For this debate, nationalism is defined as a sense of national consciousness, exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other groups

Pathologization is to view or to characterize as medically or psychologically abnormal. In the past two decades, the rates at which mental disorders are being labelled as well as diagnosed have been rapidly increasing.

New conditions such as Pre-menstrual Dysphoric Disorder, Hoarding Disorder, and Prolonged Grief Disorder are being added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. The percentage of American children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) tripled to 11.4% over the past 10 years, and 50% of adults aged 18-24 report symptoms of anxiety and depression compared to 30% of adults overall. 

Unlike criminal cases where the state acts as the prosecutor on behalf of society, civil cases involve disputes between individuals, groups of individuals, or organizations (e.g., companies, governmental organizations). When a person or entity 'sues', they file a lawsuit. 'Litigation' is this act of taking legal action.

The American civil law system is one of the most expansive in the world. There are 4 lawyers and 24 lawsuits filed for every 1000 people in America, compared to 2 lawyers and 5 lawsuits for every 1000 people in Germany, and 0.3 lawyers and 1 lawsuit for every 1000 people in Japan. 

Private equity (PE) firms invest in businesses that are not publicly listed on a stock exchange, acquiring stakes in these companies with the goal of selling them for a profit in the future.

In the past few years, Western PE firms have been increasingly active in Asia. In 2022, Blackstone announced plans to allocate more than 50 billion USD to Asian markets over the next decade, KKR increased its total stake in Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group to 750 million dollars, and the American PE firm Carlyle Group acquired a controlling share worth 1 billion dollars in Rigaku, a Japanese scientific instruments maker.

A narrative that suggests romantic relationships should be "start ups" encourages participants to view a relationship as a joint venture where the goal is building a life together from the ground up. This can include working to make new joint friends (often "couple friends"), choosing hobbies to do together, developing close relationships with each other's friends/families and considering the effect of one's choices on the success of the relationship (e.g., what jobs to take, whether or not to move cities).

A narrative that suggests that romantic relationships should be "mergers" encourages participants to view a relationship as a way to create synergies between two already fully formed lives. This can include having separate hobbies, prioritizing one own's friends/ family, and making choices about one's career or city independently. A "merger" relationship encourages both individuals to fully have built up their lives before seeking a committed relationship, whereas a start up relationship does not

Reserve currencies are often used as a transaction medium for international trade, held by governments in a country’s reserves, and used as the currency for loans.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) are an international reserve currency created by the IMF. For the purpose of the debate, they are able to be held by private entities and individuals.

The make up of the currencies in the basket is updated every 5 years. In 1974, the value of the SDR currency was based on the following basket:

USD: United States Dollar (32.6%)
DEM: Deutsche Mark (10.2%)
GBP: British Pound Sterling (9.7%)
FRF: French Franc (7.1%)
ITL: Italian Lira (6.6%)
JPY: Japanese Yen (6.0%)
CAD: Canadian Dollar (5.9%)
NLG: Dutch Guilder (4.3%)
BEF: Belgian Franc (3.5%)
SAR: Saudi Riyal (3.0%)
ESP: Spanish Peseta (2.1%)
AUD: Australian Dollar (2.1%)
SEK: Swedish Krona (2.1%)
IRR: Iranian Rial (2.0%)
NOK: Norwegian Krone (1.5%)
ATS: Austrian Schilling (1.3%)

"Honorable poverty" is the doctrine that excess, waste, and opulence are all sinful, and states that the accumulation of all wealth beyond what is necessary to meet one’s basic needs is immoral.