Resolutional Analysis

General definitions

First I will 4 key terms, and then we will group two of them together to see what the whole definition is.

1.                  Economics:

The social science dealing with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

-         Black’s Law, Deluxe, unabridged, 1999, 7th edition.

2.                  Liberty:

The quality or state of being free

-         Merriam Webster’s dictionary online

3.                  General Welfare:

The public's health, peace, morals, and safety.

-         Black’s Law, Deluxe, unabridged, 1999, 7th edition

4.                  Agriculture:

The science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products.

-         Merriam Webster’s dictionary online.

Taking from these definitions we see that economic liberty is the quality of being free to produce, distribute, and consume goods and services.

Value premise:

Since the value of ‘the general welfare’ is so broad the affirmative has chosen to narrow it down to the value of quality of life

Value premise definition:

The definition of quality of life from the Canadian Mental Health Association is the “Opportunity to develop and maintain a healthy mind, body and spirit.”

Value Premise justification:

Obviously, this falls under the umbrella of the health, peace, morals and safety of the public.

Criteria:

Since the value of quality of life is broad, we will use the criteria of health to demonstrate how my case upholds this value.

Criteria Definition:

The definition of health, from the American Dictionary of the English Language, First Edition. “That state of an animal or living body, in which the parts are sound, well organized and disposed, and in which they all perform freely their natural functions.”

Criteria justification:  

A large part of quality of life is health, which is why I offer this criteria.

Thesis: The affirmative holds that the restriction of employers use of child labor is justified for the minor’s health.

Burdens:

The resolution presents several burdens.

1.                  First the affirmative has the responsibility to prove that the U.S. restricts the economic liberty of employers for the sake of the health. 

2.                  And second, the negative has the responsibility to prove that it is beneficial to not restrict economic liberty through child labor.

The first burden is justified because it is essentially stating my roll in the resolution.  The second is justified because for the negative to have the ballot cast in their favor, they need to prove that their value is more important than mine.

Designative issues

Contentions - Points to correlate facts presented to the value and to apply the value.

Before we discuss anything else let’s look at an overview of the two values, economic liberty and the general welfare.

1.                  One of the reasons that health is important is because if you lose it, it is difficult to regain. As Buckminster said, “Though Health may be enjoyed without gratitude, it cannot be sported with without loss, or regained by courage.” That is why we need to guard our health, and keep it at the cost of economic liberty.

2.         There is also a problem with liberty, and that is that unrestricted liberty leads to anarchy

Upholding the value of liberty as the supreme good causes anarchy

Bertrand Russell, 1918 Proposed roads to Freedom.

Liberty is the supreme good in the Anarchist creed, and liberty is sought by the direct road of abolishing all forcible control over the individual by the community.

That is just two reasons why economic liberty should be restricted for the sake of the general welfare.

Now let’s look at how this applies to the field of agriculture. The U.S. government enacted the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), part of which restricts

a.                  Minors under the age of 16 from working during school hours.

b.                  Heavy machinary.

c.                  Pesticides and explosives

d.                  Near dangerous animals.

These regulations constitue a restriction on the economic liberty of farmers use of labor 

These restrictions are justified because they protect the health, education, and safety of general farm workers.

There are other regulations on how the U.S. restricts economic liberty.

            HACCP is one of these restrictions. It:

A.     Analyzes hazards (biological, chemical, and physical)

B.     Establishes preventive measures (cooking time, temperature)

            And an advantage of it is that it prevents hazards from contaminating food

This restricts the economic liberty of the farmers employing the minors for the sake of the minor’s health and education.

Exposition:

In conclusion we see that there are two reasons why health and the quality of life should be kept over economic liberty. First, health can be easily lost, and second, that unrestricted liberty leads to anarchy.  We also saw that the U.S. restricts economic liberty for the sake of minor’s health and quality of life by passing the FLSA.  And the U.S. passed HACCP to protect food. It is important for the United States to protect its citizens, that is why these restrictions are justified. I am now open for cross-examination.