Never before had I been involved in politics until this year, and with a controversial presidential election nipping at America’s heels, now was a trivial time to finally become involved. At the first mention of an in-class debate at the beginning of the semester, my palms instantly grew clammy. The only image I could attributed to the debate process was the comical GOP debates that frequently appeared on television, and there was one thing I knew for sure - I did not want to be involved in that mess! After the debate experience, I learned that debating does not have to be messy, and there is a difference between a heated argument and a civil debate. In a civil debate, one learns that there is no good or bad in an actual debate, nor is there wrong and right. There are just facts statements with opinions …show more content…
It did not resemble a chaotic GOP debate at the slightest, even though both sides had different opinions. We stared at each other directly and calmly discussed the issues, and every now and again, one side would lean to find a compromise. No matter how different our opinions were, both debate sides found themselves almost coming to a compromise with the other side, and that gives me hope for the future generation of politicians - maybe they will resemble us. When I watch televised debates, it reminds me of the famous short story “The Story of a Head That Fell Off” by Akutagawa Ryunosuke that takes place during a Japanese/Chinese war. During a war scene, the soldiers “found themselves surrounded by faces that could have been mirror images of their own, with teeth similarly bared,” which demonstrated that there is no good and evil side in war - just mirror reflections of one another’s anger. The same concept applies to debates, and that civility or absurdity can spread. I believe our debate was a success by the way we carried ourselves through