00:00:17:Testing, testing. 00:00:19:Significance, harms, inherency,|topicality, solvency. 00:00:24:Quiet, please.|Cell phones off, please. 00:00:37:Judges ready? 00:00:39:Timer ready? 00:00:41:The Affirmative|will please begin. 00:00:56:It will come as no|surprise to the judges, 00:00:58:our esteemed opponents from|Townsend Prep, 00:00:59:nor really to anyone at all 00:01:00:in the audience that we,|the Affirmative from Plainsboro High, 00:01:03:do hereby support this year's|National Policy Debate Resolution, 00:01:06:which I am supposed to recite now,|as if after an entire school year 00:01:09:it could still somehow|be unknown to any of us. 00:01:11:That is ridiculous. Therefore,|instead of senselessly repeating it, 00:01:13:I will offer up a moment of silence|during which I'd like every one of you 00:01:16:to say the resolution aloud. It will be|a final communal act for all of us, 00:01:19:the High School Policy Debaters|of New Jersey. Ready, set, go. 00:01:22:Resolved... 00:01:23:For those of you who aren't|done, I apologize, 00:01:26:but there's a reason why|I'm up here and you're down there, 00:01:28:and if you please, right now,|we're going to go at my pace. 00:01:30:Hang on if you can. 00:01:31:Our plan today is succinct. Only|by becoming a fully socialist regime, 00:01:33:will the United States government|ever emerge as the true moral leader 00:01:34:of the free world, and thus|create a lasting peace. 00:01:36:Therefore we support an amendment|to the Constitution of the United States 00:01:38:to outlaw all political parties|that do not embrace socialism 00:01:39:as their core philosophy. 00:01:41:On the stage of|the New Jersey State 00:01:42:High School Policy|Debate Championships 00:01:45:that spring night|stood Ben Wekselbaum 00:01:48:of Plainsboro High. 00:01:50:To anyone|who ever heard Ben debate 00:01:52:there was one thing|that was undeniable: 00:01:55:he had a voice. 00:01:57:Even then,|on that May night, 00:01:59:a real voice. 00:02:00:You're all wondering,|"When on earth 00:02:02:is he going to get to|farming subsidies?" 00:02:03:At long last the link to farming,|which is no doubt obvious by now, 00:02:05:agricultural societies collapse under|capitalism and thrive under socialism. 00:02:08:And agriculture has always|been a necessary industry. 00:02:10:- Without agriculture...|- As Ben Wekselbaum 00:02:12:set out the complexities|of their plan, 00:02:14:his partner|was biding her time, 00:02:17:picturing how|it would look up there... 00:02:19:the only trophy missing from her|crowded, gleaming shelf. 00:02:24:One team on the Affirmative,|arguing for the resolution. 00:02:28:The other on the Negative,|tearing it down. 00:02:31:This year's national resolution 00:02:32:is specifically about farming subsidies,|not socialism. 00:02:34:By overstepping the resolution, they|haven't met their prima fascie burden 00:02:36:to defend said resolution and|should be considered untopical. 00:02:38:Subsidies are at their heart an|extension of socialism... 00:02:40:that's from Gutierrez, '03. 00:02:41:That the negative team|has no legitimate arguments 00:02:43:against socialism isn't our fault. 00:02:44:They didn't penetrate the subject|as deeply as they should have. 00:02:45:To suggest that we haven't|refuted the very basis of socialism 00:02:47:is fallacious and specious. 00:02:49:I refer you again to the quotes|my partner read regarding... 00:02:51:And so it goes.|The high school debate, 00:02:53:like the war that rips through your city|and ravages everything in its path; 00:02:56:Kids wielding words like weapons|and brandishing ideas like axes. 00:03:00:Nothing else mattered|in that final round. 00:03:03:There was no world|beyond it. 00:03:07:Except that 46 miles away 00:03:08:Hal Hefner was at home...|just sitting at home 00:03:12:like nothing|or none of New Jersey 00:03:15:was burning around him. 00:03:16:We're gonna have to|break up the set. 00:03:18:What am I gonna do?|Put it all in a garbage bag? 00:03:19:My stuff's not gonna|fit in a garbage bag. 00:03:21:- Yeah, put it in a garbage bag!|- Here, keep the deodorant. 00:03:23:Why don't you go down to the basement?|There's another set down there. 00:03:26:Quit slamming the drawers. 00:03:28:- Oh, come on!|- You're gonna break the drawers. 00:03:29:Give me a break. I'm taking this.|I hope you don't mind, 00:03:32:because you took|everything else of mine. 00:03:34:On that May night Hal Hefner|had hardly a voice at all. 00:03:38:Charlotte. 00:03:40:...could you not do that? Because I may|have to come back and get some stuff. 00:03:42:- See ya.|- No, no. 00:03:44:Don't take that bag. 00:03:49:Hey, Hal.|Earl, I'm... 00:03:52:I'm taking these. I'm not|going to be living here anymore 00:03:56:and that's why I'm|taking the suitcases. 00:04:00:Just leave the big|bag with the rest of the set. 00:04:04:Lord, this is so you! 00:04:12:Here's your suitcase. 00:04:23:You guys are going|to be all right. 00:04:25:And I'll... 00:04:28:I'll see you|sometime soon. 00:04:31:I don't know|what else to say. 00:04:33:I can't put it into words. 00:04:48:Back on the stage of|the State Championships 00:04:51:the night at last|revealed itself 00:04:53:as not just any night, 00:04:55:but as the night,|the night when it all began. 00:04:59:Ben Wekselbaum, the best voice|to ever debate for PHS, 00:05:02:Plainsboro High, 00:05:04:according to anyone|who ever heard him... 00:05:06:that Ben Wekselbaum, 00:05:08:he just went quiet. 00:05:10:Our next advantage basically says|that human relations can only thrive 00:05:12:in an atmosphere|of total equality. 00:05:14:That human relations|can only exist... 00:05:19:Sorry, I just said that. 00:05:22:Wait, wait, wait. 00:05:44:Ben? 00:05:54:46 miles apart,|at the very same moment, 00:05:57:all the arguments|stopped. 00:06:02:So there was this bridge|of silence spanning New Jersey. 00:06:07:No shouting|from Hal's parents, 00:06:10:no debating, no voice. 00:06:11:No one's voice at all. 00:06:21:That year's National Debate|topic was farming subsidies. 00:06:25:And if you don't know|how farming subsidies 00:06:27:could inspire all this commotion, 00:06:29:then you don't know life 00:06:30:and there's nothing|that can be said about it. 00:06:33:Suitcases end marriages and|farming subsidies launch cataclysms. 00:06:50:Can a voice travel|from one person to another, 00:06:52:like yawning or mono? 00:06:57:Sure it can.|That's our position: 00:07:00:That the will to speak|traveled that night 00:07:02:across the dark|New Jersey highways 00:07:05:until it arrived|on this very block, 00:07:07:where it would|take up residence, 00:07:10:or try to,|in someone new. 00:07:39:Gladys, let's go! 00:07:42:Timeliness is|an important part of it. 00:07:45:- Heston.|- Earl. 00:07:54:I'll just have the...|just the... 00:07:57:just the...|just the... 00:08:00:just the pizza,|thanks. 00:08:03:Thank you. 00:08:10:What kind of a name|is O. Henry? 00:08:20:Not a pseudonym,|that we all know; 00:08:22:but? 00:08:25:How about|nom de plume? 00:08:28:Does nom de plume|sound right? 00:08:30:It sounds right to me.|It was toward the end of the reading 00:08:33:that no one seems|to have completed. 00:08:35:Open your books|to page 248. 00:08:38:Let's do the reading that should|have been done last night. 00:08:41:Fish or pizza? 00:08:42:Yeah, I'll have the pizza. 00:08:49:Fish or pizza? 00:08:51:I'll have the... 00:08:54:The pizza's plain or pep. 00:08:56:Fish is... not sure. 00:08:58:Like general fish. 00:09:00:Yeah, I'll have the... 00:09:01:the... the... 00:09:02:the, uh... 00:09:05:the... not...|not the... 00:09:08:I'll just... just... 00:09:09:- just...|- The fish? 00:09:16:The general fish... 00:09:18:please. 00:09:19:Come back for seconds.|Plenty left. 00:09:22:Thank you, ma'am. 00:09:24:- Fish or pizza?|- Pizza. 00:09:55:Do you want to keep on|trying the breathing exercises, 00:09:58:or something new? 00:10:02:Is it all right|if l... if I 00:10:05:don't have an opinion? 00:10:07:Let's try this. 00:10:08:I read in this journal, 00:10:10:"Clinical Pathways|to Speech Pathology," 00:10:13:that it's hard|to be anything but fluent 00:10:17:when you whisper|or sing. 00:10:21:I sent away for a videotape|of some people trying that out. 00:10:25:Not a solution,|obviously, 00:10:27:but wanna give it|a shot? 00:10:30:I can't... I can't...|I can't... 00:10:34:I can't do this. 00:10:37:Isn't this|too stupid, Honoria? 00:10:40:Even for Honoria. 00:10:43:This is too stupid.|I can just feel it. 00:10:46:I explained this, Hal,|that this is not my specialty. 00:10:48:I'm sorry, I'm trying. 00:10:50:It's really a shame|that you're not hyperactive, 00:10:53:because that I know well. 00:10:56:And that I can|work miracles with... 00:11:00:hyperactivity. 00:11:03:But... 00:11:04:back to breathing.|Yeah? 00:11:07:Breathe. 00:11:15:Good, come on. 00:11:18:It was 1858, 00:11:20:and while Senator Stephen Douglas|set out his case 00:11:23:that states ought to choose|whether to allow slavery, 00:11:26:Abraham Lincoln consulted 00:11:29:with the smart|citizens of Illinois 00:11:31:to plot his answer. 00:11:33:Lincoln's a chick. 00:11:34:Let me find now a citizen 00:11:36:to assist me in coming up|with arguments 00:11:39:against Senator Douglas. 00:11:41:Where can I find|such a citizen helper? 00:11:49:The commoner in the|striped plum-colored shirt... 00:11:53:we need you, sir. 00:11:55:Rise to your duty. 00:12:01:- Come on!|- Get up there. 00:12:14:My assistant has come|to offer me arguments 00:12:16:in my debate|against the Senator. 00:12:19:Ha!|Now I'm quaking. 00:12:23:What cannot a house|divided against itself do? 00:12:27:It is this argument|that wil...
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