The Death of Debate

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW236021431 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="auto">A few years ago, when professional athletes were criticized for kneeling during the national anthem, it wasn’t always because critics disagreed with the cause that athletes were claiming or because of the irony of multi-millionaires denouncing the nation to which they owed their success. Many fans just didn’t want to see football turned into yet another stage for political activism. Even when a cause is just, healthy societies have spaces where differences can be put aside in pursuit of a common experience, whether it’s something as trivial as a televised sporting event or something as important as forming the next generation of civic leaders.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">High school debate has long served this second role. The National Speech and Debate Association is the largest league of its kind in the nation. For nearly one hundred years, it has trained students to reason and speak effectively about issues significant to people and society.</span> <a href= "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Speech_and_Debate_Association"> <span data-contrast="none">According to its Wikipedia page</span></a><span data-contrast="auto">, the NSDA serves more than 140,000 students and coaches each year. It would be reasonable to think that the debaters who rise to the top of this league have become masters of reason and argument, able to speak persuasively on a range of topics. That is no longer the case.</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="auto">In</span> <a href= "https://twitter.com/j_fishback/status/1719060564633169921?t=J9DMW0fZa-dJcrPLzoi-tA&s=19"> <span data-contrast="none">a clip that recently went viral,</span></a> <span data-contrast="auto">the final round of the NSDA’s 2021 Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky featured t