Please post your affirmative cases for the competition vrs. coop debate here

Affirmative Case

”A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.”

This outstanding competitive quote comes from Ovid.
My name is Brayden Matthew Lauffer and I am the Affirmative speaker for this debate round. I would like to thank the judge, timer, and negative speaker for being here today. My value for this round will be Discipline, and for the purpose of supporting this value my thesis is: That when we apply discipline to competition it is the best way to achieve excellence when compared to cooperation. In this case I will demonstrate that my value Discipline requires us to affirm the resolution which states: Resolved: That Competition is superior to cooperation as a means of achieving excellence. I am going to define a few of the key words in this resolution to ensure that we all understand what this resolution means. I present these definitions as the standard for which you can further understand this debate.

Competition is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: The act of competing, as for a profit or prize; rivalry.

Cooperation is defined by the Online Cambridge Dictionary as: To act or work together for a particular purpose, or to be helpful by doing what someone asks you to do.

Achieving is defined by the Online Cambridge Dictionary as: To succeed in finishing something or reaching an aim, especially after a lot of hard work or effort.

Excellence is defined by the American Heritage dictionary as: Of the highest or finest quality; exceptionally good of its kind.

Superior is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: Higher than another rank, station, or authority.

Discipline is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as: Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.

My value is the most important value in this debate round because: That when we apply discipline to competition it is the best way to achieve excellence when compared to cooperation. As the affirmative speaker in today’s debate round, I have the privilege of agreeing with the truth of this resolution. In order to win this debate I will show how my value is the most important value to consider when deciding on this resolution. I will show this with my 2 main points.

Before I move onto my contentions let me first explain why my value is the most important value to consider. One of our main goals in society today is to achieve excellence; we want to be better and superior than the person next to us. Its human nature and one great way to do that is to discipline ourselves. When we discipline ourselves we want to work every day on the thing we are trying to accomplish. And that will help us achieve excellence. My first argument explaining why my value requires us to affirm this resolution is:

1. State point one: Good discipline makes good competition.

In a swimming competition when you are racing a disciplined competitor, the competition is greater than racing someone who is not disciplined this kind of competition forces both swimmers to achieve excellence (swim their fastest). Think about the Olympic Games. Are they all disciplined??? Of course!!! They wouldn’t be there if they had not disciplined themselves each day to practice the sport they were competing in. It is a tight race, game, or event if all of the athletes are disciplined and want to achieve excellence. Think about Usain Bolt. Would he have been the world’s fastest man without his discipline or motivation? No. What drove him was the competition to be the best. The world record holder at the time of the Olympics was Tyson Gay. He didn’t even place in the top 5. It shows you what discipline can do. I’m not saying Tyson wasn’t disciplined or motivated the bar was raised and he couldn’t compete with it.

2. State point two: The majority of the time competition that leads to excellence cannot happen without discipline.

Athletes’ that are competing who are not disciplined is just a fun competition. It does not help achieve excellence. This would relate to little 6 year olds playing football. They are not disciplined… they are just competing for fun, it is not a giant game that decides who is going to the Super Bowl. They do not practice every day for that sport. They are not motivated to win something big. They are having fun. An example of disciplined athletes would be the ones playing in the NFL and the NCAA football leagues. These athletes are disciplined to the core. The go through excruciating work-outs each day. They are disciplined and motivated and they are not satisfied with nothing but excellence.

3. State point three: Discipline raises moral standards.

Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. This quote comes from George Washington. A good example of this would be the Roman training camps. These soldiers were disciplined like you could never imagine. To start the day off they ran 18.4 miles fully suited in armor. Then they would do there main exercises such as swimming, javelin throwing, and long jumping. These were just a few things they went through every day. When there fellow soldier sees that he is behind he strives to catch up, this boasted confidence and moral standards to achieve.

CONCLUSION: In summary I would like the judge to consider these two points: good discipline makes good competition, and the majority of the time competition that leads to excellence cannot happen without discipline.
I’ll close with a quote from our thirty-fifth president of the United States John F. Kennedy who said:

“We want to be first; not first if, not first but, but first!”

Thank you, I now stand ready for cross examination.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” This great quote comes from Thomas Jefferson. I use this quote to illustrate why my value of democracy is a better value to help us evaluate this resolution. My name is Caleb Fountaine and I am the negative speaker for this debate round. I would like to thank the judge, timer, and my opponent for being here today. As I support my value of democracy I would like to present my thesis which states: Competition achieves excellence for ones self, but cooperation achieves something never imagined before, for “our” not “my” benefit. It is through this thesis and my following arguments that I will negate the resolution which states Resolved: Competition is superior to cooperation as a means of achieving excellence.


Before I move on to my arguments, I would like to offer an alternate definition of the word cooperation. I believe my definition is a more practical and workable definition that is better suited to the true analysis of this resolution.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines cooperation as: An association of persons for mutual benefit.

I will define my value of democracy which is defined by American Heritage Dictionary
as being: Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives.

My value is the superior value to analyze this resolution through because:
Democracy is the best form of cooperation, because it allows the people to rule under the control of government, keeping order and sanity. Democracy can achieve excellence more so than competition in the instance of a nation or team for mutual benefit. Now you might say when a team or nation is attempting to achieve excellence that that in it self is competition. WWII is a great example of cooperation. We had to cooperate with other countries to defeat our enemies. It gave citizens of communist countries something to fight for, it gave the US money via selling materials, it gave young men qualities that would stay with them forever, and it strengthened our country to be more united and powerful. This war ultimately against communism, and communism could not have been shaken as much if there was no allies (cooperation).
Now I would like to offer my 3 main reasons for arguing against this resolution:

Contention 1: A single person cannot make up an entire sports team, but if they were to go against an entire sports team by themselves who would win? Cooperation is necessary for achieving excellence in this very common setting. Would the US have sent men to the moon without cooperating with each other? Was it a singular effort?

Contention 2:“Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people”- Abraham Lincoln
Would you like a dictator or someone who hears the loudest voice? If your idea is not heard, but is the correct one, then it is your responsibility to make it heard!

Contention 3: The US is a democracy; the US is the most powerful nation in the world. The democracy idea was founded by the most brilliant men all around. You are living in a democracy; your nation is a living example of how successful a democracy is, were you happy with some of the presidents elected? You won’t win every toss, there is no perfect government, but democracy is certainly the most persuasive, and citizen centered government structure. We cooperate within our government immensely. Communist countries are not cooperative, they are notoriously weak countries.

Now I would like to move on to address my opponent’s arguments:

For example: Today I am going to look at three key areas of my opponents case: I'll start by discussing his value, then I'll move on and discuss the problems I have with his arguments and then I'll highlight some errors in logic that he made in his historical applications.

You said: “That Competition is the best way to achieve discipline compared to cooperation.”
Discipline is a way to achieve things, why would you compete to achieve discipline? when discipline would be a way to be a great competitor. This statement isn’t logical, thus weakening its attempted point.

You have three pieces of support, two of those are in the context of sports. The last one is in the context of another physical challenge. How is competition and discipline achieved in society?

Your support aside from quotes doesn’t leave sports or training. How is discipline applied to competition achieved in society?

I am going to take quote your tag line for your second contention: “The majority of the time competition that leads to excellence cannot happen without discipline.” Another part of your case states: “Good discipline makes good competition.” The first stated tag line is stating that MOST of the time discipline is applied to excellence achieved by competition. The second tag line stated implies good discipline is ALWAYS applied to good competition. Which tag line are you going with? They are contradictory.



“The world's people all share the earnest aspiration to have peace, stability, justice and cooperation.”

This great quote comes from Tran Duc Luong.

Thank you I now stand ready for cross examination

The great achievements of western Capitalism have redounded primarily to the benefit of the ordinary person. These achievements have made available to the masses conveniences and amenities that were previously the exclusive perogative of the rich and powerful." This quote comes from Milton Friedman.
My name is Madeline Eck and I am the Affirmative speaker for this debate round. I would like to thank the judge, timer and negative speaker for being here today. My value for this round will be capitalism, and for the purpose of supporting this value I stand resolved that competition is more beneficial to society than cooperation. In this case I will demonstrate that my value capitalism requires us to affirm the resolution which states competition is superior to cooperation as a means of achieving exellence. I am going to define a few of the key words in this resolution to ensure that we all understand what this resolution means. I present these definitions as the standard as for which you can further understand this debate. Competition- The act of competing, rivalry, a contest, or match. Superior- Greater in quality or value. Cooperation- To act or work together with another or others. Achieving -To do; succeed in doing; accomplish. Excellence- The fact or condition of excelling; superiority surpassing goodness,merit, ect. Capitalism- The economic system in which all or most of the means of production and distributation, as land, factories, railroads etc, are privately owned and operated for profit, originally under fully competetive conditions. All of these definitions came out of the Websters New World College Dictionary.

My value is the most important value in this debate round because competition is more beneficial to society than cooperation. As the affirmative speaker in today's debate round, I have the privledge of agreeing with the truth of this resolution. In order to win this debate I will show you how my value is the most important value to consider when deciding on this resolution. I will show this with my three main points.

Before I move on to my contentions let me first explain why my value is the most important value to consider. My value is important because if people are allowed to be rewarded for their hard work, it will motivate them to do their best. They will be rewarded by making more money than their competitors which then naturally will produce better products which benefits all of society.

My first argument explaining why my value requires us to affirm this resolution is:

1. Capitalism requires hard work which leads to success. Take Sam Walton for instance. He was born in Kingfisher, OK, in 1918. As a child he worked in his father's store, and after graduating from college eventually opened up a few franchises of Ben Franklin Five and Dime. He soon opened his first Wal Mart store. Wal Mart was known for it's specialized products and low prices. His hard work was leading to great success. By the 1980's he had over a billion dollars in sales and over three hundred stores across North America. Walton died in 1992 being the world's second richest man and Walmarts are now popular all over the globe. Here is a quote by Sam Walton, emphasizing the importance of competition within the workplace.

"Money and ownership alone aren't enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score."
Obviously these methods payed off for Mr. Sam Walton.

2. A free market competition can benefit everyone. "The spirit of freedom which moved out across the world in the 1800s was primarily inspired by the fruits of freedom in the United States. The climate of free market economics allowed science to thrive in an explosion of inventions and technical discoveries which, in merely 200 years, gave the world the gigantic new power resources of harnessed electricity, the internal combustion engine, jet propulsion, exotic space vehicles, and all the wonders of nuclear energy." The 5000 Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen.

3. Technology improves because of competition.
"Sales of mattress overlays are rising rapidly and are expected to continue growing at a fast clip each year for at least the next five years. Fierce competition is forcing manufacturers to improve products, while technology is enabling suppliers to develop more effective, lower-cost products. At the same time, demand for overlays that prevent pressure sores keeps increasing, in tandem with the nation's aging population." This quote was taken from an article on BNET on the Health Care Industry. Hospitals have purchased more mattress overlays per admission in recent years as they realized that preventing pressure sores was far less expensive than treating them once they occurred.

CONCLUSION: In summary I would like the judge to consider these three points. One, that people will work harder if they are rewarded for their effort through success, recognition and monetary gain. Two, in a free market system, everyone reaps the benefits of that hard work and finally that technology keeps improving because of the competition of capitalism. I'll close with a quote from Bertrand Russel. "Advocates of capitalism are very apt to appeal to the sacred princeables of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in the exercise of the unfortunate."
Thankyou, I now stand ready for cross examination.

"Excellence demands competition. Without a race there can be no champion, no records broken, and no excellence in education or in any other walk of life." This notable quote was stated by our 40th president, Ronald Reagan.

My name is Katelyn Soderlund and I am the Affirmative speaker for this debate round. I would like to thank the judge, timer, and negative speaker for being here today. My value for this round will be superiority, and for the purpose of supporting this value I stand resolved that competition is superior to cooperation in every way. In this case I will demonstrate that my value superiority requires us to affirm the resolution which states: Competition is superior to cooperation as a means of achieving excellence. I am going to define a few of the key words in this resolution to ensure that we all understand what this resolution means. I present these definitions as the standard for which you can further understand this debate.
Competition is defined by onelook.com as: the act of competing as for profit or a prize.
Superiority is defined too, at onelook.com as: the state of excelling or surpassing or going beyond usual limits.
Cooperation is defined on Encarta online dictionary as: the act of working or acting together to achieve a common goal
My value is the most important value in this debate round because: competition provides the incentive that results in higher quality output in all aspects.
As the affirmative speaker in today’s debate round, I have the privilege of agreeing with the truth of this resolution. In order to win this debate I will show how my value is the most important value to consider when deciding on this resolution. I will show this with my 3 main points.
Before I move onto my contentions, let me first explain why my value is the most important value to consider; both individuals and groups work harder when there is an incentive which results in higher quality in society. For example, if a company that produces products sets a goal to whoever gives the first and/or best idea for a new product will receive a promotion, competition will be at work.
My first argument explaining why my value requires us to affirm this resolution is:
1. Competition provides greater benefit to society

• Competition provides the incentive that results in higher quality output
o Both individual and groups work harder when there is an incentive
o Hard work typically results in higher quality
• Incentives bring out the best in people
• It eliminates poor performers
• It lowers the cost of products


2. Competition was instituted by God

• He created competition in nature; what happens to the slowest animal as the cheetah’s on their tail?
• The Bible compares the Christian life to a competition
o 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified."
Philippians 3:12-14 – "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

3. Competition produces stronger, more cohesive relationships
• People are put in the position where they best fit; where their skills and interests are
• People learn to depend on others when they understand each other’s roles and strengths
o The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual. -- Vince Lombardi


• People learn to cooperate to achieve a greater good… finding success both as individuals and as a group (community)
• You have to earn where you are in life. (Ex.) You can’t have someone who’s never (let’s say basket-ball) played before, walks in and try’s out, and a college student who has been playing since she was a lot younger and is really good on the same team
• The stronger players know their no stronger than the weakest link so they want to mentor them.

4. Without competition, cooperation is of little value
• You have no reason to work together, (cooperate) if there is no incentive.

I’ll close with a quote from general George S. Patton who says, “Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best; it removes all that is base.”
I’d like the judge to consider my points.
Thank you. I now stand ready for cross examination.