Basic Downloads

Are you new to speech and debate? The following downloads are for you. They contain introductions to various events that the Monument Membership explores. These downloads are updated every summer to prepare for the new year of competition.

Your Basic Downloads Source Material for Season 22:

File Name	S22-Policy-Stoa-54-NEG-SpotlightTrafficking.docx
File Size	252.83 KB
Date added	February 23, 2022
Category	Archived, Policy (Stoa)
Author	Vance Trefethen

Resolved: The United States federal government substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology

Case Summary: The AFF plan requires federal agents to use “Spotlight,” an AI tool that improves investigation of human trafficking. Spotlight is an app created by a group called “Thorn” and promoted by actor Ashton Kutcher with a lot of hype about its claims. That’s what most of it is – hype. They claim to be “rescuing” thousands of trafficking victims each year. That’s wrong for 2 reasons: 1) if you read the fine print in Thorn’s own literature, they really claim to be “identifying” (not rescuing) that many; and 2) The number of perpetrators and victims Thorn is claiming simply don’t exist in the crime statistics collected by the FBI nationwide. There just aren’t “thousands” of cases, perpetrators or victims in any given year in the criminal justice system. In 2019, most states reported zero arrests and convictions. If thousands are being caught, where are they? AFF will claim that the States are successfully using Thorn/Spotlight to catch thousands, but the data from the States shows just the opposite. They’re catching very few, and in most states, zero. NEG position is that the reason for this low number is: They don’t exist. Human trafficking, though tragic when it occurs, is way way overhyped and exaggerated. It’s a very rarely occurring crime. The reason some of the numbers appear high is that activists and/or law enforcement are adding into the numbers the cases of consensual prostitution and labeling them as “trafficking victims.” Strange, because they then go ahead and arrest the girls for prostitution, an odd thing to do if they were truly victims.

DISCLAIMER #1: The topic of this brief is somewhat sensitive and difficult to discuss. This NEG brief is written in response to an Affirmative case that is being run in this debate league written by someone else. We didn’t originate this topic. We’re trying to help teams debate against this case by publishing this brief. If you find the topic offensive, you are welcome to throw this brief away, but understand you may then have to debate this topic anyway going Negative, but without any evidence.
DISCLAIMER #2: This brief makes a distinction between consensual activity (e.g. prostitution) and coerced activity (victims of trafficking). This doesn’t imply we’re endorsing improper consensual activity. We’re merely distinguishing it from the harms in the Affirmative case. Consensual activity is a sin, but not necessarily a crime (or not necessarily should be treated as one, given all the “real” violent crimes going on that should get law enforcement’s priority). Time, money and police resources spent chasing after people engaged in consensual sin is bad for society because all of those resources could have been used to fight “real” crime that actually harms others.

Download Your Preseason Documents, too:

You may still access Season 21 downloads here.

All Season 22 Basic Downloads will be updated by August 31, 2021. They will remain available through Season 22.

Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate

All Members have access to the digital copy of Easy Entry to the World of Speech and Debate by Chris Jeub. Download it below or order a hard copy.

Season 22 Release Schedule

Monument releases content all year long, from one national tournament to another, in what we call "seasons." We are entering Season 22 (2021-2022). For a list of all Member downloads for Season 21, click here. The following is the general release schedule for Season 22:

End of Season 21 - Officially archived on June 28, 2021. The new Season 22 releases begin July 5, 2021.
July-August - The first Monument Monday releases July 5, 2021. Basic informational material will continue through the summer (e.g. summaries, resolutional articles, etc.).
August 30, 2021 - End of the Pre-season, beginning of the official year of Monument Speech and Debate.
~~Christmas~~ Thanksgiving 2021 (we finished early!) - All foundational downloads are complete! Summaries of all releases are now available.
Through March 2022 - BONUS material released to members on a more as-needed basis using our Coaching Request Form.
April-June, 2022 - Qualifier and Nationals Preparation work is arranged...and Monument Members will be prepared to win!

Season 22 Debate Resolutions

Resolutions for Season 22 are posted here as they are announced by various speech and debate leagues.

Policy (all season):
- NCFCA: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction."
- NSDA: "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its protection of water resources in the United States."
- NSDA Vote for Season 23 (Due December 15, 2021):
  - OPTION 1 – GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its support of multilateral greenhouse gas emission reduction regimes.
  - OPTION 2 – GLOBAL GEO-POLITICAL CRISIS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES – Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.
- Stoa: "Resolved: The United States Federal Government should substantially reform the use of Artificial Intelligence technology."
Lincoln-Douglas:
- NCFCA (all season): "Resolved: In the context of innovation, the proactionary principle ought to be valued above the precautionary principle."
- NSDA releases six resolutions through the year:
  - Sept/Oct Novice: "Resolved: Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified."
  - Sept/Oct Varsity: "Resolved: The member nations of the World Trade Organization ought to reduce intellectual property protections for medicines."
  - Nov/Dec: "Resolved: A just government ought to recognize an unconditional right of workers to strike."
  - Jan/Feb: "Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust."
  - Next release is due February 1, 2022.
- Stoa (all season): "Resolved: In the field of biomedical engineering, restraint ought to be prioritized over scientific advancement."
Other Formats:
- Big Questions Debate (all season): "Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice."
- Public Forum for Sept/Oct: "Resolved: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization should substantially increase its defense commitments to the Baltic states."
- Public Forum for Nov/Dec: "Resolved: Increased United States federal regulation of cryptocurrency transactions and/or assets will produce more benefits than harms."
- Public Forum for January: "Resolved: The United States federal government should legalize all illicit drugs."
- Public Forum's next release is due January 1, 2022.

Permission & Usage

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