Let’s Debate That  

As someone who views debate as my most formative high school educational experience (see Outlook, “Go Forth and Argue”), I was appalled and immediately reached out to James. Over nearly two hours of conversation, I discovered that he is not only a highly effective gadfly skewering the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA), which has run high school debate for nearly a century, but a true entrepreneur in the realm of ideas.

At the age of 24, he re-imagined high school debate from the beginning, and created new debate formats that would inculcate competitors with traditional debating skills while avoiding new pitfalls. The new debate league that he built, Incubate Debate, began holding tournaments in Florida in 2020 and has already grown to be the biggest debate league in the Sunshine State. And perhaps most importantly, he’s demonstrated how a new generation can defend its principles with civility and professionalism while avoiding the intellectual snobbery and “canceling” that’s dominating too much of America’s public discourse.

Incubator of Political Power

High school debate, in my day, was the quintessential nerd activity: No one debated who  could have made the basketball team. But those nerds — less than one percent of American high school students participate in debate — are disproportionately found later in life in positions of power, such as Supreme Court justices or United States senators.

Today, however, the debate space has changed. As Fishback puts it, America’s future leaders are marinated in an environment in which students fear to “present arguments in favor of capitalism, defending Israel, or challenging affirmative action.” The long range repercussions are frightening to contemplate.