This week in a debate class, one of my students brought up an interesting point. We were in the middle of a hotly contested debate over how to best protect public schools from mass shootings. In a three-point plan, the Affirmative team was proposing a number of safety measures to be implemented nationwide in order to try and prevent these tragedies.
As I consulted with the Negative side, we discussed some alternative methods that could better solve the systemic risks. I threw out the possibility of banning private gun ownership outright. That drew the reaction I suspected - several hesitant, unenthusiastic nods. Then one teenager blurted out what everyone else was leaving unsaid... "Do we have to be liberals to fight gun violence?!"
The answer is no. Many ways of curbing violence do not require taking a liberal path of governmental oversight. As we brainstormed, we came up with several alternatives to the Affirmatives case that had a conservative slant. Such proposals included creating an education system entirely of private schools and homeschooling, therefore reducing the natural target of large groups. Another suggested avenue was arming teachers. You don't have to follow liberal thinking solve gun violence.
The problem is, too often we think one side of an issue can only be argued from a conservative standpoint and the opposite can only be consistent with liberal thinking. If a policy has a distinctly conservative lean, you don't have to make traditional liberal arguments against it. The same is true vice versa. But too often we are lazy thinkers. We just adopt the most popular talking points as our contentions.
The first reason for doing so is that you will not be believable if you are arguing in opposition to your core beliefs. The fact is, very few people are capable debating contrary to their world view in a credible fashion. Why? Because deep down they don't believe their own argument and definitely do not want to convince any one of that position permanently. Some debaters are also good actors but just because you can fake it successfully doesn't mean you should do so. That leads us to reason numero dos.
You should be faithful to your political philosophy because it is honest. Yes, you want to win debates, but you should always argue things you believe in. This should push to find points of disagreement that you truly endorse. Because the truth is, you should never have to compromise your beliefs for the sake of an argument. And that is why excellence always makes an IMPACT!