[Short Debate]: This House Believes that Socialism is Superior to Capitalism

This is only a two-round debate, with a maximum of 5000 characters per round. There should be no rebuttals to points in the first round, but you can bring up your own definitions that may conflict with ones that I bring up, as well refute points that you expect to hear in the round. Voting will be on a "Select Winner" basis, with open voting. We are debating RESOLVED: SOCIALISM, ON BALANCE, IS SUPERIOR TO CAPITALISM, with me standing PRO and my opponent standing CON. Definitions: SOCIALISM: a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. [1] CAPITALISM: an economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. [1] SUPERIOR: higher in rank, status, or quality (we will be debating quality) [1] ON BALANCE: with all things considered [1] CASE:Contention One - Pure Capitalism Allows for the Abuse of Peoples and Society.Back in the Progressive Era in the United States, (1890-1920 [2]), there were abuses by coorporations that are unimaginable today, all as an effect of having (nearly) pure capitalist ideas. By having absolute sovereignity from the government's codes and regulations, coorporations often abuses their workers by having: minimal wages, unsafe working conditions and massive unemployment. In 1911, a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, and ended up killing over 140 workers [3]. By allowing the companies that are in a "laissez faire" capitalist society to do whatever they want, it leads to the erosion of society. Also, during this same time frame (the Progressive Era), John D. Rockefeller was prosperous. By allowing him to accumulate over one sixty-fifth of the nation's gross domestic product and over $1.4B in that time's money [4], the United States Government is allowing the abuses of his coorporation to run rampant, since the average worker in the United States at this time only earned $8-$10 every week [5]. This breaks not only society as a whole, but the majority of the individuals that make it up. Contention Two - Benefits (This is sort of a contention, but moreso a list of benefits of socialism) Socialism frees people of wage slavery Socialism would end poverty (if done correctly!) Socialism would end monopolies and the tyrannic reign of coorporations Socialism creates a sustainable society that can not only build, but can flourish for current generations and generations to come (unlike capitalism, which is meant for the now and does not care for posterity) Socialism creates the idea of "we are all in this together, so we should all work!", while capitalism creates the idea of "I ought to just be good and make sure everyone else is bad at their job!" Capitalism relies solely on the exploitation of nature, as well as others, while socialism is more geared toward community action (kind of previously mentioned in the above contention) Socialism raises the level of education Socialism allows for universal healthcare, which in turn allows for the Happiness Index of a nation to increase, and the nation to prosper [6] Thanks for being interested in this debate, if you decide to go ahead and take up this debate! Good luck and have fun, hopefully we can exchange some really good points. [1]: Google Definitions[2]: gwu.edu/~erpapers/teachinger/glossary/progressive-era.cfm[3]: history.com/topics/triangle-shirtwaist-fire[4]: davemanuel.com/just-how-rich-was-john-d-rockefeller-152/ [5]: ushistory.org/us/36b.asp[6]: politicsreport.com/article/benefits-socialism