Debate motions from 2017

THW not allow public schools to expel students - Round 1

1

THBT education in the developing world should be conducted primarily in English - Round 1

1

THW institute a negative basic income - Round 2

2

THS immigration criteria based around culture - Round 2

2

THBT the government should have no role in protecting endangered species - Round 3

3

THBT future generations should be able to sue the government for damages from the effects of climate change - Round 3

3

You have a machine that allows you to know when you will die. THW use the machine. - Round 4

4

Assuming you have the technology, THW financially reward citizens for good deeds - Round 4

4

THW ban tithing - Round 5

5

THW require religious organisations to elect their leaders - Round 5

5

THBT the European Union should refuse to offer the United Kingdom preferential trade terms - Round 6

6

THW place a tax on the labour of robots - Round 6

6

THS the publication of the DNC (Democratic National Committee) leaks - Round 7

7

TH regrets the commercialisation of social justice - Round 7

7

THW reject women-only spaces - Round 8

8

THBT the transgender movement should distance itself from the feminist movement - Round 8

8

TH regrets Treaty settlements - Semi Final 1

Open_Semis

THS granting legal personality to rivers and lakes - Semi Final 1

Open_Semis

THBT inquiries into the misconduct of soldiers should only be conducted by people who have at some point been in active service - Semi Final 2

Open_Semis

THBT the USA should take aggressive military action against the Syrian regime - Semi Final 2

Open_Semis

THBT the media should not 'out' authors who publish under a pseudonym - Grand Final

Open_Final

THW not allow authors to copyright characters or worlds that they have created - Grand Final

Open_Final

This House believes that post-genocidal regimes should destroy all places of extermination (for example, death camps)

1

This House would allow members of the armed forces to form labour unions

2

This House believes that sports leagues should significantly tax and redistribute from wealthier teams to poorer teams

3

In areas with rapidly rising property prices, This House would suspend all restrictions on property development that are not health and safety requirements (for example, environmental zoning regulations, building height restrictions, and regulations on the appearance of buildings)

4

This House believes that the Netherlands should allow citizens to purchase additional votes from the government at a cost proportional to their wealth (for example, one additional vote for 1% of wealth)

5

This House believes that the world would be a better place if women from privileged backgrounds turned down any benefits arising from affirmative action programs.

6

This House believes that South Korea should produce nuclear weapons

7

This House regrets the glamorization of start-up culture that encourages people to start their own companies rather than pursue traditional career paths

8

This House would temporarily and significantly relax minimum labour standards in times of unusually high unemployment, including workplace health and safety standards, minimum wage, working hours restrictions etc.

9

THBT the European left should promote a hard left agenda, including the nationalisation of major industry, very high tax rates on wealthy, and expansion of the welfare states.

EFL_Final

This House believes that the US government should provide significant campaign funding for US congressmen and senators who score highly on bi-partisan metrics.

ESL_Quarters

This house, as the pope, would abolish the requirement for clerical celibacy.

ESL_Semis

THW force all news organisations to operate as non-profits

ESL_Final

This house believes that countries close to conflict zones should only grant long-term asylum to refugees who agree to one year of military service.

Open_Partial_Double_Octos

This house would ban advocacy for religious belief in public places

Open_Octos

TH, as the Chinese Communist Party, will allow fair and competitive elections for local elections

Open_Semis

This House would ban for-profit universities and colleges.

1

This House would impose restrictions on the opening of stores operated by large multinational retail chains (e.g. Tesco, Walmart) in order to protect local businesses.

2

This House would deny tax-exempt status to religious institutions that refuse to appoint female leaders.

3

This House believes that states should not erect statues or memorials which commemorate or glorify military campaigns and/or the service of soldiers in war

4

This House would make labour union membership compulsory in large industries

5

This House believes that, when working to preserve rare and endangered species, private entities are more effective than the state.

6

This House believes that the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence in Eastern Europe is doing more harm than good.

7

This House believes that states should be able to prioritize asylum seekers on the basis of cultural similarity with existing populations.

8

This House would legalize commercial surrogacy for profit.

Open_Partial_Double_Octos

This House supports military retaliation against cyberattacks.

Open_Final

This House would impose additional taxes on employers who use automation to replace human workers.

Open_Quarters

This House prefers benevolent dictatorship to weak democracy.

Open_Semis

This House supports restrictions on free speech to combat the rise of right-wing populism.

Open_Final

This house believes that the US should ban extremist groups (e.g. the KKK and neo-Nazi groups)

1

This house believes that the WTO should allow developing countries to impose policies aimed at protecting domestic industries, even at the expense of harming international trade.

2

THR the rise of "Sharing Culture"

3

This house believes that states should significantly fund female-only tech companies

4

This house, as Israel, supports the Jewish People's Intelligence Services Doctrine.

5

This house supports universities treating students as customers (eg by allocating significant resources to improving students lifestyles, and granting students influence over university decisions and the content and delivery of course curricula)

6

This house believes that Western institutions should neither cooperate with, nor use the data produced by, non-Western medical institutions that do not meet Western standards on human clinical trials

7

This house believes that LGBT groups should actively seek to include Side B Christians.

8

This house supports the creation and use of Lethal Autonomous Robots (Lethal Autonomous Robots are fully autonomous military weapons that can select and engage targets without human intervention).

9

THB that Western European states at high risk for terror attacks should implement 'state of emergency' laws.

ESL_Final

THR the mass deregulation of the financial sector

Open_Semis

TH as the Kremlin would commemorate the 1917 Russian Revolution as a tradegy rather than a triumph for the nation.

Open_Final

THW provide means-tested welfare in the form of basic goods and services (including vouchers), rather than cash payments.

1

THBT twitter has done more harm than good

2

TH Prefers Asian Values to Western liberalism

3

THBT investors should cease purchasing bonds issued by the Venezuelan government.

4

THBT minority parents should shelter their children from the existence of racism for as long as possible

5

THW require all sold products to clearly display their price in Dead Children Currency.

Novice_Finals

THR the creation and adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Open_Quarters

THBT that the EU should suspend the voting rights of Poland.

ESL_Semis

THBT Mohammed bin Salman's policies are in the interests of the ruling House of Saud.

Open_Semis

THW ban the creation of all artificial conscious beings.

ESL_Final

Assuming it could be done peacefully, THW replace all existing governments with a single global democratic government.

Open_Final

This House Would abolish the statute of limitations for heinous crimes (e.g. murder, sexual assault, grievous bodily harm)

1

This House Believes That progressive movements should not doxx

2

This House Regrets the narrative that motherhood is an intrinsically fulfilling experience

3

TH supports South Korea's rejection of the potential trilateral military USA-Korea-Japan alliance.

4

"Utility factor" refers to the total, foreseeable impact on society produced by academic research. The utility factor is determined by the universities themselves. Motion:This House Supports the allocation of research funding in universities based purely on the utility factor of the research

5

This House Would remove all criminal penalties for knowingly exposing partners to HIV

6

This House Believes That development of infrastructure in developing countries should be led by the state, as opposed to the private sector

7

This House Would impose heavy penalties on planned obsolescence

Open_Quarters

This House Would all movies and TV shows to introduce racial-blind casting for all characters

Open_Semis

This House Believes That 'armies of opinion shapers' should never be a legitimate political tool for states

Open_Final

- very severe dementia; - vegetative state etc. Advanced directives are irreversible - they remain binding. NON-voluntary euthanasia is NOT INvoluntary euthanasia. It merely means that no EXPLICIT CONSENT is granted at the time. " Motion: This House Would legalize advanced directives requesting non-voluntary euthanasia for oneself

ESL_Final

THW not criticize Melania Trump as a way of protesting the Donald

1

THW stop teaching children that all opinions are valid

2

THBT African nations should not allow extraction of their national resources by companies from developed nations.

3

THW save the Pandas (accompanying infoslides)

4

THBT if NPR and/or PBS cannot survive without government funding, they should be allowed to fail.

5

THW reinstate the Wet Foot, Dry Foot policy.

6

THBT it can be legitimate for a person to claim to identify as a race other than the one they were born into.

7

THBT South Korea should shifts its focus away from its alliance with the United States to strengthen its ties with China.

8

THBT the EU should implement protectionist economic policies targeted towards the UK upon the triggering of 'Brexit"

Open_Quarters

THBT Vladimir Putin is a greater threat to the world than Donald Trump.

Open_Semis

THW punch a Nazi

Open_Final

THR the ridicule and demonisation of guru-based religious orders

Open_Final

TH supports a policy of assassinating the leaders of transnational gangs (eg: MS-13) irrespective of the nation in which they are located.

Novice_Final

THW require all people to work in their countries of origin for a period of time after graduating from university.

Novice_Semi

THBT limiting the negative effects of US monetary policy on foreign economies should become an explicit part of the Federal Reserve's mandate

Open_Semi

THBT public universities should consider the publicly-stated political beliefs of professors in hiring and tenure decisions in order to ensure ideological representation.

Open_Quarter

In disaster prone areas, THW replace all state rebuilding and reconstruction efforts with direct cash transfers to affected citizens.

Open_Octa

THBT the media should significantly restrict its coverage of suicide cases and of depictions of suicide

6

In a world in which the technology exists, THBT feminists should aggressively promote the use of artificial wombs.

5

TH supports repossession by the state of ""buy-to-leave"" homes (i.e, houses that have been left uninhabited for a long period of time, purchased mostly as a form of investment - for instance, in Central London)

3

THBT policies regarding the teaching and use of language ought to be descriptive rather than prescriptive.

2

THW ban all forms of religious proselytization and faith-based rehabilitation programs in prison

1

THW ban police unions.

1

THBT Pharmaceutical companies should be held civilly liable for the opiate crisis

2

THB the Democratic Party should prioritize/welcome the nomination of candidates at all levels of government who favor more radical changes to existing policies and structures over those who are seen as more "electable"

3

This house regrets the development of mass tourism at world heritage sites

4

TH, as a prominent African-American group, would seek to create autonomous spaces of politics, economics etc. rather than integrating with American society

5

THW, as the US government, recognize the DPRK as a nuclear state and no longer oppose their nuclear program on the condition they discontinue long-range missile development.

Open_Quarters

The United States of Africa is a proposed concept for a federation of some or all of the 55 sovereign states on the African continent. The concept takes its origin from the writing of Marcus Garvey, an influential pan-Africanist leader in the early 20th century.

Open_Semis

THS the political unification of Africa

Open_Semis

THW, as President Trump, fire Robert Mueller

Novice_Final

THBT Truth and Reconciliation Commissions should destroy all collected testimony upon publication of the commissions' reports.

Open_Final

This house would give companies tax breaks on all revenues paid as renumeration (salaries and bonus) to all female employees

1

THR the substitution of digital entertainment (e.g. tv, movies, video games) for written materials (e.g. novels, Kindle, comic books) in the lives of children

2

THBT former human rights activists under dictatorial regimes should not seek elected office (e.g. MP) after the transition to democracy

3

This house prefers a world in which all religions believe in Universal Salvation

4

This House regrets the rise of Xi Jinping

5

This house believes that criminal justice systems should never incorporate retribution as an aim in determining criminal punishments

ESL_Semis

This house would force all companies worth over $1 billion to list publicly

Open_Quarters

This House regrets the use of the term "moderate muslim" by Muslims to identify themselves

ESL_Final

In cases where a supreme court would currently rule on the compliance of a given law with a constitutional provision, THW hold a public referendum on whether to abandon that constitutional provision

Open_Semis

THBT it is always immoral to fight for one's country

Open_Final

THW make the directors of major governmental science and technology organizations elected positions (e.g. Director of Environmental Protection Agency, head of National Science Foundation, Minister of Science and Technology)

1

THBT governments should depopulate areas with few viable economic activities.

2

THBT the feminist movement should oppose presumptive custody in favor of women in cases of divorce.

3

THBT it is legitimate for states to deny residency to immigrants who openly contradict their predominant values.

4

THW institute a "robot tax"

5

THBT minority groups should not reclaim slurs that have been directed against them.

6

You are a citizen living in today's world. You have the ability to create a perfect world by picking a random child by global lottery and condemning them to a condition of abject misery. The lottery is unbiased. The child will endure all the world's extreme suffering in perpetuity (i.e. lack of human contact, torture, starvation, disease). The child's suffering creates a world without war, famine, disease, or poverty: there is perfect prosperity and happiness. THW do it.

Open_Quarters

This house believes that the USA should fund military action by private intermediaries (e.g. paramilitary groups, private military contractors, vigilante groups) against drug cartels in other countries in the Americas.

Open_Semis

This house prefers a world where American and Canadian Multi-National Corporations in South America adhere to the environmental and labour standards of their home countries.

Open_Final

THW tax religious institutions

1

THW normalize relations with North Korea (including the removal of sanctions)

2

TH, as a theatre, would refuse to run the film "Dragonfly Eyes."

3

THR the decline in marriage rates.

4

THR the rise of "global" languages like English

5

THBT comedic political commentators (e.g. John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, etc.) do more harm than good.

6

THW ban commercial research and development of CRISPR-Cas9 technology

Open_Quarters

THBT children have a right to know who their biological parents are (e.g. adoptees, children of reproductive donors, children of estranged parents)

Open_Semis

THBT Democrats and Republicans should accept a border wall in exchange for full legalization of immigrants currently residing in the United States.

Open_Final

THBT universities should not be allowed to patent technology they develop

1

THBT states should incentivize wealthy people to move to economically insolvent cities

2

THBT pro-Palestinian organisations should abandon their support for the BDS movement against Israeli academic institutions and scholars

3

THW Legalize Graffiti

4

THBT states that are responsible for heavy pollution are morally obligated to sell portions of their land to states under severe threat by climate change

5

THBT the African Union should pivot toward the global East rather than the global West

Open_Quarters

Motion: THBT universities should never restrict freedom of expression beyond what is already considered illegal by the state

Novice_Semis

THR the decline of Marxist political parties

Open_Semis

THW charge prosecutors who withhold or deliberately lie about evidence in cases where the defendant faces the death penalty or life in prison, with attempted murder.

Open_Final

This house believes that Pakistani Feminists should campaign for the end of gender segregation in mosques, and the right of female imams to preach in mosques.

1

This house regrets Wikileaks decision to release the DNC emails

2

This house, as the state of Pakistan, would officially recognise the state of Israel

3

This house believes members of SAARC should collectively agree to increase labour standards, and environmental standards, rather than engage in a 'race to the bottom'.

4

This house regrets the use of the death penalty for crimes against humanity.

5

This house believes female chess players should refuse to participate in this years women's world chess championships

Open_Quarters

This house would adopt the Indian Supreme Court decision in Pakistan

Open_Semis

This house believes news media in Pakistan, should not invite imans to comment on political issues.

Open_Final

THW prosecute the production and distribution of fake news

1

Thw not allow revolutionary leaders and their families in post conflict societies to run for political office

2

THW allow the selection of all-female juries in sexual assault cases

3

thbt public health authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control, should be given the power to quarantine individuals involuntary who they suspect are ill with highly contagious diseases

4

THBT human shields are legitimate targets in war

5

TH, as the Catholic church, would sell its cultural artifacts in order to fund poverty alleviation

Open_Semis

THB trade unions should stop all campaigning and policy work against offshoring

Open_Final

TH regrets the narrative of college as the primary path to success (not sure if exact wording)

Novice_Final

THBT American news media should cease to invite major Trump surrogates (e.g. Kellyane Conway, Sean Spicer) to comment on news events.

1

This house supports the creation of all-Jewish universities in Europe

2

This house regrets the social perception that ADHD is an illness, as opposed to a personality trait

3

THBT the BDS movement does more harm than good.

4

THBT the West should support the Russian-backed Syrian peace talks.

5

THBT the rise in oil prizes does more harm than good

Open_Semis

THW sell the script.

Novice_Final

In countries with frequent coalition governments, THBT mainstream parties should refuse to include far left parties in coalitions, e.g. Socialist Party ('SP') in the Netherlands, Die Linke ('The Left') in Germany.

Open_Final

THBT it is the Moral Imperative of Liberals within Eastern European countries to stay within their Home Country rather than Emigrate to More Progressive Countries

Open_Final

THO the dominant narrative in popular culture that there exists a soulmate for everyone

Novice_Final

THW allow individuals to sue religious organizations for compensation for the harmful effects of choices made as a result of adherence to religious doctrine

Open_Semis

In countries that have the death penalty, THW implement execution duty (with info slide)

Open_Quarters

Given that private gun ownership is legal, THS the existence of women's gun rights organizations (with info slide)

4

THP a world where everyone has Highly Superior Autobiographical (with info slide)

3

THBT China should remove its restrictions on rural to urban migrants.

2

THW allow local communities to vote to reduce the amount of policing present within their districts

1

This house supports deaf parents' choice to deafen their children in utero.

1

This house supports the government suing meat producers/distributors to recover health care and environmental costs incurred by meat consumption.

2

This house, as the European Union, would reject Turkey's membership application to the European Union.

3

This house opposes the presence of external sex characteristics (uterus, vagina, breasts) at pro-women protests (eg, the Women's March on Washington).

4

This house opposes the societal idea that forgiveness is a virtue.

5

This house would prefer a world in which we never found out that Joseph Boyden has no Indigenous heritage.

Open_Semis

This house opposes democracy.

Novice_Final

This house believes that feminism is incompatible with capitalism.

Open_Final

THP a world in which all people actively believed in determinism as opposed to a world in which they believed in free will

Open_Final

THBT Western countries should cease all direct military intervention in Yemen

Open_Semis

THW withdraw all military aid to Israel

Novice_Final

In places with significantly high waiting times for finding appropriate donors, THW legalize the private sale of organs

5

TH, as a parent belonging to a minority religion, would discourage their children from expressing their faith publicly (e.g. wearing yarmulkes, hijabs or other articles of faith, etc.)

4

THBT Mexico should pull out of NAFTA

3