American Isolation is a Good Thing

Summary of argument: Point 1: Cultural Differences We cannot expect the rest of the world to adapt to our way of life. Just because we may view Communism in Cuba or a dictatorship in Iran as wrong, does not mean we should force our way of life onto another people. For example, a recent Gallup poll showed that only 9% of Iranians approve of the US, while 65% disapprove the US and 25% did not give their opinion (http://www.gallup.com...). My opponent tried to come up with an example of how US intervention actually helped foreigners and the best he could come up with was Haiti, a country wrapped in poverty and has in no way shape or form benefited from US involvement, as I showed with the rice farmers example (http://www.nbcnews.com...). To wrap up this point, by not bothering other nations we keep ourselves in a better position in the world and countries will be more accepting of us, which is a good thing. Point 2: Multinational Corporations Multinational corporations are not only hurting our workforce by taking away their jobs they are also human rights violators. Just because a child is sent to a factory in Indonesia or China does not change the fact that it is child labor and cruel and should be outlawed in any form here in the US. My opponent tries to scare the audience by saying that there are no better options, but the better option for a 10 year old girl would be to stay in school and get a real job. The workers there should go on strike for better jobs and to fight the inequality that has come to define these countries, such as China. Only .8% of Chinese households are making 70% of its profits (http://www.china-mike.com...). I say force these greedy corporations stay in the mess they helped make. By staying independent of these corporations we are protecting our workforce, which is a good thing. Point 3: Defense budget The defense budget from 2011 that I showed earlier on (http://www.washingtonpost.com...) shows the dramatic difference between money that we spend to be the worlds police (more than the next 13 nations combined as of 2011) and the amount of money that we spend on important things such as education and infrastructure. By involving ourselves less overseas and starting to spend to improve things here domestically, such as education and infrastructure, which is a good thing. Point 4: Our Workforce I have shown consistently that our workers are more effective than the average overseas workers, and that they continue to be the most powerful force in the worlds economy. My opponent really seems to resent this fact, saying things such as our GDP comes "from Americans outright selling imports", "this is not logical" and "if we shut ourselves out now, it'd be like ripping out the tubes that connect you to life support." He says all of this without ever challenging the fact that American workers are just more motivated and more independent than the average overseas workers. According to the Baltimore Sun, "of the 21 advanced economies examined in a study published earlier this summer by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the United States is the only nation that doesn't guarantee every worker a certain number of days of paid vacation. Although we have 10 official federal holidays, none are guaranteed paid vacation days " a commonplace legal right in most other industrialized nations." All of this "equates to 700,000 worker "years" of unused vacation (http://articles.baltimoresun.com...) annually." We also have the best universities in the world, as I showed in the end of my fourth post with The Guardian among other sources, so our middle class is being the best educated for their future employers. Investing in the most dependable workforce on the planet is a good thing. Point 5: Energy The "New Middle East" as it has been called is the future of oil production, as the production of oil in the region is set to double from its 2010 amounts by 2020 if we continue on the same pace (http://www.usatoday.com...). "(The U.S.) growth rate is greater than the sum of the growth of the next nine fastest growing countries combined and has covered most of the world's net demand growth over the past two years," PIRA Energy Group wrote (http://www.reuters.com...). We are also continuing to be at the forefront of energy research due yet again to our superior universities research. By continuing to invest in domestic energy sources we can become more and more independent when it comes to energy, which is a good thing. Conclusion: I will leave you with the wise words of two of the greatest US Presidents Eisenhower and Washington, both of which fought for American independence and created the word American Isolation: http://avalon.law.yale.edu... Neither stated that trade is in anyway bad, and in no way does American Isolationism stop the free market place. If countries want to trade with us, then they can trade with us, for example Washington was huge in getting French goods during Americas birth, and I never stated that we should cut off trade and all three of us are all for it. However, to pretend that we are completely dependent on other countries is wrong. My opponent makes it seem that if we practice American Isolationism, that every country will all of sudden hate us and stop all trade immediately, but never backs up such a bold claim, we account for a huge amount of the worlds GDP and need others far less than they need us. My argument is that minding our own business will actually improve our standings among our peers, which according to my first statement has been my argument all along. "My argument is that America should choose not to intervene in global politics and that by doing so hurts itself."