The Spectator stands firmly in favor of actual, diligent debate, not just performative chest-puffing. At its best, debate can be illuminating — bringing the participants, and their audience, closer to the truth. The Spectator writes (abridged):
By the time you read this, tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg may have beaten the living daylights out of each other. Earlier in the summer, Musk tweeted that he was “up for a cage fight” with Zuckerberg. The Meta CEO responded on Instagram Stories, “send me location.” “Vegas octagon,” suggested Musk, referring to the arena where UFC fights are held. Cue an avalanche of hype, some of it serious, much of it tongue-in-cheek, about the possibility of this plutocrat showdown.
The Spectator takes no house view on whether the jiu-jitsu-loving Zuckerberg or the barrel-chested Musk should be viewed as the favorite. But we will admit finding this approach to dispute resolution refreshingly old-school — dueling for the new Silicon Valley aristocracy.
It’s also a welcome antidote to the rise of the tedious “debate me, bro” tendency that has infected public life of late. In June, long-shot presidential candidate and prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. invited scientist Peter J. Hotez to a public debate on vaccines. Podcaster Joe Rogan offered to donate $100,000 to a charity of Hotez’s choice if he accepted. Around the same time, Florida governor Ron DeSantis and his Californian counterpart Gavin Newsom were touring the country challenging one another to debate. These debate-me bros are heavy on “bring it on!” bravado and light on concrete plans for actual argument.
The Spectator stands firmly in favor of actual, diligent debate, not just performative chest-puffing. At its best, debate can be illuminating — bringing the participants, and their audience, closer to the truth. But even when it falls short of that, a polite, good-faith exchange of ideas is a mark of civilization.
And it’s far from clear whether debates between the eventual nominee and his Democratic opponent will happen later in the cycle. Last year, the Republican National Committee withdrew from the Commission on Presidential Debates, alleging bias. If that dispute cannot be resolved, 2024 could be the first presidential election in almost half a century that does not feature the two candidates going toe to toe in a televised debate.
Read the full article here.
