The Freshers’ Debate took place on the 25th of September 2013. The motion was THB That Humanitarian Aid Does More Harm Than Good and it was attended by 28 members.
President Kydd began with an introduction to the society and then went on to just embarrass us all when he tried to say Boojum. Why.
There were none of the ordinary time wasters and we quickly moved on to our first prop Mr David Carroll.
Mr Carroll told the House that Aid is often represented too simply and that it is more complicated than sending money to help a starving child. He explained that money from Aid can be used to harm people instead of helping, that Aid is not the be all and end all and must be reformed as the system is broken.
Ms Emily Walker went on to make the opening remarks for the opposition. She redefined the motion as being about whether it is better to have aid than not to. She admitted that there are currently faults within the system but that the good of Aid far outweighed the bad and that the good Aid has done is immeasurable.
Mr Nathan Cantley continued the argument for the proposition by restating the need for reform within Aid. He commented on how emotive the issue at hand was and how being opposed to the motion would be easy but that in reality people do not know where Aid money is going and as a result the harms outweigh the good.
Mr James McAlister was yet again hungover (and I also owe him a slap). He told the House of the good Aid can do in times of conflict to help victims. Although he felt a greater emphasis should be put on prevention and that there were other negatives to Aid, he believed we had a moral obligation to help through it.
Ms Katie Baxter wrapped up for the proposition. She explained that so called Aid workers make numerous mistakes that harm people and that seemingly success stories for Aid are in fact a result of self-development. She told the House that Aid is not aid but that it instead floods the market. She explained that it was crucial to know how the money was used and to make new standards for Aid.
Mr Nicholas Millington ended the debate. He explained that although perhaps not all Aid money went to the people, the amount that does go is still beneficial. He told the House that with all the harm Britain has done through the years we should try to repay the debt through Aid. He asked the House if we were really willing to stop giving Aid for the few bad people that took advantage of it.
President Emeritus Andrew Carruthers and External Convenor Naomh Gibson had comments from the floor.
A vote was taken and the motion was defeated.
18 members signed up afterwards and we then naturally retired to the bar.