Traditions Have No Place in Modern Society

Traditions have no place in modern society. Discuss Premises:  Acknowledge from the get-go of tradition = traditional mindsets  Absolutes: make sure to argue against absolutes in the introduction and the conclusion Thesis: Modern society has brought about a change of social paradigm that leads us to reject tradition Point 1: Greater awareness of animal rights  Greater awareness of animal sentience/ cognition have led us to understand more about animal rights  As such, there have been practices that have been outlawed in places, except notable exceptions which fall under the umbrella protection of “tradition”  Spanish bullfight – tradition, however has been decried by many animal activists as unnecessarily cruel. Spectator sport that earns tourist dollars, but uses animal for sport in a way that it dies slowly and in much pain  Counter point: Yulin dog eating, celebration of dog meat – also tradition, but should make the point that just because people find it uncomfortable doesn’t mean that we should immediately demonize the practice  Backup examples: whale killing in Japan  Higher level candidates will point out that humane killing is the matter of the day. There is nothing wrong with the celebration of eating meat, as there are many meat-eaters in the world. The fact is whether it was done humanely, or just for sport and enjoyment Point 2: Greater awareness of social rights  Great strides have been made in the society, both tangibly and intangibly  Equal marriage in America, shattering of glass ceiling with Hillary Clinton, African-American president Barack Obama  Higher level candidates will pause here to acknowledge that these examples all come from America, but will also acknowledge that America as a cultural superpower is the proxy to the world and its future  Even in more traditional nations, change has come – Pink Dot in Singapore and its many corporate sponsors  Inter-racial marriages are getting more common, acceptance of minority races as leaders Antithesis: Traditions have value in modern society Point 1: Tradition keeps us rooted

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Tradition helps us to stay connected with our past and guards against cultural apathy Increases a sense of rootedness and belonging Hari Raya, Chinese New Year Roman Catholic practices that stem back 2000 years

Point 2: Tradition should not have to be sacrificed for modernization  Dakota oil pipe, where a multimillion dollar oil pipe was to be built upon sacred burial ground  Native Americans protested and were arrested  Argument should be made that cultural minority groups should not have to sacrifice such a great degree of tradition for profit-making endeavours  Compromises should be made