Detectableninjas Tournament: Free Museam Admittals

First, I apologize for not submitting an opening argument. Sometimes life gets in the way of your plans and I really do regret those big red letters in my R2 Counterproposal: Museums should charge an admittance fee except on the third Sunday of every month. Competitiveness: My counterproposal contradicts the Resolution “Museum admittance should be provided at no charge.” The Resolution implies that ALL museum admittance should be without charge. If this were not the case the resolution would read “Some museum admittance should be provided at no charge.” The resolution is clearly about universally free museums, which my counterproposal contradicts. MORE IMPORTANTLY, my counterproposal meets the Burden of Proof set forth by my opponent: “should Con give a sufficient example of a case where a museum should charge a fee, he shall be the winner.” I am doing more than providing a single case where a museum should charge a fee, I am claiming that in 29/30 cases, museums should provide admittance. MY CP SOLVES THE PROS ADVANTAGES: Culture in Society: One day a month free admittance offers the opportunity to attend a museum to everyone. All people have the option to attend a museum for free once a month, and so all people in society have access to open information and communication. Shafting the Poor: One free day a week grants museum access to people of all incomes, preserving the right of every individual to a free education and ensuring all have access to the unique benefits of museums. MY CP UNIQUELY SOLVES THE FOLLOWING ADVANTAGES Cost of upkeep: According to the American Association of Museums, 33% of museum upkeep comes from admittance fees. Depriving museums of fees would cause the following: a) The museum must make up the cost through other venues. If museums could get an additional 33% funding from private donors or investments they would be doing it now, so the only source left is the government. If government subsidies pick up the slap, our museums would receive over 50% of their funding through the government. Given the current economic and political climate, government is more likely to CUT funding than increase it. b) Museums must cut costs to accommodate loss of income. Cutting 33% of operating costs would result in a drastic drop in quality of service, diminishing the quality of education Pro describes in her opening round. This kills all the educational benefit museums are currently providing, meaning Pro’s position results in a net decrease in Culture/education in society. My CP maintains the current quality of museums while offering access to those who cannot afford it. My CP would result in some loss of revenue, but far less than Pro’s plan. Additionally, free museum days are typically more crowded, providing incentive for patrons who can afford it to pay admittance on non-free days. Also, people will pay for the convenience of attending a museum at their leisure rather than planning for a free day. FINALLY: Even if you don’t accept my CP, my Cost of Upkeep argument still applies. Dropping admittance fees will ultimately hurt the quality of museums and therefore the culture and educational services they provide. A 33% budget cut is a LOT of money. Additionally, museum admittance fees are already very low. The average cost of attending a museum is $7 (AAM source again), less than your average movie theater ticket. I would argue that this affordable for most families as a special outing. If a family cannot afford a 7 dollar museum ticket, chances are that other economic barriers such as transportation cost will prevent museum attendance as well. The removal of museum fees will then have minimal impact on accessibility. http://www.aam-us.org...