Success is unlikely without attending high school.

Thank you for this challenge MouthWash, I hope to have a good debate. I must ask, who are you, I, or anybody else to define what constitutes a successful life to another person? A wise man once said “success is a journey, not a destination.” Now, I would like to make a single observation about this resolution, it all centers around the word and the meaning of "success." Now I’m sure my opponent is thinking, that’s semantics, I said no semantics, blah, blah, blah. But, if we simply apply an objective standard that money automatically equals success, then what do we really accomplish? Sure while money and financial well being is a part of success, it is not the full picture. Since we are debating absolutes, I lay out 6 components of success in life. I am free to do so as my opponent has not proposed an objective measure of what constitutes success, as they have not done so, that leaves two options for myself: 1) propose an objective measure or 2) leave it in the realm of subjectivity. 1. Peace of Mind I define Peace of Mind as freedom from fear, anger, worry, and guilt. People seek peace of mind through many channels. One of these channels is faith. 2. Health and Energy How can you be successful in life if you are not healthy and you are not energized? If you do not at least have the potential to enjoy life, how could you ever be successful? 3. Loving Relationships. Here let us examine the age old tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. We could consider him very financially sound, but he had no peace of mind and nobody to share it with, and he was unhappy and grumpy in every way. 4. Financial Freedom This basically means you have to be free from thinking about money all the time. Not being “rich” so to speak, but having enough money to pay the bills. I am not simply talking about money in the bank, for some $50,000 dollars would be enough, for others, 5 million dollars would not be enough. This point talks about the mentality that everything will be okay. 5. Worthy Goals We all want something to “chase.” That’s human nature. 6. Personal fulfillment We have all heard the idea of “be all you can be.” This is basically the feeling that you matter and are not just going through the motions. But, success is a journey, not a destination. You want to strive to reach all six of these things. Now to establish burdens, in order for PRO to win this debate, they must establish that it is unlikely or impossible for a person without an education cannot strive and reach the six above things. CON’s burden is to establish the likeliness of a person without an education to reach the above said things. Now, I will go point by point and show the possibility. 1. Peace of Mind As stated above, peace of mind can be found through religion. Whether or not theists are right or wrong, or whether god exists or not, is not what is being argued here. The point is billions of people around the world find solace in their faith in a higher being. For many, prayer simply erases fear and ushers in tranquility. Unless my opponent wishes to argue that the uneducated are not likely to be religious, we can hold that the uneducated can strive to be religious. I mean, about 89% of the world is religious and only 2% are atheists (1) (the other 9 percent are simply unreligious). People can find peace of mind through faith. 2. Health and Energy I sincerely hope my opponent will not contest this here and attempt to argue the likelihood of the uneducated being healthy and energized, but if they really want to… 3. Loving Relationships In the United States, the two groups with the lowest divorce rates were the uneducated, who never received a highschool degree or GED, and the highly educated, those with a bachelor’s degree and up. The rates of divorce were 14.4 per 1,000 and 14.2 per 1,000 respectively. (2) Marriage is a culmination of two people’s love for each other, so naturally we can hold that one will be just as likely to be uneducated and stay in a marriage as those who are educated and in a marriage. Even without marriage, a person can still cohabitate (common law marriage) and simply be in a relationship. My opponent must show that it is unlikely that an uneducated person could either be in a relationship, cohabitating, or married. 4. Financial Freedom Once again without a measure of what constitutes success or not, we leave it in the realm of subjectivity. As I said above, being free financially does not simply mean having money in the bank. It is the mentality that everything will be okay. In a 2004 study, Wake Forest University asked the question of whether “people with less education, such as high school dropouts, report less day-to-day stress?” (3) The answer is a resounding yes, highschool dropouts report having stress only 30% of their days. And eventually, the stressors stop creating stress for those without an education. (3) As this is simply a mentality, you cannot objectively measure what causes someone to feel freedom. 5. Worthy Goals I hold that someone who is a highschool dropout can have more worthy goals than someone who has say a professional degree. They can have the goal to say get their GED and eventually college degree. I am not saying that these people WILL get to school, but what I am saying is this can be their GOAL. Furthermore, the GED test can be taken by anyone, even those who do not take classes. They can either download books on the GED for free or buy them online. Then they have the equivalent of a highschool degree. Every year, “800,000 people take the exam “ and “500,000 pass.” (4) And yes, it is possible to self-study for the test. A study of 970 people without GED credentials found that over half of people who either self-studied on their own or studied in a group setting passed the GED test. (5) People who are uneducated can also have other worthy goals, but once again, this is in the subjective, who am I to say what constitutes a worthy goal for someone else? Who is my opponent to say the same thing? 6. Personal Fulfillment This is completely in the realm of subjectivity. Two people can live the same exact lives with only one person feeling fulfilled. There is no way to objectively measure what constitutes a fulfilling life. In sum, true success is a matter of subjective preferences and goals. My opponent cannot simply define what constitutes success for somebody else. In their mind, money and employment may be the definition of success, but for somebody else, that is simply not true. Take a look at the Wall Street protestors, many of them are unemployed and want to work. You may see them as not having a worthy goal, but they do not see it that way, they feel like they are a part of something. They felt that through their dedication they could enact change. It was a worthy goal. So now I reiterate the question, who are you, I or anybody else to define what constitutes success for somebody else? 1. https://www.cia.gov... 2. http://www.sciencedaily.com... 3. http://abcnews.go.com... 4. http://www.nytimes.com... 5. http://www.ncsall.net...