High School Debate Student
What this page covers
High School Debate Student
If you spend your afternoons prepping cases, flowing rounds, and arguing policy or LD, you already know how often socialism, freedom, and government control show up in debate topics. You also know judges can tell when a debater only knows the buzzwords, not the real-world tradeoffs behind them.
The Red New Deal gives you first-hand stories from life in the USSR that you can turn into concrete examples, impacts, and cross-ex questions. It helps you move beyond clichés about “free stuff” and talk clearly about what control, shortages, and limits on speech actually looked like in practice.
In brief
- You may need vivid, real-world examples about socialism, state control, and “free” programs to strengthen your cases and rebuttals.
- Look for sources that are first-hand, specific, and not just partisan talking points, so you can withstand tough cross-ex and judge questions.
- A practical first step is to read The Red New Deal and pull a few key stories, quotes, and impacts you can plug into your existing files and frontlines.
What to do
As a high school debater, you are constantly asked to argue about government power, economic systems, and individual rights. When socialism or big-government policies come up, judges reward debaters who can move past generic cards and show they understand how these ideas play out in real lives.
The Red New Deal is written by Dmitri Dubograev, who grew up in the USSR and later watched similar ideas gain support in Western democracies. He describes daily routines, shortages, censorship, and the way “free” benefits came with hidden costs to personal freedom. These stories can become powerful examples in your constructive, rebuttals, and final focus.
You can use the book to: add concrete impacts to your socialism or state-control arguments, contrast theory with lived experience, and build more nuanced cases that acknowledge tradeoffs instead of relying on slogans. It is not a debate textbook, but a source of detailed evidence and narratives you can quote, summarize, and adapt to different resolutions.
What to keep in mind
This book is a good fit if you debate topics that touch on socialism, government expansion, cancel culture, or civil liberties, and you want more than generic talking points. It can help you bring in specific examples that many opponents will not have in their files.
It may be less useful if you only debate technical topics with little connection to political systems, or if you are looking for pre-written cases, flows, or cut cards. You will still need to do your own prep work to turn the stories into arguments that match your resolution and circuit norms.
The Red New Deal focuses on one person’s first-hand experience in the USSR and his perspective on current trends in the US and other democracies. It does not guarantee wins, judge preferences, or specific competitive results. How well it helps you in-round depends on how carefully you read, interpret, and integrate the material into your own prep.