Am I getting too cynical? Hardly. Although I am highly critical of both the National Communication Association and the national debate organizations such as NDT and CEDA, I haven't said that much about the World Universities Debate Championships.
In this podcast I try to lay out the roots of my criticism, so it's not just particular to WUDC. I think any debate organization that turns toward propagating its own format and culture versus contributing to rhetorical pedagogy is not useless, but dangerous.
These organizations celebrate themselves before they reach out to those outside the walled gardens they labor to perpetuate. At this time, facing these autocratic and plutocratic threats, they have nothing to say. In fact you'll see in this episode an NCA division leader continuously repeats "There is nothing that can be said" in response to the political climate of the United States.
You are a communication organization. What value does NCA have if it has "nothing to say?"
Likewise, large debate organizations should be showing citizens how to engage productively with loud, angry, undereducated people instead of dismissing them as improper. This is the replacement of the universal audience with the vanguard audience (Perelman & Olbrects-Tyteca).
As the years go by I feel more and more alone in my conceptions of rhetoric, debate, and argumentation. A World Debating Council should be offering helpful approaches to debate and argument, not staying silent unless there are fees to pay for an upcoming tournament.