Official Debate Topic Suggestion Thread

[telekinetic]

This thread should be a collection of 'affirmative' statements for debate.

Some guidelines:

• It needs to be a defensible statement, and therefore a complete sentence. So rather than say "human cloning" as a topic, say "Cloning humans specifically for organ harvesting is unethical in all contexts"
• It needs to be subjective, and have some grey, so that each side can be well supported. Conspiracy theories are best left for the paranoia forum.
• Make it specific enough that clear arguments can be made around it. "We shouldn't eat fish" is ok, but "Large scale fishing operations are environmentally unethical for reasons of sustainability" is much better.

Here's some starter topics, and I'll keep adding to the list (and subtracting, as we use them)

"A man named Jesus, who a substantial portion of the Jesus stories were then based on, existed"

"Bestiality and Necrophilia should be illegal in all circumstances"

"The success of the majority of elite athletes is attributable more to nurture than nature"

"Professional athletes are paid far higher wages than they deserve"

"CEOs are paid far higher wages than they deserve"

"Modern civilization needs religion in order to continue to exist"

"It is in the interest of a countries economy to strictly regulate offshore outsourcing, instead of letting the free market run its course"

"Artificial child pornography in which no actual children were abused should be legal"

"Retroactively legalizing all drugs and releasing everyone charged with drug crimes is the best step to solving America's prison overpopulation crisis."

"Downloading of music should be legal, and musicians should make their money on promotional material, special edition albums, and concert ticket sales"

"A national 55mph speed limit should be instituted to combat the looming peak oil crisis"

[Pearl Trade]

A communist nation can never compete economically with a democratic nation.

[Willravel]

Tom Cruise is gay
Crocs: just for old ladies gardening and toddlers at the beach
Humans would react to extraterrestrial contact with violence
Hitler was ultimately a benefit to mankind
Patriotism does more harm than good
The United States should collapse, economically
Economics is not a science

[Baraka_Guru]

• Capitalism only works when tempered by socialism.
• Gay marriage should be legal, as it is a human right.
• U.S. farm bills should be amended to address the obesity epidemic.

[Hektore]

-There is an ethical limit to free inquiry.
restated: Maybe there are some things we shouldn't know.
(Ex. Possibly that one race is really inferior in mathematical thinking)

-No other species is, or should be, entitled to the same rights and privileges we grant human beings.

-The US should switch from locally raised taxes for school funding to a flat, per child rate.

[Baraka_Guru]

• American citizens are the freest citizens in the world.
• The success of the U.S. has far more to do with geography than with values and hard work.
• Abortion should be covered by universal health care.

[Pearl Trade]

English should be the official language of the U.S.

Humans are inherently bad.

[Reese]

Is Scientology a Religion?
Are Video Games Art?
Is the Debate forum just a way for forum lurkers to be lazy and have other people discuss topics for us?

[Jinn]

The NFL topic for 2010 is "Current trends in American political dialogue compromise meaningful democratic deliberation" and it would do well here I think.

The NFL Policy Debate ones for 2010-2011 were:

"The United States federal government should substantially increase social services for persons living in poverty in the United States."

"The United States federal government should substantially reduce its military and/or police presence in one or more of the following: South Korea, Japan, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Turkey"

[Pearl Trade]

Space exploration should always be a major goal to the United States.

[Reese]

Recently, Blizzard Entertainment(World of Warcraft Developer for those out of the loop) announced that they were changing their forum format so that to post on that forum you would have to do so using your first and last name. There was quite an outrage by the community and Blizzard decided not to implement this feature. I'd really like to see this subject debated.

[Merlocke]

I'd wonder if chicken or egg would actually be debatable?
What else...

Flat tax good or bad? From an accountability and economical standpoint, a flat tax would simplify complicated tax ruling and make businesses more profitable in the long run.

Governments were created to give people a voice via a representative. With the advent of the information age and widespread internet, is the government in it's current form outdated? We could run the country and hear just as many voices with fewer representatives and more public Internet access.

Should finances and investing be taught in school?