In comparison to Captain Kirk, Captain Picard is a superior captain and leader.

Thanks to Pro for this wonderful debate! Before concluding, it would be remiss of me not to point out the arguments I brought up which Pro has not responded to. In my first round, I gave several examples of Kirk's tactical prowess. Pro responded to the smallest argument (about his battle with Khan), but not my more substantive one (his fight with the Romulan commander). In addition, he has dropped the point about Khan in the last round. He has also pretty much dropped the argument made about the Nexus - that Picard showed some sort of mental superiority is refuted. Finally, he has dropped the argument about Picard having a manoeuvre named after him. Also, his last round was almost entirely defensive against MY arguments. As Pro and instigator, he really had the burden of proof in showing why Picard is a superior leader to Kirk. He has not done this, and that is enough to justify a victory for Con. To sum up, I argued several points in Kirk's favour: 1. Kirk has shown brilliant tactical prowess. 2. Kirk has defeated powerful beings like Trelane. 3. Picard has shown extreme short-sightedness and neglect, specifically in his encounter with Hugh. --> Q & Trelane <-- Firstly, I didn't 'ignore' the point about Trelane being a child - in fact, that was the whole point of my argument! While Q was in control of his abilities, Trelane was perfectly content to kill or attack for his own amusement or in anger - just like a bratty child with a huge amount of power. While Q could be reasoned with, and posed no immediate threat to the TNG crew, Trelane could, and might have destroyed the entire crew in a childish rage at any moment. Despite this, his certainly wasn't stupid! He had detailed knowledge of earth's history, and displayed much more intelligence than a human child. He was just immature, and that made him MORE dangerous, not less. It is true that Picard was the first person approached by the Q - so what? There is no evidence that they chose him for any special reason. He was just the first person they happened to make contact with from the human race. --> Picard & Hugh <-- Firstly, it is actually quite dubious to even call the Borg a race - they are a faction of beings who believe sentient races should be either assimilated into themselves (thus enslaving them into a nightmarish living-machine existence) or annihilated. They are made up from the twisted remnants of previous races, but they aren't actually a race themselves. That Pro should attempt to defend the ideology and methods of such a horrific faction is testament to his desperation at this point (not to mention his Seven of Nine reference). And to compare them to previous enemies of humanity is completely irrelevant - they are nothing like the quasi-human races that inhabit the galaxy along with humanity. Secondly, Pro ignores my point that this was not actually Picard's reasoning! His reasoning was that Hugh was an individual, and therefore it would be immoral to use him. He thinks that it would be immoral to sacrifice one individual to save trillions upon trillions! Such monstrously illogical reasoning clearly shows him to be, well, horribly unsuitable for making large scale decisions - I'm sorry, but the inability to make decisions like this simply shows him to be unfit for the role of safeguarding a starship full of people. Never mind an inferior captain to Kirk, I'm not sure he should even BE a captain. On a side note, Pro is simply wrong about the Nexus - it is explicitly stated in the film (I watched that part of the film to be sure) that from Kirk's point of view he arrives at the same time as Picard. This point is completely refuted. --> last arguments <-- Picard played a minimal role in commanding a fleet of Federation ships (not into battle, but to scan for cloaked Romulan ships). Firstly, there is no reason to think Kirk couldn't play such a role (as Pro suggests), and secondly, he hardly shows any significant leadership or tactical skills in this confrontations, so I'm not sure what Pro is even getting at here. Pro claims that while Picard works together with his crew, Kirk merely puts them in danger. This opinion is beyond belief - anyone who watched TOS or the movies knows that the delightful interplay between Kirk and his crew, along with the strong bonds between them is one of the main draws of the show. Also, Picard constantly puts his ship in danger! How many times has he faced down a deadly enemy to get back a single one of his crew? How many times has he put his personal feelings in front of his professional duty? The answer is: far too many for comfort.