Another debate chapter.
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After the first and fourth speakers from both sides presented their argunts and questioned each other, the debate moved to the second speakers’ arguntation and counter-argunt phase.
Both second speakers had one and a half minutes to make their case, defend their team’s points against the opponent’s criticisms, and attack the opponent’s argunt.
Once their arguntation ended, it was ti for the cross-examination phase, where they each had one and a half minutes to ask and answer questions back and forth, testing their ability to think quickly and react on the spot.
Jia Tongxue went back and forth with the opponent’s second speaker in a well-fought exchange, but the opposition side had the advantage after all. Towards the end, she was left with little more than the ability to barely defend herself.
After the second speakers finished, it was ti for the third speakers’ cross-examination.
The third speakers had one and a half minutes to question the opponent’s first, second, and fourth speakers.
Yi Luren’s questions were straightforward and didn’t break the situation. A minute and a half passed quickly, and it was soon the opposing third speaker’s turn to ask questions.
“Next, let us invite the third speaker from the opposition side to question the first, second, and fourth speakers of the affirmative side. You have one and a half minutes,” the moderator announced.
Sun Yung from the opposition side had already stood up.
Jiang Miao, Jia Tongxue, and Ding Ning also stood up from their seats, preparing to face the cross-examination.
“May I ask the fourth speaker from the other side?” Sun Yung started off by addressing Jiang Miao. “A college graduate has a monthly inco of five thousand yuan, and selling an hour of their ti is ten thousand. Would they consider selling their ti once?”
“The price you specified is biased.” Jiang Miao didn’t choose to answer directly. “We believe that due to the existence of a large number of sellers, the price of ti won’t reach the levels you’ve ntioned.”
Sun Yung wasn’t fazed by the answer and continued asking, “May I ask the second speaker from the other side: If young people can easily earn much more money by selling their ti than by working, would they choose to keep working, or would they opt to use the money to enjoy themselves in the mont?”
This question touched on the essence of human greed and laziness, which was difficult to answer directly. Jia Tongxue could only dodge the question and offer a roundabout response.
Jiang Miao suddenly fell into deep thought after hearing the two questions.
Sun Yung continued with her questions, turning to Ding Ning. “If young people fall into a vicious cycle of selling ti, spending on entertainnt, and then selling ti again, with a lot of their ti being bought by middlen, who later go to hospitals to profit off of terminally ill patients, do you consider this an optimal allocation of resources or a waste of them?”
She proceeded to ask a few more questions in quick succession.
Although she initially addressed Jiang Miao, most of her subsequent questions were directed at Ding Ning and Jia Tongxue.
This was a subtle technique often used by third speakers during cross-examination.
Once they identified a skilled debater on the other side, they would only ask them a simple, almost symbolic question at the start and then point their spearhead at the other two speakers.
This made the cross-examination a bit easier.
“The opposition side has too many points to attack.” Lin Jingwen looked at her half-filled page of notes and shook her head. “The affirmative side keeps avoiding the questions. This will cost them points.”
“I’m curious to see how they’ll explain the issue of ti pricing,” Lu Yu said, twirling his pen. “But it’s obvious their logic in this area is weak. So far, we haven’t heard any clear reasoning.”
The two judges were clearly leaning towards the opposition side.
The point the opposition was hamring—human shortsightedness leads to addiction to selling ti—was enough to crush the affirmative side.
Not to ntion, there were further issues like ‘middlen capitalizing’ and ‘market boundaries’, both of which were major weak points for the affirmative side.
Based on the current trend, the two judges believed that the affirmative side had little chance of turning things around.
After the third speakers finished their cross-examination, each side had one and a half minutes to make their closing statents.
Then the moderator announced, “Next, it’s ti for the free discussion. The debaters can discuss with their teams for four minutes. After the discussion ends, we will proceed to the free debate.”
The debaters from both teams imdiately gathered together to strategize for the upcoming free debate.
Whispers began to stir in the audience.
“What should we do? It feels like Jiang Miao’s side is going to lose.”
“What are you thinking? Our Class 2 team is the opposition. The affirmative side is all Class 3, except for Jiang Miao.”
“I’ll support whichever side Jiang Miao is on~”
“Eh~ But it looks tough. The affirmative side seems to be losing.”
“Yeah, but isn’t this debate topic too biased in favor of the opposition?”
“True. If ti could be traded, it would definitely be a world for the wealthy. They could buy as much ti as they wanted.”
“And if people like could sell ti for money, maybe I’d sell ten or twenty years of my life and gain Instant financial freedom!~”
“Damn, the way you’re saying it, I’m kind of tempted now.”
“Get lost. By the ti you’re that old and dying, you won’t even have the money to buy your life back.”
“But living a carefree life for thirty or forty years might be way more enjoyable than slogging away at a job for fifty or sixty years to pay off a mortgage, right?”
“No way! I still think it’s better to live longer.”
The audience had their own thoughts.
This debate topic was unlike a typical, serious debate. It leaned more towards a creative, speculative type.
Such topics were easier to spark the audience’s imagination, engaging them to pay more attention to the debate.
Otherwise, with a more serious topic, most people in the audience would probably be playing with their phones.
“Take a look at this.” On the stage, Jiang Miao handed his notes to the three girls. “There wasn’t much ti, so I only managed to write this much. You guys will have to adjust based on the situation later.”
While showing them the note, he briefly explained the content. Soon, the four minutes were over.
The moderator’s voice rang out again. “Discussion ti is over. Please take your seats. Audience, please remain silent. Next, we will move to the free debate.
“Each side has five minutes to speak. After one side speaks, the other will respond. The two sides will alternate until their ti is up. Only one person may speak at a ti.
“Now, the free debate begins. First, the affirmative side may take the floor.”
As soon as the moderator’s voice fell, Jia Tongxue moved her gaze away from the notes, stood up, and asked, “May I ask the opposing debaters, if a large number of young workers choose to sell their ti instead of working, would it cause a shortage of employees for many businesses?”
“No. The difficulty of finding employnt is a common issue now,” Sun Yung responded quickly. After answering, she countered, “So you agree with our stance that young people would choose to sell their ti and give up their jobs, correct?”
“This conclusion is based on the assumption that the price of ti always exceeds wages.” Ding Ning, after reading Jiang Miao’s notes, stood up and spoke. “But if a large number of workers choose this route, the market will have more supply than demand. According to market rules, the price of ti will inevitably plumt.”
At this, the opposition side was montarily stunned.
Logically, how could sothing as valuable as ti be sold for a low price?
But for a mont, they couldn’t find a solid rebuttal.
“That’s why we said there would inevitably be middlen who profit by buying ti at a relatively low price and reselling it to custors who urgently need ti,” Song Huanhuan said, sticking to the opposition’s reasoning chain.
“Do buyers who urgently need ti not know a few young people themselves?” Yi Luren imdiately stood up to counter. “Middlen can profit because they control the transaction channels. But if everyone can sell their ti, buyers needing ti will find sellers everywhere. Middlen will have no room to survive.”
In the audience, Lin Jingwen’s eyes lit up. She hadn’t expected that as soon as the free debate started, the affirmative side would seize the initiative in the attack.
Beside her, Lu Yu was also a bit surprised. He imdiately grabbed his pen to start recording the back-and-forth between both sides.
But Zhao Lu wasn’t in a hurry. His gaze flicked back and forth between Jiang Miao and Wang Xin, twirling the pen in his hand as if he were waiting for the main course to arrive.
At this point, Wang Xin could no longer hold himself back.
“The profit of middlen cos from the value of the ti and effort they spend in finding their target sources and clients,” Wang Xin said while adjusting his glasses. “They have the ability to find people with worse economic conditions, whose ti is cheaper, and quickly connect them with the custors who need ti the most.
“And if buyers personally go out to find sellers, the final transaction price might end up being higher than the price offered by middlen.”
“Not quite.” Jiang Miao smiled, almost as though he had his prey fall into his trap. He stood up and asked, “Earlier, your third speaker gave the example of selling an hour of ti for ten thousand yuan. Now, you’re saying that middlen can find the cheapest ti. How low exactly are we talking?”
“The key isn’t the price.” Wang Xin imdiately adjusted his stance, realizing that the focus of the argunt had shifted. “It’s that middlen need a large supply of cheap ti, so the poor will beco the primary targets for their first wave of exploitation. This is a deeper level of exploitation of the lower class.”
He instantly took the topic to a deeper level.
Lin Jingwen’s and Lu Yu’s pens moved faster.
From this point on, both side’s first, second, and third speakers fell silent, and the battlefield transford into a one-on-one duel between Jiang Miao and Wang Xin.
“But the focus still has to return to the price. If soone could buy a poor person’s entire year for one yuan, I’d agree that it’s definitely exploitation. But if it’s one million yuan for a year of ti, do you think, for the poor, that’s exploitation or an opportunity?” Jiang Miao countered.
Wang Xin shook his head. “Since the goal is to exploit and acquire cheap ti, the buyers naturally won’t offer high prices.”
Jiang Miao nodded. Then he suddenly turned his argunt around, aiming his spearhead at the opposition side’s first argunt. “So, you claim that young people will corrupt themselves by selling their ti, yet you also say that middlen will only buy cheap ti. So where exactly will these young people be selling their ti?”
This imdiately highlighted a subtle flaw in the opposition side’s argunt.
Lin Jingwen and Lu Yu stopped their pens subconsciously, taking a few seconds to realize just how cleverly Jiang Miao had exposed the flaw.
On the one hand, the opposition side argued that young people would beco addicted to selling their ti due to the quick money, leading them to degenerate.
On the other hand, they claid that middlen would only buy cheap ti from the poor and resell it at higher prices.
This created a contradiction between their two points.
However, recognizing this contradiction required deeper thinking and analysis.
Su Huaizhou’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Jiang Miao, not expecting Junior Brother to deliver such a beautiful counterattack in this situation.
But when she rembered that it was her promised reward that had spurred him to perform so well, she blushed and spat.
After Jiang Miao dismantled their argunts, even Wang Xin couldn’t help but frown, losing a few seconds to process it.
But he reacted promptly and stood up to respond. “We ntioned that due to their relatively short-sighted nature, young people are more likely to sell what they perceive as excess future ti, even if the price is relatively low.”
“Then, following the question posed by your third speaker, let ask you this: If a graduate’s monthly salary is five thousand yuan, what price do you think would be acceptable for them to sell a month of their ti?” Jiang Miao continued pressing this point, refusing to let it go.
“It could be ten thousand or twenty thousand. The price doesn’t need to be exact, but it will at least be higher than their salary,” Wang Xin replied, his brow furrowed, feeling that the pace of the debate was slipping from his control.
“Alright, then let’s return to the initial question.” Jiang Miao smiled. “At such prices, if a large number of young people choose to sell their ti and indulge themselves as your first argunt suggested, then in an era of increasing global labor shortage, how would the various industrial chains continue operating?
“Wouldn’t a sudden, massive loss of labor result in a sharp decline in the production of various goods?
“And with reduced output, wouldn’t that trigger rising prices and currency devaluation?
“Wouldn’t this ultimately lead to the devaluation of ti, forcing capital to set the price of ti lower than wages in order to recover the lost labor force?
“And if the price of ti is lower than wages, who would still be willing to sell their ti?”
The barrage of relentless questions was so powerful that the audience briefly fell into a stunned silence.
Even Lin Jingwen and Lu Yu beca intrigued, realizing that the affirmative side might actually have a chance to turn things around.
Still, it had to be said that Wang Xin’s ntal resilience was impressive.
While his three teammates were at a complete loss for words, he stood up and pointed out so potential flaws in Jiang Miao’s argunts. “According to you, when the price of ti falls below wages, most young people would choose not to sell their ti. So, what exactly is your side’s rationale for supporting this technology?
“If, in the end, no one chooses to sell their ti, doesn’t this technology beco a pointless endeavor?
“In that case, it would be better not to support it from the start.”
“No.” Jiang Miao stood up, shaking his head with a smile. “That is exactly where the value of this technology lies.
“Precisely because the price of ti will eventually return to a normal range, reducing most people’s desire to sell their ti, it creates new opportunities for young people who need funds to develop themselves.
“The majority of jobs available to most people will never be ones they truly enjoy or are even interested in.
“And this technology gives young people pursuing their ideals a chance to develop and grow. It allows them not to waste ti in mundane jobs and provides the funds to improve themselves.”
“You’re wrong,” Wang Xin imdiately retorted. “Just to chase this seemingly beautiful vision, we must let ti enter the free market. According to the laws of capitalism, capital will eventually monopolize the ti market.
“At that point, those who control capital will have eternal life, and the young people pursuing their ideals you speak of will beco nothing more than puppets in the hands of capital. Their ideals will be manipulated, and they will willingly offer their ti to build the everlasting empire of capital.
“Capitalists will truly be above all, overlooking humanity, unchanging for eternity. For hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years, billions of ants will supply their ti to keep the people at the top of the pyramid from ever decaying. Is that the world you want to see?”
“The opposition side’s ti is up,” the moderator announced.
Wang Xin imdiately stopped speaking. Fortunately, his rebuttal was sufficient, at least preventing the affirmative side from completely turning the situation around.
At this point, the affirmative side had only five seconds left. Jiang Miao knew there was no ti to say anything further, so he stood up and said, “I will address the opposition’s doubts in my closing argunt.”
“The affirmative side’s ti is up.”
“So cool! Jiang Miao is so cool!” a girl in the audience whispered excitedly to her best friend.
“Wang Xin is amazing too. If I were up there, I would have been stunned by Jiang Miao’s questions.”
Many people found the debate exciting. In the past, they had never thought much of debates before, but this topic was very interesting. The exchanges between the debaters were sharp and balanced, nothing like the one-sided scenarios they had expected.
This situation was also beyond Lu Yu’s and Lin Jingwen’s expectations.
Although neither of them could be considered professional debaters, they were still mbers of the school’s debate team, with Lin Jingwen serving as the captain and Lu Yu as the vice-captain of their respective departnt’s debate team.
Therefore, their research and understanding of debate were far superior to that of first-years.
Their first reaction upon seeing the debate topic was that the opposition side would certainly win.
Because once ti entered the free market and beca monetized, capital would inevitably lead to the monopoly of ti.
It was a deadlock.
During the free debate, in most of the exchanges, the affirmative side’s attacks were very effective, seizing the flaws in the opposition’s first and second argunts and relentlessly exploiting them.
But in the end, Wang Xin pointed out the deeper capital issues and pushed the affirmative side right to the edge.
Next ca the closing argunts of both sides’ fourth speakers.
Since the affirmative side spoke first at the start, the opposition side delivered their closing argunts first.
“The opposition side has three minutes for their closing argunts. Let us welco the opposition side’s fourth speaker.”
Before the moderator finished speaking, Wang Xin had already stood up. His expression was still calm, but his fingers gripping his notes were much tighter than usual.
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