[eDebate] dictatorial pedagogy = anarchy (reply josh and jeffrey)

[Kevin Sanchez]

Josh Hoe : "See subverting Democracy argument, see fairness argument (topic 
+ more cases
= unfair work)."

democracy implies respect for individual rights; in fact, the most 
democratic moments in the history of a given group are often those moments 
when a minority demands certain powers that a majority was, up to that 
point, unwilling to grant them (in this instance, the right to speak about 
what they consider important in a formal round-setting). democracy further 
implies that every participant has a vote... and this is facially not the 
case in academic debate. we might accept necessary curtailments on 
individual rights/direct representation in a country with 300 million 
screaming drunks; in a forum with many millions less drunks, being less 
prone to anarchy, this becomes a less tenable restriction.

as for fairness, the (implied) predictability sub-standard is met directly; 
you assume that 'the topic' is a finite number of cases, but the team in 
question subtracts a specific (topical) affirmative case you'd otherwise 
have to research and merely replaces it with another (non-topical one)... 
meaning there's no net gain in your research burden, and no 'unfair work' as 
you're defining it. you'd need to show that there is some reason debaters 
shouldn't have to research cases that're not topical regardless of whether 
they'd have to do more or less research; you've yet to provide a good 
rationale (although some of the backchannels i've recieved would certainly 
help you out).

Jeffrey Jarman : "If you informed your instructor in advance of the test of 
the questions you'd be willing to answer, what possible justification would 
the teacher have for giving you a failing grade for not answering the test 
question?"

obviously you're not appealing to someone who believes in the sanctity of 
test-based education, but even if you were, there's a substantial difference 
between a forum of discussion wherein participants are expected to create a 
space for fair debate and a pedagogical environment wherein students are 
expected to verify their knowledge of a given subject-matter. so your 
counter-question is (ironically) non-topical to the previous question.

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