall keeping the oppressed out of the eyes of the world. You as the voter, do not decide a winner or a loser, but amplify the message of the oppressed.
To take the system down, you must first operate within it. For a spark to ignite an inferno there must always be a starting point. Civil Rights. Women’s suffrage. Compare these struggles to those revolutions that came before them. in the past one had to earn their freedom with guns and armies. In the present we have set the precedence of peace. We are now able to operate within the system and end not a single life in our effort to save a million. Thus, it is our responsibility to start our social revolution at the base of the system, the academic debate space, so that we may reestablish the “top” and equalize the world. We as debaters are granted a unique opportunity and we have the responsibility to serve as the source of the subterfuge, the root of the revolution within the oppressive Eurocentric united states academic system. Now is our time. Your responsibility is to act.
Thus, we advocate that we reject the restrictive oppressive nature of debate, and instead of competing for imaginary solvency, we discuss to solve the real problems plaguing this environment.
First we have to address the issues plaguing the debate space
We have an intellectual responsibility to resist the exclusive norms and procedures of competitive debate. The most effective way to achieve this is through poetry, music, and other non-traditional forms of debate. Zinn, Howard Resistance and the role of artists p.65 Cambridge, MA February 6, 2004
You often bring up the role... even if it is beautiful prose.
These are not just unsubstantiated claims on paper, they happen in the real world. In fact,
Perhaps you didn’t hear about it, or perhaps you did, nevertheless the cruel reality is that
Debate Programs around the country conform to and reinforce prejudiced divisions and nobody gives a damn about it. Fortunately, those few who do are vocal and reject the status quo systematic support of oppressive crimes. The LBS heard of oppression and they demanded change by spreading the word. There is in round and out of round solvency for speaking out. This requires, however, that you listen and spread the word. That is your responsibility.
Love, 13
http://lbsbaltimore.com/why-you-shouldnt-send-your-black-and-brown-children-to-towson-university/
Love is a writer for LBS Baltimore, or, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle.
The Towson University Debate Team has a storied history of national success using an emphasis
AND
Harvard’s national tournament, which is an extremely pivotal tournament of the year.
The alternative to these atrocities is to reject the status quo in favor of a bottom up revolution within the flawed system to usurp the tyrants on top. We don’t need to have an antagonistic relationship. We are not mutually exclusive. We can both win this round. Judge, that should be your vote.
Rage against the Machine, 92
Bring that shit in! Uggh!
Yeah, the movement's in motion with mass militant poetry
Now check this out...uggh!
In the right light, study becomes insight
But the system that dissed us
Teaches us to read and right
So called facts are fraud
They want us to allege and pledge
And bow down to their God
Lost the culture, the culture lost
Spun our minds and through time
Ignorance has taken over
Yo, we gotta take the power back!
Bam! Here's the plan
Motherfuck Uncle Sam
Step back, I know who I am
Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear
It's the beats and the lyrics they fear
The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back