The 13th Ordinary meeting of the 165th Session of the Literific took place on the 6th of February in the Senate Room. It was attended by 45 members and was brought to you by Andrew Carruthers and Marie-Louise Synnott, so if you didn’t like the content it’s their fault #blame.
President Kydd had announcements, as always, but more importantly he stepped down and I got to chair Private Member’s Business. The House passed to create an Electoral Commission to basically sort out how we’re going to go about the AGM and then we played a game of Just Three Minutes under the motion This House Would Get Drunk which Katy Waller won and became the proud owner of a Boojum voucher.
Then we basically made fun of President Kydd and he pushed me so I had to go back to writing minutes, cry forever.
Then we went to the debate. The motion was This House Supports Drone Warfare.
Alex Horkan opened the debate. He argued that no weapon can be said to be used ethically but that war is inevitable so drone warfare must be considered. In comparison, unmanned aerial vehicles are more ethical since they allow surveillance and that there is no credible alternative, that the alternatives are far worse. While warfare should be a last resort, drones allow better and more informed decisions when it comes about.
Henry Adams countered this, comparing the cause and effect of the situation. He determined that the use of drones is more dangerous than it is helpful. While surveying is good, in the case of the motion they would be used to strike and kill which will be indiscriminate. He also argued that staying silent about the use of droneS and having a lack of transparency would result in dangerous consequences due to an indifference to casualties.
Ryan Jones continued saying he hearts drones. There was some poetry, in English, and some memorable quotes *cough* whether your beliefs are communism, fascism or feminism *cough*. I digress, there was actual content as well. He said that like all advances in warfare, drones are necessary as it’s not about how many men you have in war but about how advanced your weapons are. Drones are more accurate than others forms and they are constantly being advanced, without them we may leave ourselves vulnerable.
James McAlister closed the debate and we all totes know he stole his speech from the Oxford Union debate. He asked at what cost would we use these weapons as they’re not that accurate. He put the focus on the civilians who die on the side-lines of an attack and are wrote off. He told the House that it is just a way of allowing the government to make a kill list and carry out secret executions instead of giving trials and that it could escalate to a point where there is a disregard for human life.
We then went to the floor. Points were heard from Ben Murphy, Andrew Carruthers, Marie-Louise Synnott, Paddy Mallon, Nick Millington, Graeme Rice and Stephen Goss. The two sides summarised, which was basically prop saying opp had no argument and Adam totally crushing on Alex. A lot of sass that I’m ignoring. We then went to a vote and the motion passed.