Corporations Cause all the Problems

In order to show that corporations cause all problems, I asked my opponent to identify everything that was a problem. Con produced eight such problems. Remember that this debate is NOT about whether coporations cause everything that you consider to be a problem - this debate is only about whether the problems that con thinks are problems are caused by corporations. Con has identified eight such problems. Con has not proved that any of them are not caused by corporations.Here's why I win each of the eight points:1. Falling off cliffsCon asserts that landowners do not ask to put up signs, and thus corporations shouldn't. The problem therefore is the fact that people own real property - something that would never have happened in common law systems were it not for the corporations. Corporations encouraged the British crown to allow them to legally possess land to keep robbers from even coming near their possessions (robbery was a big problem in Britain, historically). With the support of various politicians and philosophers, private ownership of land was in many ways the beginning of modern corporate lobbying. So if that's what my opponent blames the problem on, then corporations are ultimately at fault as well.2. ForgetfulnessCon continuously appeals to the "it's not their job to organise your life, it's yours", and the "it's your choice if you use corporations or not". I dealt with the "it's not their job" last round by proving this does not exclude culpability, for instance in the case of Hitler and the holocaust. I dealt with the "it's your choice" in a seperate paragraph in round one - we do not really have a choice, we only choose from the options presented to us by corporations. Corporations are giving us the option to forget - after all, forgetting about competitors is in the corporation's best interests.3. VirusesGovernment fall under the definition of corporation that I presented in round one, and my opponent agreed to. Governments are nothing but corporations with legal powers. Small businesses are either sole traders or corporations. If they are sole traders, they are such small players in the market that their prices will inevitably be set for them by the big players, ie the corporations. Sole traders derive their income from their prices, according to the microeconomic theory of competition. So yes, in every case, income inequality is the fault of corporations.Countries where the healthcare is free are exclusively third-world countries that corporations deny access to medicine to. That's why vaccines are so hard to get in Cuba. It's also the reason why, as my opponent put it, "many countries with free healthcare have problems with people getting treated with whatever problem they have". Corporations are to blame.4. Alcohol/drugsThe whole "it's your choice" thing I've dealt with a million times already, probably, so I'm not going to rebut it again here so long as my opponent keeps making the same assertions. The only other objection he still raises is that some people make homebrew - I agreed to this in round 2, but asked my opponent to show that anybody ever gets addicted to alcohol through homebrew alone. Nobody does.5. Sea DisastersCorporations can end all sea disasters by ending all shipping, if that's what con wants. Con never responded to this. They can also use ship autopilots, which FYI require no control to run while in operation. Boats don't need a crew. Either way - controlled by human or machine - the decision of who or what to put into control is always a decision made by a corporation. In the case of small boat owners, the driving mechanism will have been installed by a corporation, vindicating whatever manner it is driven in. In the case of docks, docks are corporations.6. ObesityMy opponent cites three factors - illness, genetics and not monitoring calories (another "not the corporation's job" fallacy) - alledgedly not linked to coporations. On illness, I've dealt with that in the "viruses" section. On genetics (and illness too, for that matter), this is because people got fat in the past and selected for others like them. The reason why people made this selection (just like all relationships and break-ups today) was informed by social norms and values. But ultimately, obesity would not be a problem (in that it would be sufficiently isolated to not pose a major health risk) if corporations were never around, because again, foods that make you obese, high in sugar and fat, can only really be constructed by corporations. Corporations want to encourage you to eat too much.7. WarI showed corporations manufacture all weapons. Con claims governments produce some weapons. However, if you look back to my round one definition of a corporation, you will see that governments fall under that definition. Thus all war is the fault of corporations.8. MurderI agree that coporations do not control most of life for Amish people (but even there, external events from corporations have beyond doubt influenced their community's actions, and their leader's councils fall under the definition of a corporation). However, I also contend Amish people do not murder. If they did, they wouldn't be Amish.Communist nations have many corporations, the biggest one being the communist party itself. You can't sue the communist party members for their actions in the communist party in communism, after all. You just ship them to Siberia without trial. For impoverished nations, there are corporations in every instance. I've been fortunate to have done a bit of travelling around the pacific. There are great mining and commercial operations there. But if you travel out to the slums, you'll see where the poverty comes from - it's not from the rich, touristy luxury of corporations. It's from the values they impress down on poorer people - they portray an image of what's not poor. As that's what poor people aspire towards, those are the values they try to emulate.If you kill for a reason, that reason will be informed by values presented by corporations. Race and racial identity is a good example - corporations are always communicating all sorts of messages about race. Consider, for instance, airline industry advertising. Next time you watch an airline ad, take note of the race. If you ever see an ad for a casino, take note of the race. See an ad for an online game, take note of the race. If you do it conciously it becomes very obvious how many messages about race are communicated to us every second.ConclusionEvery fall con has been able to show has been for want of a warning. Every forgotten memory has been for want of a reminder. Every virus has been for want of a cure. Every addiction has been because of an addictive substance. Every sea disaster con has shown has been because of the existance of ships, and human error. All obesity has been caused by marketing. All war has been caused by weapons. All murder has been caused by social values.And who produces warnings? Who produces reminders? Who produces cures? Who produces addictive substances? Who produces ships and hires incompetant captains? Who does marketing? Who produces weapons? Who produces social norms and values more than anybody else?Corporations do.And corporations are responsible. Our whole concept of free will, and of what corporation's roles are, has been written by corporations. It's time we acknowledged this.Vote pro.On an unrelated note, to everyone that said this motion was undebateable, I hope that you're feeling bad whether I win or not. Every motion is debateable, unless it's a tautology.