Resolved: Charity is more valuable than Curiosity
Observation I: Definitions
A. Charity:
1. According to the 2007 Webster’s Dictionary, Charity is the act of
giving without personal expectations of return
2. An example of this type of selfless giving is the money given from
FEMA to the victims of natural disasters
B. more valuable
1. having more worth
C Curiosity:
1. Webster’s 2007 Dictionary defines curiosity as the need for new
knowledge
2. An example is the Mission to Mars Program that is currently part of the
NASA program.
Observation II: Criteria
Whichever team best improves the quality of life of Americans should win this
debate.
Observation III: Value
A. While curiosity can be beneficial, it cannot serve its purpose if the quality of
life of individuals is faultering due to a lack of focus and money. As a society,
we need charity to become a focus before we can move on to elements of
curiosity.
B. One way to do this is to reallocate the money from the Mission to Mars
program to FEMA.
Contention I
A. Significance
1. WWW. NASA.Org reported in January 1, 2008, that the overall 2007
budget was over 16 billion dollars and that the Mission to Mars focus
is approximately 25% of this total. A January 2, 2008 White House
press conference explained that NASA’s budget is expected to grow.
NASA has requested a 1.8 billion dollar increase in its 2008 budget
and explains that it cannot achieve the Mission to Mars goals without
this increase.
2. Conversely, FEMA’s national budget has been less than 4.5 billion
dollars. This year, FEMA has requested a budget increase of 8.02
billion, but the White House reported on March 9, 2007 that the
approved budget will only be 5.8 billion.
3. None of the proposed 2008 budget will be allocated for past victims.
Disaster victims who have already received funding or who passed the
filing deadline will not be eligible for funding relief. When Hurricanes
Rita and Katrina hit, FEMA was had a lack of funding to deal with the
disaster. As a result, Congress approved emergency funding but the
nature of the disaster forced FEMA to poorly allocate the money. The
result was poor over site and money was wasted and victims were not
helped. Additionally, waiting until after a disaster occurs to give
additional funding hurts the quality of life because people need help
immediately when a natural disaster occurs.
4. Lack of funding has left thousands of people along the gulf coast
homeless and unemployed.
B. Uniqueness
If we do not reallocate funding from NASA’a Mission to Mars program to
FEMA, several problems will continue to occur:
1. Rebuilding will be halted. FEMA estimated on August 2, 2007 that the
state of Louisiana alone needs 6.3 billion dollars to repair
infrastructure. This won’t happen if FEMA doesn’t get money. The
quality of life for people living in this area will continue to decrease
significantly.
2. No funding will be allocated to help families who do not fall under
income provisions to qualify for aid. Currently, families who make
more than 38,000 dollars annually do not qualify for federal aid to
rebuild. Without more money, these families will continue to be
homeless and their quality of life will suffer.
3. If the Gulf Coast is not rebuilt in a timely manner, companies will not
return. As a result, unemployment will continue to rise and the overall
situation will hurt an already fragile US economy which will hurt the
quality of life of millions of Americans across the country.
4. Without a proper infrastructure, violence will continue to rise. The LA
times reported on December 21, 2007, that 2007 was a record year for
murders along the Gulf Coast. Without funding to rebuild a proper
infrastructure, these numbers will only continue to rise and not only
will people lose their lives, but the quality of life of the families will
be decreased.
5. Continued budget increases for NASA will continue to communicate
that they have a blank check when funding new programs. While the
Mission to Mars budget is comparable to FEMA’s entire budget from
2007, NASA still has asked for more funding. Furthermore, NASA has
not set clear dates as to when the goals for the MTMars program will
be reached.
C. Application
If we reallocate $ from NASA to FEMA, several positive outcomes will be
seen.
1. The Gulf Coast will see enough money to properly rebuild the
infrastructure of the area. As a result, local governments will be able to
resume. As a result, the Q of Life of the citizens who live in these
areas will prosper.
2. More people will be able to receive federal funding. As a result, they
will be able to rebuild their homes. The number of homeless will
decrease and the quality of life will increase.
3. NASA will be forced to be more efficient.
4. Unemployment will decrease because workers will be needed to
rebuild.