Europe is Superior to the U.S

Debate Premise Firstly I'd remind Con that European countries are part of the European continent. Therefore, all I have to do to fulfill the resolution is show that a large portion of European countries outdo the U.S in a number of areas. Such as education (as highlighted, reports show that the U.S is particularly behind in primary education, health care, crime rates, social freedoms, etc.) On the contrary to just referencing "one" European country in each contention, considerable numbers have been outlined. By covering important areas in which Europe fairs better than the U.S, and including a large quantity of European countries, I have shown considerable evidence to support my case. Con has the task of proving my argument wrong and showing conclusively that Europe is indeed not superior to the U.S. Opinions and Relatively While opinion can lead you to a debate, such as which out of Europe or the U.S is better, the actual argument itself is can be substantiated in the case of statistics and reports; two things that are heavily used in my own arguments. Note that less emphasis was placed on culture, and that most of my contentions are based on things that can be objectively proven, such as health care, crime rates, education, and social freedoms, which are significantly behind in the U.S. Con may be a conservative, but social freedoms are almost entirely looked at as being objectively desirable in the West. The death penalty is considered wholly outdated in Europe, as well as being viewed as an infringement on basic human rights. Note that in the U.S, a number of people have been wrongly executed. Each execution is also very expensive. Abortion is also justified as being a legal right to women, yet it took the U.S an extremely long time to catch up with legalization and even now there remains significant controversy over it. Once again, homosexual rights such as gay marriage are also strongly upheld in Europe and have existed there for notably longer than in the U.S. As was outlined in round two, gay marriage is still illegal in 32 American states. European Catholic countries such as Spain were some of the first to legalize gay marriage. The reason why these issues are significant is because the U.S is universally seen as being one of the most leading countries in the world, yet it is greatly behind in the area of civil liberties. Lifestyle:Not only did I (Pro) list off a long list of medical issues faced in the U.S but I also showed that they were more prominent there. To to the extent where it is easily concluded that U.S health matters are inferior to Europe's as an entire whole. It's also not exclusively diet-related areas in which the U.S severely lacks in, but areas such a birth outcome (in the U.S it is more adverse), injuries and homicide rates, adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, drug-related mortality and infant mortality were all found to be higher in the U.S. Con places all emphasis on the dietary aspects to the U.S' medical issues, but as can be seen, poorer and inferior treatment expands across the whole U.S health care system and isn't just restricted to one area (such as diet) only. Con also exclaims that it must be shown that the case diet-related medical issues are intrinsic to the U.S as a nation, but I'd note that the large rate of obesity and diet-related health issues in the U.S already offer significant indication of an intrinsic national problem. Given that the U.S is an affluent country with no valid reason to be one of the most unhealthiest in the world and have some the lowest life expectancy rates, this should of course be highlighted. The fast food culture in the U.S, something that is also intrinsic to its culture, naturally plays a large part. Note that I'm not saying American individuals do not make the efforts to be healthy, but that as a whole the nation faces significant health concerns and has been consistently found to have poorer diets than Europe; or even more importantly, the rest of the world. The case of lifestyle and Europe being superior in terms of health thus remains uncontested. The U.S having more issues with health care (not only diet-related) is contradicted by the fact that in comparison to Europe and other affluent parts of the world, it spends the highest amount on its health care system. Presumably a large part of this money goes towards treating obesity,etc.17.6 percent of the U.S economy goes towards health care, meaning that the U.S spending is more than two and a half higher than that of European countries, particularly France, the U.K and Sweden. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) — an international economic group comprised of 34 member nations also found that there are fewer physicians per person than in most other OECD countries. In 2010, for instance, the U.S had 2.4 practicing physicians per 1,000 people, which is well below below the OECD average of 3.1. Another example of the significant difference between European and U.S health care is accessibility. It's long been established that receiving health treatment in the U.S can be extremely costly, as well a large number of citizens not being fully insured, thus making it more difficult to health care. In the U.S it can cost $100,000 for people to have a hip replacement, immeasurably higher than Europe. Such expensive prices have meant that Americans have actually gone as far as seeking treatment in European nations. Crimes: Con makes the assertion that Europe has more of a violent crime than the U,S, however, all evidence points to this being incorrect. I've demonstrated that gun crime is by far more of a problem in the U.S than Europe and that homicide, which is categorized as one the most criminal acts, is significantly higher. Therefore Con cannot state that U.S has less than half of the violent crime in Europe, as Europe has less homicides combined. I'd secondly note to Con that no European cities have been reported as being the most dangerous in the world, while a total of 5 U.S cities came up in the top 50 with the remaining others being situated in Mexico and South America. There is a large difference in the types of violent crime between Europe and the U,S. 80% of the violent crime in places such like the U.K for instance occurred with no weapons used, While in the U.S, weaponry is a common factor. Another difference is that 68% of the violent crimes in the U.S are homicides, again higher than the U.K and of ther European countries. Con also states that Europe has more rape than the U.S, however, European countries such as Norway, Finland, Slovakia, and Greece, are all behind the U.S in that area. The U.S still has some of the largest rape crime rates in the world. In fact, rape statistics in the U.S are 17 times higher than that of India, a country that also has a rape issue. A 2014 study found that 1200 females are raped each month in the U.S. Strangely, more men are raped in the U.S than anywhere else in the world. Economics: Cons argument about economics and wage difference is also rather misplaced as a number of European countries have been found to have superior minimum wages to the U.S. These include Luxembourg, which has a wage that goes up to almost $16 per hour, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece (a place that's had economic struggle) and the U.K also fair superior. The U.K has minimum wage that reaches up to $12 per hour. Other European countries such as Spain and Slovenia are only slightly behind the U.S. Over the past two years, the European economy has noticeably improved. Particularly in the cases of the U.K, Spain, Ireland and even Greece; which has experienced considerable improvement. CultureCon suggests that just because of the U.S movie business, that it can be viewed as superior to Europe's culture. A vast number of American classics have featured European stars, as well as other people working behind the scenes. In fact, many of the ideas are European. Europe has contributed heavily to the arts, both in terms of film and literature. Regarding who's invented the most over a longer period of time, Europe would undoubtedly come first. More importantly, in terms of which culture has more to offer to different tastes, the answer for a lot would again be Europe. It is home to some of the most visited countries in the world, as well as being rich in history, something that the U.S doesn't necessarily have to the same extent. Some of the finest artistic concepts (such as philosophy, drama, comedy, etc.) have originated and been cultivated in Europe. Freedom: As mentioned in round two, Europe has progressed into recognizing basic civil liberties far sooner than the U.S. People may have different ideas of freedom, but it's generally seen as something that cannot and should not infringe upon the rights of others. Europe has been quicker to advance from religious dogma and instead prioritize individual human rights. The case of gay marriage in particular is a valid example of how the U.S is behind Europe in the area of basic liberty. Sources: [10.] http://www.npr.org...[11.] http://www.theguardian.com...[12.] http://www.businessinsider.com...[13.] http://www.forbes.com...