Suicide: Should It Be Legal? {Live Free and Debate Forum}

Please join Live Free & Debate Forum as we tackle suicide: Does the individual have a right to commit suicide, or should government prevent it?

Resolution: “”Most* adults should be able to commit suicide, with whatever consenting assistance, at any time of their choosing, without any legal obstacle or hurdle.””

Affirmative: Dennis Pratt, quasi-retired serial entrepreneur and writer on libertarian ethics
Negative: D. S. Dexter Tarbox, Jr., Seacoast entrepreneur and political writer

We gather at 6:30 to meet, discuss, and vote. The debate starts at 7:00.

Details: Does an individual have the right to end her own life on her own terms, or does the state have the right to use laws to prevent her from doing so?

Every person faces death, and we all have loved ones who will die. When the time comes, who decides the actual when and how? Is it you, or is it the state? Does the state have a duty to prevent suicide or is that a violation of the individual’s rights?

This Live Free and Debate will pit conservative and libertarian values against one another, and hopefully have you asking yourself some important questions.

Resolution: “”Most* adults should be able to commit suicide, with whatever consenting assistance, at any time of their choosing, without any legal obstacle or hurdle.””

Affirmative: Dennis Pratt, a 40 year libertarian who came from the left, was the #1 writer on libertarianism on Quora before being deplatformed. He is a principal founder of The SHELL, the Chef de Village of the Porcupine Freedom Festival, and the organizer of numerous liberty events and activities throughout the state. He has thrived in New Hampshire since moving three years ago to Dover from Massachusetts, where he researched and advised telecom startups, advanced school choice, and created a personal growth network hosting 250 workshops a year. He holds a BA in psychology from Northwestern, an MS/MBA from MIT, where the MIT faculty awarded him the Martin Trust Fellowship, and is ABD MS in computer science from Northwestern. He volunteers for the New Hampshire Alliance for End of Life Options, and plans to end his own life, if his wife doesn’t do it for him. Dennis debated last year in this Forum for the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Negative: D. S. Dexter Tarbox, Jr. is a Seacoast entrepreneur and political writer, returning to the SHELL to argue the conservative position to this evening’s resolution. A lifelong resident of New England, he has been active in local civic and charitable organizations (including a term on the City of Dover Planning Board), and has been an occasional commentator on political issues of both local and national interest. Dexter has worked to launch and scale enterprises in industries including social communications, healthcare, consumer retail, and marketing; with a particular emphasis on seed-stage and series-A ventures. He is a political conservative. He debated in this Forum last year against *rapid* welfare abolishment.

* “”Most””: The debaters each personally hold the extreme view (Dennis: “”All””; and Dexter: “”None””), but because of time constraints, wanted this debate to focus on the general case, without getting loss in extreme exceptions.

The Live Free & Debate Forum is a monthly program designed to build Free State debating capabilities. It picks controversial topics, finds courageous, amateur debaters, and follows formal Oxford debate rules (15m open; 7m rebuttal; 7m conclusion).

You, the audience, play a key role in the Forum: encouraging the debaters; asking probing questions; voting on the winner; and volunteering for the next debate.

• Address:
  The SHELL, Rollinsford
  Lower Mills at Salmon Falls, Room B10
  Three Front Street
  Rollinsford
  Please look at this special map. The mill houses 100 artists, so GPS will not get you all the way to your destination. Open this map:

  Finding The Shell

• Donation: Donations help keep the lights on at The SHELL ;
• RSVP: No: RSVP
• Host: Dennis, Scott, Frank
• Most Up-To-Date Info (Check before coming):https://seacoastwelcome.org/event/suicide-should-it-be-legal-live-free-and-debate-forum/