Each year, high school debaters go head-to-head to qualify for a chance to compete in the National Speech & Debate Tournament. This year, debaters qualified by making persuasive arguments on topics ranging from whether employers should be required to provide employees with “living wages” to whether or not the United States should commit ground troops to combatting ISIL. In June, top competitors from 110 districts across the country will gather in Dallas, Texas to showcase their skills for the chance to win college scholarships.

 

Debate topics for the National Tournament were announced this morning. Below are Ayn Rand Institute resources that Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, and Policy debaters may find helpful as they build their cases for Nationals.

 

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

The National Tournament topic in the category of Lincoln-Douglas Debate is:

 

Resolved: Inaction in the face of injustice makes individuals morally culpable.

 

ARI Resources:

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Sanction”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Sanction of the Victim ”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Justice”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Compromise”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Appeasement”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Moral Judgment”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Moral Cowardice”

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Character”

Religious Terrorism vs. Free Speech by Leonard Peikoff, 1989

Condoning Violence; Destroying Free Speech by Steve Simpson, April 2015

In the Sony Affair, Who Is the Real Coward? by Steve Simpson, December 2014

Freedom of Speech: We Will Not Cower by Onkar Ghate, January 2015

The Cartoon Jihad: Free Speech in the Balance by Christian Beenfeldt and Onkar Ghate, February 2006

Our Self-Crippled Policy Encouraged the Deadly Embassy Attacks by Elan Journo, September 2012

 

Public Forum Debate

The National Tournament topic in the category of Public Forum Debate is:

 

Resolved: The benefits of First Amendment protection of anonymous speech outweigh the harms.

 

ARI Resources:

Gutting the First Amendment by Steve Simpson, July 2014

Speech Laws and the IRS by Steve Simpson, July 2013

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Free Speech”

 

Policy Debate

The National Tournament topic in the category of Policy Debate is:

 

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its non-military exploration and/or development of the Earth’s oceans.

 

ARI Resources:

Deep-Six the Law of the Sea by Tom Bowden, November 2007.

“The Property Status of Airwaves” by Ayn Rand, in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. (Excerpts can be found in The Ayn Rand Lexicon)

“Man’s Rights” and “The Nature of Government” by Ayn Rand, in The Virtue of Selfishness

The Ayn Rand Lexicon, topic “Patents and Copyrights”

You can learn more about ARI’s support of high school debaters here.