Empower Debate Presentation Summary

Aug 14, 2024

Empower Debate Presentation Notes

Introduction

  • Presenter: Ray Edts, Masterman Debater, Head of Events at Empower Debate.
  • Thanked attendees for joining the first event.
  • Introduction of fellow presenters:
    • HT: Milton Academy, rising junior, new to Empower Debate.
    • Luke Zong: Germantown Friends, rising junior, current mentee at Empower Debate.
    • Kik: Ravenwood, entering senior year, mentor for Empower Debate.

About Empower Debate

  • Nonprofit organization aimed at making debate more accessible.
  • Provides free resources including presentations, mentorship programs, and access to social media channels (Discord, Instagram, TikTok).
  • Encouraged participants to follow Empower Debate on social media for updates.

Presentation Overview

  • The discussion will cover:
    • Background and context of the resolution on surveillance infrastructure.
    • Affirmative (AF) arguments and Negative (Neg) arguments.
    • Frameworks and critiques.
  • Total of 17 AF arguments and 18 Neg arguments discussed.

Background on Surveillance Infrastructure

  • Definition of surveillance infrastructure is vague; could include:
    • Cameras, AI, data processing, body cams, x-ray machines, etc.
  • Importance of defining surveillance accurately to win debates.
  • Context of immigration crisis since 2014 due to political and economic crises in Latin American countries.
    • Increased border militarization and funding for border protection.
    • Rising illegal crossings linked to strict asylum policies.

Affirmative Arguments

  1. Politics on Capitol Hill:
    • Republicans using government shutdown threat to push for stricter immigration laws.
    • Implementation of AF could quell Republican fears of immigration crisis.
  2. Elections Impact:
    • Border surveillance makes Democrats appear tougher on immigration, helping them in swing states.
  3. Pandemics:
    • Increased biometric surveillance could help prevent future pandemics.
  4. Terrorism:
    • High risk of lone wolf terrorists crossing the border; surveillance can help detect them.
  5. Drug Trafficking:
    • High overdose rates due to drugs crossing the border; improved surveillance can reduce trafficking.
  6. Human Trafficking:
    • Surveillance could help catch human traffickers and reduce trafficking incidents.
  7. Weapons Trafficking:
    • Increase in illegal firearms from the US to Mexico; surveillance can help reduce this.
  8. Wildlife Trafficking:
    • Surveillance can help prevent illegal animal trafficking across the border.
  9. Efficiency:
    • Increased surveillance could reduce wait times at the border, improving trade and health.
  10. Innovation:
    • U.S. losing to China in tech; need for surveillance to boost innovation.
  11. AI Bubble:
    • Government investment could stabilize the AI market and prevent crashes.
  12. Court Clog:
    • Increased technology could reduce backlog in immigration cases.
  13. Corruption:
    • Surveillance can help reduce corruption among border officials.
  14. Accountability:
    • Body cams could deter abuse by border patrol officers.
  15. U.S.-Mexico Cooperation:
    • Border surveillance can improve cooperation with Mexico to solve crises.
  16. Wildfires:
    • Enhanced surveillance could help monitor and manage wildfires.
  17. Maritime Borders:
    • Surveillance can improve security of maritime borders, preventing conflicts.

Negative Arguments

  1. Effectiveness Overview:
    • Increased spending on surveillance has not been effective in solving border issues.
  2. Border Industrial Complex:
    • Private contractors have incentives to keep the border crisis ongoing.
  3. Surveillance Creep:
    • Surveillance at the border leads to increased authoritarianism and privacy violations.
  4. Cartel Empowerment:
    • Increased surveillance may lead migrants to turn to cartels for crossing.
  5. Funneling:
    • Tougher measures lead to more dangerous crossings, increasing risks for migrants.
  6. Remittances:
    • Surveillance deters legal migration, hurting economies reliant on remittances.
  7. Human Rights Violations:
    • Increased surveillance leads to family separation and other human rights abuses.
  8. Naturalization:
    • Deterrence of migrants leads to worsening labor shortages in the U.S.
  9. Trade-offs:
    • Increased spending on surveillance diverts resources from other important areas.
  10. Native Rights:
    • Surveillance disproportionately targets indigenous communities.
  11. Biodiversity Loss:
    • Physical border barriers harm biodiversity and ecosystems.
  12. Agricultural Collapse:
    • Undocumented workers are essential for agriculture; deterring them harms output.
  13. Asylum Seekers:
    • Increased surveillance targets and deters vulnerable asylum seekers.
  14. Data Overload:
    • Increased surveillance may overwhelm border infrastructure, making it less effective.
  15. Racism:
    • Surveillance reinforces systemic racism in border patrol practices.
  16. Securitization:
    • Framing immigration as a security threat justifies violence and militarization.
  17. Neocolonialism:
    • Borders perpetuate neocolonial violence and crises.

Frameworks and Critiques

  • Structural Violence (SV): Prioritizes arguments affecting marginalized groups; emphasizes how structures perpetuate violence.
  • Extinction: Focuses on existential risks, particularly from migration policies.
  • Emphasizes importance of human rights and direct impacts on marginalized populations.

Conclusion

  • Encouraged participants to engage with the material and follow Empower Debate.
  • Announced a Q&A session and social media outreach, including a mentorship program.
  • Thanked attendees and presenters.