Resolved: that governments have a moral obligation to assist other nations in need.

I would like to start off framing this debate.First of all, this debate is going to be Lincoln-Douglas Value Debate.This debate will follow NCFCA LD Debate speech structure. (AC then NC then 1AR then NR then 2AR)Remember: During the rebuttals(1AR, NR, and 2AR), no new arguments may be presented! You may only refute your opponent's position!Round 1:I will begin constructing the affirmative's/my case.(AC)The next speech will be for the negative to both construct his/her position and to refute my arguments/contentions.(NC)Round 2:The affirmative will respond to the negative's arguments and reaffirm his/my case/side of the resolution.(1AR)The following speech will be for the negative to refute my arguments and negate the resolution.(NR)Round 3:As per NCFCA speech guidelines, the 2AR is the final speech. In this speech, the affirmative is to refute the negative's arguments and reaffirm his/my side of the resolution.The negative side that is constructed by Debate.org for the third round will only be used to thank for the debate, NOT for rebuttals, arguments, closing statements, or anything of the sort!Thank you for the debate and good luck!I shall now begin my case.-------------------------------------------------------------------“All men are by nature equal and free.”It is because of the truth of this quote by Founding Father James Wilson, that I stand Resolved: That governments have a moral obligation to assist other nations in need.Government: The governing body of people of a nation, state, or community.(New Oxford American Dictionary)Moral obligation: An obligation arising out of considerations of right and wrong.(Princeton Wordnet)Assistance: The activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need.(Princeton Wordnet)Nation: A large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.(Oxford Dictionary)Need: Anything that is necessary but lacking.(Princeton Wordnet)Human Rights: The fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property to which all humans are entitled.(The Free Dictionary)My value/highest goal in this debate round is: Universal Human Rights.My criterion/means of acheiving my value is: Governmental AssistanceNow that I have established my value and criterion, I will establish my three main points/contentions.Contention 1: Human Rights are Universal.All humans have rights. This statement is universally agreed upon and is self-evident. Let’s look at the phrase “human rights” Human rights are rights for humans. We can see from this that they are universal and every human has them.Nobel Peace Prize-holder, Iranian lawyer, and activist Shirin Ebadi sums up the universality of human rights in her statement, “Human rights is a universal standard. It is a component of every religion and every civilization.”Contention 2: Rights Transcend Borders.To understand why rights transcend borders, we must understand that human rights are of the utmost importance, and their value cannot diminished by the human construct of national borders. Both me and the negative can agree that governments should protect their citizens’ human rights. Why do we believe this? We believe this, because we believe that citizens’ human rights are valuable. If citizens’ human rights are so valuable why are non-citizens’ human rights less valuable? Since, every human has the same rights and they are universal, we cannot say that one person’s human rights are less valuable than another person’s human rights.Contention 3: Governmental Assistance leads to Human Rights.We have already seen that universal human rights is the highest goal in today’s debate round. However, we must ask, “How are Universal Human Rights achieved?” That is where my criterion of Governmental Assistance comes in. Through governmental assistance, human rights are protected impartially and universally.We can see how governmental assistance leads to my value in that one year alone, an estimated 14 million of the poorest people in the world died, while only an estimated 4 million would have died if this population had the same death rate as the global rich.(D. R. Gwatkin and M. Guillot, The Burden of Disease Among the Global Poor: Current Situation, Future Trends, and Implications for Strategy, World Bank, Washington, D.C., 1999.)An example of governmental assistance leading to universal human rights is the assistance given to Haiti.After a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the governments of the world assisted the poor nation with $3.1 billion worth of aid.(http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org...)This assistance helped the Haitian people survive the aftermath and to protect their human rights.( http://www.huffingtonpost.com...)Former Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh sums up the need to assist other nations in need in her statement, “Human rights are praised more than ever and violated as much as ever.”Let’s RecapThree key points have been made,1. Universal Human Rights is the highest value in today’s debate round.2. Governmental Assistance leads to Universal Human Rights.3. Since a citizen’s human rights are so valuable and universal, non-citizen’s rights should not be excluded.Therefore, governments do have a moral obligation to assist other nations in need.