Socialism is better then Capitalism

Thanks to my opponent for his timely response. I can offer you a reason for my short unorganized response. I am very passionate about the change that is coming and the change that is needed. I think I let my emotional side take over my finger tips instead of my intellectual side. I do apologize for this and in this round I will attempt to make my argument more structured. My opponent asks “Why should we believe that (A).-They want socialism and (B).-Socialism would work better?” To answer my opponents first question (A) According to Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism. That leaves 47% or, 144,293,078 Americans, in which 20% of them agreeing socialism is better than capitalism. Another poll taken in February of 2011 said that about 36 percent of all Americans viewed Socialism positively. This is an indication that the American people are starting to see Socialism from a positive perspective. =sources= http://www.rasmussenreports.com... http://www.deborahcorey.com... I will answer my opponents 2nd question (B) in my BOP (1,& 2) BOP(1) Let us begin by looking at something absolutely basic: feeding people. The world is currently richer and more productive than it has ever been in history, yet, according to the United Nations, 963 million people live in hunger and fear of starvation, and about 25,000 people, mostly children, actually die of hunger, or causes related to hunger, every day. This includes 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. In America these numbers increased 46 percent from 2006 to 2010. I quote my opponent “one can see from the evidence that capitalistic societies (United States) typically have higher standards of living” 14 million children going hungry, Thousands dying every day is a better standard of living? =sources= http://www.fao.org... http://feedingamerica.org... Socialism would deal with this seemingly intractable problem of hunger in the easiest and most obvious way, by not treating food as a commodity and simply distributing enough of it to people to ensure that everyone has enough for a healthy diet. This is the only one remedy but governments cannot contemplate it because, as the executive of capitalism, it runs counter to the real interests they serve. The remedy involves abolishing the money system, freeing production from the artificial constraints of profit and establishing a world of free access to the benefits of civilization. Just think about what this would mean: no more starving children, no more distended bellies and vacant, staring eyes, no need for kids to work 12 hours a day in sweatshops or for old people to die in the gutter or beggars to crawl in the dirt; so much human suffering ended. Even if it achieved nothing else, this alone would be enough to justify socialism a thousand times over. BOP(2) Shelter is one of the basic requirements of human life. Yet even in the richest cities in the richest country in the world, the US, there are homeless people sleeping on the streets. In the mega-cities of the world's poorer countries, with their shanty towns, the problem is horrendous. Socialist planning would solve this problem very simply. Dealing with the immediate problem of homelessness would just involve requisitioning the empty properties, the mansions and second and third homes of the rich. But a permanent solution is easy to envision. Use the census to estimate the housing needs of the population and establish a public house building program, employing thousands of bricklayers, carpenters and other building workers to build slightly more houses than are needed. Then make the provision of a modest but decent residence for every family or individual citizen a basic right, in the same way that every child has a right to attend school, In other words, stop treating houses as a commodity and distribute them on the basis of need. My opponent asks “If socialism is more humanitarian than capitalism, where is the evidence?” Feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, ending inequality and class divisions, democratic planning of the economy, establishing international peace and unity, and all the changes that socialism would bring describes the word humanitarian, [definition] /committed to improving the lives of other people./ My opponent asked “what makes charity better then selfishness” I will respond to this question with a few questions of my own. Let us look at this from a different perspective. Let’s say you graduate college with a 4.0 GPA, you acquire employment in your field, fall in love, get married, and have 2.5 children. You have purchased a beautiful home and you go on lavish vacations every year. Life is good! Then the corporate company you work for decides to send your job overseas to make their bottom line bigger. You in turn loose your job, it is selfish for your company to throw you away for more profits right? So you tell the wife, no worries, I am educated and have experience, I will find something new. Then 2 months goes by, nothing, 6 more months go by, still nothing, the economy is lacking and jobs are scarce. Your savings begins to shrink, your unemployment runs out, the foreclosure letter arrives in the mail. You now have 30 days to move out of your home. You see, the bank you borrowed money to purchase your home does not care about you, they only care about that $2,200 you used to send them every month. This is selfish right? Now you have no choice but to ask your parents if you, the wife and kids can stay with them until you can find some work and get back on your feet. Your parents are understanding and allow you to move back home no charge, this is charitable right? This scenario is happening all across our country right now and it is a direct result of our capitalist society. Big corporate banks screw up and get bail out money from the government to save them from bankruptcy. In this scenario you have done nothing wrong, yet there is no one to bail you out. I would think if you were ever in this position, you too would agree charity is batter then selfishness. Pro "So it is more humanitarian that 1% of our countries population owns 96% of its wealth" Con “I would like my opponent to bring some warrant for this assertion before I touch it.” I will leave you some sources on this to view. I will touch on it more in the next round. =sources= http://sociology.ucsc.edu... http://www.mybudget360.com...