{419}{466}Testing, testing. {467}{534}Significance, harms, inherency,|topicality, solvency. {612}{713}Quiet, please.|Cell phones off, please. {918}{969}Judges ready? {970}{1012}Timer ready? {1013}{1047}The Affirmative|will please begin. {1390}{1445}It will come as no|surprise to the judges, {1446}{1485}our esteemed opponents from|Townsend Prep, {1486}{1510}nor really to anyone at all {1511}{1565}in the audience that we,|the Affirmative from Plainsboro High, {1566}{1640}do hereby support this year's|National Policy Debate Resolution, {1641}{1712}which I am supposed to recite now,|as if after an entire school year {1713}{1767}it could still somehow|be unknown to any of us. {1768}{1827}That is ridiculous. Therefore,|instead of senselessly repeating it, {1828}{1895}I will offer up a moment of silence|during which I'd like every one of you {1896}{1986}to say the resolution aloud. It will be|a final communal act for all of us, {1987}{2053}the High School Policy Debaters|of New Jersey. Ready, set, go. {2054}{2081}Resolved... {2082}{2142}For those of you who aren't|done, I apologize, {2143}{2191}but there's a reason why|I'm up here and you're down there, {2192}{2239}and if you please, right now,|we're going to go at my pace. {2240}{2272}Hang on if you can. {2273}{2323}Our plan today is succinct. Only|by becoming a fully socialist regime, {2324}{2353}will the United States government|ever emerge as the true moral leader {2354}{2401}of the free world, and thus|create a lasting peace. {2402}{2451}Therefore we support an amendment|to the Constitution of the United States {2452}{2486}to outlaw all political parties|that do not embrace socialism {2486}{2517}as their core philosophy. {2518}{2560}On the stage of|the New Jersey State {2561}{2615}High School Policy|Debate Championships {2616}{2687}that spring night|stood Ben Wekselbaum {2688}{2749}of Plainsboro High. {2750}{2793}To anyone|who ever heard Ben debate {2794}{2870}there was one thing|that was undeniable: {2871}{2927}he had a voice. {2928}{2969}Even then,|on that May night, {2970}{3005}a real voice. {3006}{3050}You're all wondering,|"When on earth {3051}{3079}is he going to get to|farming subsidies?" {3080}{3123}At long last the link to farming,|which is no doubt obvious by now, {3124}{3197}agricultural societies collapse under|capitalism and thrive under socialism. {3198}{3247}And agriculture has always|been a necessary industry. {3248}{3309}- Without agriculture...|- As Ben Wekselbaum {3310}{3357}set out the complexities|of their plan, {3358}{3431}his partner|was biding her time, {3432}{3481}picturing how|it would look up there... {3482}{3596}the only trophy missing from her|crowded, gleaming shelf. {3597}{3700}One team on the Affirmative,|arguing for the resolution. {3701}{3774}The other on the Negative,|tearing it down. {3775}{3801}This year's national resolution {3802}{3849}is specifically about farming subsidies,|not socialism. {3850}{3906}By overstepping the resolution, they|haven't met their prima fascie burden {3907}{3960}to defend said resolution and|should be considered untopical. {3961}{4003}Subsidies are at their heart an|extension of socialism... {4004}{4028}that's from Gutierrez, '03. {4029}{4063}That the negative team|has no legitimate arguments {4064}{4088}against socialism isn't our fault. {4089}{4133}They didn't penetrate the subject|as deeply as they should have. {4134}{4175}To suggest that we haven't|refuted the very basis of socialism {4176}{4217}is fallacious and specious. {4218}{4286}I refer you again to the quotes|my partner read regarding... {4286}{4332}And so it goes.|The high school debate, {4333}{4409}like the war that rips through your city|and ravages everything in its path; {4410}{4504}Kids wielding words like weapons|and brandishing ideas like axes. {4505}{4576}Nothing else mattered|in that final round. {4577}{4634}There was no world|beyond it. {4665}{4701}Except that 46 miles away {4702}{4801}Hal Hefner was at home...|just sitting at home {4802}{4868}like nothing|or none of New Jersey {4869}{4909}was burning around him. {4910}{4944}We're gonna have to|break up the set. {4945}{4978}What am I gonna do?|Put it all in a garbage bag? {4979}{5027}My stuff's not gonna|fit in a garbage bag. {5028}{5081}- Yeah, put it in a garbage bag!|- Here, keep the deodorant. {5082}{5145}Why don't you go down to the basement?|There's another set down there. {5146}{5190}Quit slamming the drawers. {5191}{5231}- Oh, come on!|- You're gonna break the drawers. {5232}{5295}Give me a break. I'm taking this.|I hope you don't mind, {5296}{5340}because you took|everything else of mine. {5341}{5438}On that May night Hal Hefner|had hardly a voice at all. {5439}{5492}Charlotte. {5493}{5545}...could you not do that? Because I may|have to come back and get some stuff. {5546}{5593}- See ya.|- No, no. {5594}{5643}Don't take that bag. {5713}{5797}Hey, Hal.|Earl, I'm... {5798}{5890}I'm taking these. I'm not|going to be living here anymore {5890}{6000}and that's why I'm|taking the suitcases. {6001}{6089}Just leave the big|bag with the rest of the set. {6090}{6149}Lord, this is so you! {6306}{6341}Here's your suitcase. {6571}{6635}You guys are going|to be all right. {6636}{6689}And I'll... {6690}{6762}I'll see you|sometime soon. {6763}{6817}I don't know|what else to say. {6818}{6891}I can't put it into words. {7206}{7274}Back on the stage of|the State Championships {7274}{7323}the night at last|revealed itself {7324}{7374}as not just any night, {7375}{7474}but as the night,|the night when it all began. {7475}{7560}Ben Wekselbaum, the best voice|to ever debate for PHS, {7561}{7602}Plainsboro High, {7603}{7655}according to anyone|who ever heard him... {7656}{7705}that Ben Wekselbaum, {7706}{7745}he just went quiet. {7746}{7807}Our next advantage basically says|that human relations can only thrive {7808}{7846}in an atmosphere|of total equality. {7847}{7895}That human relations|can only exist... {7985}{8040}Sorry, I just said that. {8041}{8089}Wait, wait, wait. {8590}{8630}Ben? {8840}{8927}46 miles apart,|at the very same moment, {8928}{8976}all the arguments|stopped. {9039}{9126}So there was this bridge|of silence spanning New Jersey. {9179}{9241}No shouting|from Hal's parents, {9242}{9286}no debating, no voice. {9287}{9335}No one's voice at all. {9524}{9625}That year's National Debate|topic was farming subsidies. {9626}{9675}And if you don't know|how farming subsidies {9676}{9717}could inspire all this commotion, {9718}{9754}then you don't know life {9754}{9822}and there's nothing|that can be said about it. {9823}{9921}Suitcases end marriages and|farming subsidies launch cataclysms. {10243}{10309}Can a voice travel|from one person to another, {10310}{10372}like yawning or mono? {10428}{10489}Sure it can.|That's our position: {10490}{10549}That the will to speak|traveled that night {10550}{10617}across the dark|New Jersey highways {10618}{10685}until it arrived|on this very block, {10686}{10745}where it would|take up residence, {10746}{10821}or try to,|in someone new. {11466}{11513}Gladys, let's go! {11538}{11585}Timeliness is|an important part of it. {11634}{11685}- Heston.|- Earl. {11848}{11923}I'll just have the...|just the... {11924}{11992}just the...|just the... {11993}{12081}just the pizza,|thanks. {12082}{12121}Thank you. {12257}{12310}What kind of a name|is O. Henry? {12494}{12546}Not a pseudonym,|that we all know; {12547}{12609}but? {12635}{12687}How about|nom de plume? {12688}{12749}Does nom de plume|sound right? {12750}{12822}It sounds right to me.|It was toward the end of the reading {12822}{12881}that no one seems|to have completed. {12882}{12947}Open your books|to page 248. {12948}{13013}Let's do the reading that should|have been done last night. {13014}{13059}Fish or pizza? {13060}{13110}Yeah, I'll have the pizza. {13229}{13278}Fish or pizza? {13279}{13342}I'll have the... {13343}{13397}The pizza's plain or pep. {13398}{13452}Fish is... not sure. {13453}{13502}Like general fish. {13503}{13529}Yeah, I'll have the... {13530}{13553}the... the... {13554}{13613}the, uh... {13614}{13696}the... not...|not the... {13697}{13734}I'll just... just... {13735}{13801}- just...|- The fish? {13893}{13949}The general fish... {13950}{13981}please. {13982}{14045}Come back for seconds.|Plenty left. {14046}{14098}Thank you, ma'am. {14099}{14147}- Fish or pizza?|- Pizza. {14882}{14957}Do you want to keep on|trying the breathing exercises, {14958}{15040}or something new? {15042}{15122}Is it all right|if l... if I {15123}{15169}don't have an opinion? {15170}{15209}Let's try this. {15210}{15261}I read in this journal, {15262}{15323}"Clinical Pathways|to Speech Pathology," {15324}{15432}that it's hard|to be anything but fluent {15433}{15530}when you whisper|or sing. {15531}{15612}I sent away for a videotape|of some people trying that out. {15613}{15668}Not a solution,|obviously, {15669}{15757}but wanna give it|a shot? {15758}{15850}I can't... I can't...|I can't... {15850}{15935}I can't do this. {15936}{16011}Isn't this|too stupid, Honoria? {16012}{16078}Even for Honoria. {16079}{16138}This is too stupid.|I can just feel it. {16139}{16203}I explained this, Hal,|that this is not my specialty. {16204}{16258}I'm sorry, I'm trying. {16259}{16334}It's really a shame|that you're not hyperactive, {16335}{16406}because that I know well. {16406}{16506}And that I can|work miracles with... {16507}{16572}hyperactivity. {16573}{16611}But... {16612}{16686}back to breathing.|Yeah? {16687}{16723}Breathe. {16882}{16946}Good, come on. {16947}{17000}It was 1858, {17001}{17083}and while Senator Stephen Douglas|set out his case {17084}{17161}that states ought to choose|...
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