Motions for Taiwan Debate Open
Taiwan Debate Open 2017
R1 Medicine
THW ban all medically non-essential cosmetic surgery.
THBT doctors should manipulate gravely ill patients into choosing euthanasia over resources-intensive life-extending treatment.
THR the prevalence of battlefield metaphors in describing the conditions of individuals with chronic diseases ( such as “cancer survivor”, “fighting cancer” and “losing the battle of cancel”).
R2 Religion
Info Slide
New Atheist (e.g. Richard Dawkin) advocate that religious beliefs and superstitions are incompatible with science, rationality, and morality. New Atheism holds that religion should not be tolerated and must be actively criticized and exposed by rational challenge wherever its influence arises in government, education and politics.
THBT the state should remove the tax-exempt status of all religious organizations deemed to have engaged in excessive or lavish spending (e.g., elaborate worship venues, excessive pay for leadership).
THR the rise of New Atheism.
THW ban proselytization.
R3 sports
TH prefers a world where athletes do not compete as representatives of their country.
THW professionalize student sporting leagues.
THBT sporting bodies should allow the use of all performance enhancing drugs.
R4 Gender
When educating the public about sexual abuse, assault and harassment. THW always speak of all genders and never emphasize the protection of women.
TH, as a parent, would teach their daughter about the existence of rampant and widespread sexism from a young age.
THR social justice movements’ increasing usage of the concept of intersectionality.
R5 Culture
THW force all directors to use blind audition in filming casting, unless the film’s content requires race-based casting (e.g., a film about Martin Luther King’s Life).
TH celebrates the adoption of a distinctively Taiwanese (as opposed to Chinese) identity by the Taiwanese people.
THBT prefers a world where African-American artistes provide message of peace, rather than confrontation, in their music.
R6 Dooms DAY
THBT environmental advocacy groups should not campaign on the basis of the claim that humanity, as a whole, faces imminent environmental catastrophe.
TH welcomes Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
You are the commander of a nuclear-armed submarine. You have received information that your country has suffered a catastrophic nuclear attack that has wiped out the government, as well as most of the population and infrastructure. Your submarine is the only one left. THW launch a retaliatory attack.
Taiwan Debate Open 2016
R1
THBT we should ban art which glorifies suicide and self-harm. (“Glofiry” meaning to describe or represent as admirable, such as emo music, vusual art that shows the slitting of wrists as aesthetically pleasing, etc.)
THR the decline of apparent technical skill as a key criterion in evaluating art.
THW prohibit private ownership of art deemed to be culturally or historically significant.
R2
Info slide:
A sharing economy is an economic model in which individuals are able to borrow or rent assets owned by someone else. In this way, physical assets are shared as services. For example, a car owner may allow someone to rent out her vehicle while she is not using it, or a condo owner may rent out his condo while he is on vacation.
Criticism of the sharing economy often involves regulatory uncertainty. Businesses offering rental services are often regulated by federal, state or local authorities; unlicensed indivuduals offering rental services may not be following these regulations or paying the associated costs, giving them an “unfair” advantage that enables them to charge lower prices.
Examples of sharing economy platforms are Uber and Airbnb.
THW make sharing economy businesses liable for damages done to customers using their business.
THBT the United Kingdom should leave the European Union.
THR the rise of automation of labour (Automation being the increasing usage to replace human labour and effort with machinery)
R3
Theme: Education
Info slide: “No platform” refers to university policies that prevent certain groups of people/ certain ideologies from spreading their ideas within the university (e.g. anti-homophobia, Holocaust denial, etc.) This may happen by protests, banning of student groups, or rescinding invitations to someone asked to speak at an event, such as a guest lecture at a college. The concept apparently originates from a policy used by the British National Union of Students to prevent far-right wing racists from giving speeches on UK college campuses.
THW teach all students in detail about past state injustices (e.g. Colonization, Martial Law, racial discrimination, etc.)
TH regrets the increased social expectation of attending university.
TH supports “No Platform” policies in universities.
R4
Theme: Justice
Info slide: plea bargains are where the accused agrees to plead guilty and/or give information to authorities in exchange for not going to trial or having a lighter sentence)
THW ban plea bargains.
THW require victim’s consent prior to prosecution.
In liberal democracies where minorities are still disenfranchised, such as Muslims in France, Blacks in America, indigenous populations in Australia and New Zealand
THBT extreme acts of civil disobedience are justified. (e.g. riots, police resistance, violence etc.)
R5
Info slide: comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions concerned with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices of the world’s religions. It is taught in ana academic perspective where no value judgement is made on the veracity of any of the religions.
THBT countries that have suffered religious strife should ban public religiosity (eg. public prostelytization, the public display of religious symbols).
TH, as a prominent New Atheist, would publicly and vocally support moderate religious leaders in the fight against fundamentalism.
THW make the teaching of comparative religion compulsory in schools.
R6
Theme: Media
TH, as the Western media, would refrain from commenting on foreign political elections.
Assuming that you will not be discovered, THBT social media networks should manipulate the news feeds to discourage rogue politicians (e.g. Trump, Duterte) from winning elections.
THBT the media should actively portray terrorists as criminals with justified causes.
QF
Info slide: the establishment refers to the group of influential people (including but not limited to party leaders, media personalities, businessmen) consistently involved in shaping party politics. They do this by helping certain “establishment-friendly” candidates with endorsements, fundraising, setting party rules, etc. Anti-establishment politics refers to a set of beliefs which seeks to challenge this order. Notable examples include Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.
TH prefers dictatorship to democracy in post conflict societies.
TH supports the declarations of a state of emergency in responses to terrorist attacks.
TH supports the rise of anti-establishment politics.
SF
In light of the confirmation of the Saudi government’s role in 9/11 attacks, THW cease military aid to the Saudi Arabian government.
TH, as Bernie Sanders, would pull out of the Democratic primary and lobby for unity under Hilary’s agenda.
TH celebrates corporations boycotting states that have passed anti-gay legislation.
GF
Info slide: the main of the Sunshine policy, carried out from 1998 to 2007, was to soften North Korea’s attitudes towards the South by encouraging interaction and ecxonomic assistance.
The national security policy had three basic principles:
・No armed provocation by the North will be tolerated.
・The South will not attempt to absorb the North in any way.
・the South actively seeks
TH regrets Taiwan’s move towards ending conscription.
TH supports Japan significantly increasing their military strength.
THBT South Korea should return to the Sunshine policy.