Johanne Wolfgang Von Goethe, a German novelist, dramatist and poet said:
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
In 2008 the China Customs and Foreign Customs decided to cooperate in trying to stop drug trafficking since neither organization was making headway by themselves. Since the start in 2008, many criminals on the run have been caught, about 495 drug trafficking cases brought to justice, and over 314 pounds of drugs have been confiscated.
– General information from: All Business D&B Company
I have presented this example to show how PROGRESS is a superior value for this debate round. In my example All Business showed how when cooperation is used, even on a smaller scale, great progress can be made. China and the Foreign Customs cooperated by ‘sweeping their doorsteps’ to make that area a cleaner and more drug free place. Hello, my name is Lydia Poisson and I will be your negative speaker for this debate round. I would like to thank the judge, timer, and the affirmative speaker for being here today. Because I support my value of progress, I would like to present my thesis which states: Cooperation is necessary for progress to take place. It is with this thesis 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 and the definition of my value, I would like to offer an alternate definition of the word cooperation, I would also like to define the words superior and achieve because I believe these are critical parts of the resolution and they were left out in my opponent’s constructive case:
COOPERATION: The association of a number of people in an enterprise for mutual benefits or profits; joint effort or operation. (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
I believe my definition is better suited to the true analysis of the resolution because mine states that first of all it is people we are talking about here, also my definition says that it is not simply “a common end”, but a mutual benefit or goal from a joint effort.
EXCELLENCE: The quality of being excellent; the state of possessing good qualities in an eminent degree; exalted merit or superiority in virtue. (Webster Dictionary) I present this definition because of onelook.com.
SUPERIOR: Higher than another in rank, station, or authority; of higher nature or kind; of great value or excellence; one that surpasses another in rank or quality. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition)
ACHIEVE: To perform or carry out with success; accomplish. (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition)
PROGRESS: a movement toward a goal or to a further or higher stage. (Random House Dictionary)
My value is the superior value to analyze this resolution through because little can be achieved without progress; progress is an umbrella under which many different values can be found.
Now I will offer my 3 main points:
1. Cooperation can help the entire world progress.
A. If everyone always tried to do everything on their own, what would get done? Cooperation helps us as a whole strive in a direction that can benefit all involved. This relates back to my opening example of the drug trafficking problem. Neither organization was getting it done by themselves, by when they cooperated, things suddenly started progressing!
2. Cooperation achieves goals faster, better, and more efficiently.
B. When people cooperate, things get done with such better form and efficiency than one could do by themselves. For example, some family friends of mine love sending out their Christmas cards every year. But it is a big ordeal, the dad stuffs the envelopes, the daughter seals them and the mom stamps and addresses them. Think about how much longer it would take, and how much more tedious and tiring it would be for one of them to do it by themselves; and chances are they would get tired and the work would get sloppy like sending two cards to the same address. Or, it could just not get done at all. While this is on a very small scale when you compare it to global actions, the concept is the same.
3. Cooperation jumpstarts progress by multiplying the ideas of all those involved.
C. Most people have heard of the saying ‘two heads are better than one’, and ‘great minds think alike’ well, they apply right here. When people cooperate and put their heads together, it can generate many times more inspirations than if everyone had been competing to come up with the best idea. To give an example, and some historical backing for this point, here is an article from People’s Daily Online, China-Kenya Economic & Trade Cooperation. “China’s top political advisor Jia Qinglin on Monday asked members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to contribute new ideas for the country’s sustainable development.” Clearly Mr. Jia realized the benefits of cooperating. He looked to those he trusted and they all submitted ideas.
Now I will address my opponent’s contentions:
1. Competing can be enjoyable in almost every circumstance…whether they win or lose.
A. I disagree with this statement and find it to be more of an opinion than a statement. I have seen teams playing, and while they can be closely knit, and even though enjoyment might be a nice thought, in the modern world, few competitions aren't between people/teams who want it just for the victory. You could be enjoying the competition until you lose, and who could deny that losing is discouraging?
2. Enjoyment can encourage excellence…the thrill of winning encourages me to practice more.
B. My opponent contradicts himself, he says winning is what makes you push yourself to excel, but in his first point, he say that it doesn't matter if you win or lose. Since he brought this point up second, gave personal examples, and promotes the idea more, he seems to be saying that competition is only enjoyable when you win. This scenario obviously doesn’t always happen.
3. Enjoyment can make someone satisfied with their work… when a team wins, they celebrate with great satisfaction. When someone is satisfied in their competition, then they work harder, which enhances their reputation.
C. Random house Dictionary defines satisfied as: to fulfill the desires, expectations, needs, or demands of (a person, the mind, etc.); give full contentment to. Clearly being satisfied means that you are content with your work and it needs no further enhancement. So, being satisfied with your work definitely does not mean that you will work harder. Also, enjoyment and reputation are evidently very different things, so enhancing your reputation really seems irrelevant.
4. "Competition is the whetstone of talent."
D. His value is enjoyment, not talent; and talent is never mentioned, so it does not apply to his case.
In conclusion, progress in cooperation is an over-arching value that can be linked to many other beneficial ones. Cooperation helps global advancement, cooperation boosts the competence and efficiency of reaching goals, and finally, cooperation expands the pool of ideas, thoughts, and resources. I will end with this quote from the American author Ralph Charell that says: “It is through cooperation, rather than conflict, that your greatest successes will be derived”. Thank you and I now stand ready for cross-examination.
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