APPENDIX DLINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE TRANSCRIPT

Final Round

This debate was between Jerry Vildostegui from Miami Beach High School in Florida on the affirmative and Jay Steed from Providence High School in North Carolina on the negative.)

Affirmative Constructive: Hippocrates, a man revered by generations as the father of medicine,once noted that, "Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there also is love for humanity." Because I,too, feel that human dignity is promoted through proper medical care, I stand firmly resolved, Thatthe United States government ought to provide for the medical care of its citizens." Initially it is necessary to define the key terms of this resolution. According to Webster's Third New InternationalDictionary and Black's Law Dictionary: the U. S. government is the complex of political institutionsthrough which the process of governing is carried out in the United States. Note that this definitionincludes national, state and local levels of government, all of which are political institutions throughwhich this process of governing is carried out. The word "art" in the resolution implies the existenceof "a duty or moral constraint," and here we can deviate from the debate for a moment to make a briefobservation. That affirming the resolution only affirms the existence of an obligation. There is nointention to implement the resolution since this is only value debate. To provide for medical caremeans "to contribute or make accessible care in the maintenance of health and in the prevention, alleviation or curing of disease." And, finally, citizens are "members of the state." With these definitionsestablished, we can move on to the value premise of the affirmative case—the value of justice.

Note initially that justice is a very topical value under the resolution because in the words of JohnRawls, it is "the highest virtue of social institutions." As such, justice defines the moral obligationsof a government or what a government ought to do. Second, justice is a very high value because itinherently involves compromise and discourages extremism in values. To resolve value conflicts, wecan look at the value premise of justice to be something in the middle. We note here that the criterion for justice suggests several important ideas. The first of these is pretty obvious, that idea of governmental obligation. This includes the governmental obligation to promote rights and to keep thegovernment's promises. Also, as part of the criterion for justice, we note that the government oughtto uphold man as an end. With this in mind, we begin with Contention I, "Medical care as a fundamental right."

Subpoint A, "Justice and human dignity demand access to medical care." In his book, A Theory ofJustice, John Rawls points out that justice is primarily based on the inviolability of the individualhuman being. When we consider that a right is something to which we have a just claim, it followsthat there exists a right to medical care. For societies and governments are morally obliged to provideindividuals with the foundation for a productive life. We note here that because of justice and humandignity, we are obliged to treat man as an end; and providing medical care does just that.

I continue with Subpoint B, "The U. S. government recognizes a right to medical care." If we consider here that the Declaration of Independence is a statement of basic goals for the U. S. government,then foremost among these goals are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. No government can