Topic #34 - The US should adopt a timetable for Withdrawl from Iraq

Good luck to Darth, and thank you to the judges. My opponent asserts twofold: the cost of life and the cost on the economy. I'd like to first attack the cost on the economy. 1. My opponent does my work for me. He suggests three alternative causalities to the recession: the increase in food prices, the United States' addiction to oil, and the collapse of the housing market. Most economists agree that these are causing the recession. If his logic was correct, we would've already seen a recession in between the time the war started and the collapse of the housing market. But no. The recession started AFTER the oil shocks, the spikes in food prices, and the collapse of the housing market. 2. Economic Growth is bad. A. Economic Growth leads to massive amounts of poverty The Nation, "Under the Veil of Economic Growth," 6-24-07 Whatever the degree of economic growth, if it is not concurrently translated into common good of the populace, it scarcely carries any meanings. The per capita income of $ 925 is analogous with per capita geographical area, which equals 0.004975 km or 5 meters per head (796,000 / 160 million). It would be childish to assume that each and every Pakistani essentially owns a 5 meters piece of land or it is only possible in a fool's paradise. There is no denial that a historically positive and consistent economic growth rate has been achieved, but here we need to take a breath before we are carried too far away in the labyrinth of statistics. To Disraeli, 'there are three kinds of lies; lies, damn lies and statistics.' In the first place, the global economic expansion of 5.4 % had a wavelike impact on our economic growth, which is quite akin to global inflation which was 11 % and is believed by our economic managers to have adversely affected domestic price level... As said in the beginning, the colossal claims of economic growth remain hollow if the economic growth does not trickle down to general comfort and convenience of the people at large; 'poverty is not a vice but an inconvenience.' (Shakespeare). And the most gruesome inconvenience has been occasioned by high cost of living embedded in escalating inflationary trends. Understandably, inflation, poverty and inconvenience are interrelated and directly proportional to each other. We can all see around ourselves what the plight of the poor is which is yet inexplicable; to word it, still 25 % of our people live below one dollar per day and 74 % below two dollars per day. In fact, the major component of high cost of living that is food price is haunting. The reasons presented are global inflationary trends, ineffectiveness or insufficiency of supply chain, which is partly ascribable to poor infrastructure and the shortage of some of the food items at domestic level. B. Poverty leads to a cycle of social inequality, mental suffering, hunger, and disease Baresh and Webel 2002 [David and Charles, professor of psychology at University of Wisconsin and PhD at UC Berkeley, 2002, "Peace and Conflict Studies," One of the most important, if least recognized, aspects of poverty is its psychological effects, the bitter pill of perceived injustice and inequality that must be swallowed by those who observe the affluence of others while still mired in their own poverty. Even if one's purchasing power is adequate for survival, it can be painful to witness a dramatically higher level of consumption on the part of others—and with increased communication and transportation, even the most isolated people, living traditional and impoverished lives, are exposed to examples of affluence. The results are deep mental suffering: envy, shame, and either despair or anger. (Moreover, as we shall see, along with 'development' in the previously impoverished countries, there seems to be an inevitable widening of the gap between rich and poor, as has been the case—although to a lesser extent—for the U.S. as well.) Beyond the phenomenon of envy, there is the painful physical fact of deep, absolute poverty. Hunger is the most obvious manifestation, with disease being inevitably associated as well. Other deficits usually accompany poverty: Poor housing and inadequate sanitation contribute to disease, as does inadequate nutrition. Health care is minimal or nonexistent. Educational opportunities are very limited, because areas of extreme poverty frequently have few and typically inadequate schools, and also because the very poor often need their children to work, so they are denied whatever limited educational opportunities may be available. The result is a deepening of the cycle of poverty, making it even more difficult for such people, or their descendants, to escape. Not surprisingly, life spans are significantly shorter among the very poor. NEXT I will attack my opponent's cost of life argument, and a little bit of the economic stuff, too. He makes the assumption that the government should do what's best for its people. This is inherently false. My opponent says the government should withdrawal to protect the interest of their people. I have two arguments: 1.PRO's attempt to rationalize and stabilize a chaotic world- in its prevention of chaos and suffering, goes on a constant search for what is inherently true in the world, IE the will to truth. (Paul Saurette, Prof Political Theory at John Hopkins University, 1996) The will to truth can only lead to destruction- systematically killing off every new idol eventually turning inward. Nihilism is inevitable- only experiencing nihilism can we escape the current value system and embrace new values. The great philosopher Frederic Nietzsche wrote in his book 'Beyond Good and Evil' that the attempt to prevent suffering makes us all slaves to the so called good natured freedom. We have an obligation to break free of our current assumption of suffering must be resisted and the mass promotion of human rights as being championed by the assumption of a necessary truth. 2.SPECTACLES OF SUFFERING SERVE AS ALIBIS FOR OTHER FORMS OF OPPRESSION WHICH JUSTIFY VIOLENCE AND OPPRESSION WORSE THAN THE CASE. SEEMING BENEVOLENT ACTORS LIKE THE RED CROSS CAN INSPIRE RACISM AND VIOLENCE WHEN CONSTRUCTING SPECTACLES OF SUFFERING. WE HAVE AN ETHICAL OBLIGATION TO CRITICALLY EXAMINE THE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR POLICIES OR WE RISK REPRODUCING THE VERY HARMS WE SEEK TO ALLEVIATE. MY CRITICISM ASKS THE UNDERLYING QUESTION, "AT WHAT COST?" One is obligated only to oneself- the attempt to perfect ones most utmost self- all other obligations are just illusions. ~Friedrich Nietzsche, Philosopher, 1872 (The Birth of Tragedy. Translated Golffing, 1956. p. 9-11) "From the very first, Christianity spelled life loathing itself, and that loathing was simply disguised, tricked out, with notions of an "other" and "better" life. A hatred of the "world" a curse on the affective urges, a fear of beauty and sensuality, a transcendence rigged up to slander mortal existence, a yearning for extinction, cessation of all effort until the great "Sabbath of Sabbaths"—this whole cluster of distortions, together with the intransigent Christian assertion that nothing counts except moral values, had always struck me as being the most dangerous, most sinister form the will to destruction can take; at all events, as a sign of profound sickness, moroseness, exhaustion, biological etiolation. And since according to ethics (specifically Christian, absolute ethics) life will always be in the wrong, it followed quite naturally that one must smother it under a load of contempt and constant negation; must view it as an object not only unworthy of our desire but absolutely worthless in itself. As for morality, on the other hand, could it be anything but a will to deny life, a secret instinct of destruction, a principle of calumny, a reductive agent---the beginning of the end?—and, for that very reason, the Supreme Danger?" I eagerly await my opponent's response.