Is the Right Wing Better Than the Left Wing

In reply I would like to point out that my opponent, rather than try to demonstrate in what way right wing policies are superior, has instead attempted to criticise aspects of left wing policy without providing articulate examples of how right wing policies would alleviate these issues. Universal Health Care Con has asked why the government should provide healthcare. Perhaps because it is enough of a kick in the guts to get diagnosed with cancer without having to foot the bill as well. If a government is not there to care for its constituents when they need it the most, one must wonder what it is there for. In regards to those countries having economies going to "hell in a hand basket", below are the growth rates of these same countries from 2010-2014 " the growth in both Australia and NZ exceeds that of the USA with the UK trailing the USA only slightly. With France"s economy having slow growth. Per capita spending on health care(2). USA - 8,508 UK- 3,405 Australia - 3,800 New Zealand - 3,182 France - 4,118 Life Expectancy (3) USA - 77.9 UK - 79.7 Australia - 81.5 New Zealand - 80.4 France - 81.2 Econcomic Growth Rate (1) USA - 2.2 UK - 1.7 Australia - 2.5 New Zealand - 2.5 France - .3 This demonstrates that strong economic growth and universal healthcare are not mutually exclusive. Apologies for the truncation of my initial data onto the page, but you can see that the US spends twice as much as these other countries on health care without the benefit of a comparable life expectancy. So yes taxation to pay for universal health care may be higher, but this would be more than offset by lower (or no) insurance premiums and a sector more focussed on the wellbeing of its patients than the return on its investment. Small business owners would not be negatively affected by the costs of universal health care any more than other tax payers. Generally such levies are based upon individuals, or a family"s taxable income not on how many, or how few employee"s they have as is the case with the system in the USA with employer sponsored health care. In regards to the veracity of the SSRN data, you have provided no other research that indicates the nexus between mortgage foreclosures and the reasons for them " so in the absence of conflicting data from another source, any claim of bias is unfounded. If there are many other downsides to universal healthcare you have not pointed them out convincingly. From the data I have provided - dated 2011, so hardly affected by the recent move to Obamacare - it is clear that Health reform is necessary in the USA. Any perceived incompetence of the current US administration in implementing these reforms in no way discounts the benefit of universal health care. So in summary"universal health care: 1. Cheaper 2. Accessible to all 3. Higher Life expectancy What's not to love? The right wing argument has not demonstrated how it would provide health care for the most vulnerable in society and as such the right wing is not better than its leftie counterpart. Welfare: You ask"why on earth should the more fortunate harder working individuals pay taxes to assist the more unfortunate, dare we say lazy lay abouts? Many people on welfare have children who are totally innocent of their situation and circumstance. If children do not receive adequate nutrition, housing, education, health care they will grow up to be very much like their parents and the cycle continues. If they receive these things they will more likely reach their full potential as an adult, become a valuable member of society and contribute to economic growth. The OECD has just recently released a study that shows that there is a positive correlation between the equality within a country and its economic growth. They have surmised that those countries that are less egalitarian suffer the impact of a negative drain on economic growth. (2) As mentioned in round 2, due to the Pareto Principle the money allocated to welfare will still filter right back up to the lucky few, but in the transition at least it gets to enrich the lives of the more unfortunate. As the old adage says, money is like manure " it does more good when you spread it around. Henry Ford paid his workers well. Why? Because they would then have enough money to buy the cars they made. The more you pay people, the more they will have to spend in the market place. There will also be a greater gap between welfare checks and pay checks giving added incentive for so called lazy bums to get off them and get to productive work. In regards to incarceration rates, I believe petty crime or convictions of personal drug use should be dealt with - but not with incarceration. When offenders are locked up with more hardened criminals the punishment does little if anything to reform them. One has to question the necessity of having an incarceration rate in the USA that is five times that of its peers, with a cost equally as excessive. Minimum Wage: There was no suggestion that everyone should be paid the same, but those at the top tier have seen their incomes rise at an astronomic rate compared to lower skilled workers. Have these individuals worked harder in this time, or can those individuals make anything without the labour of the many? No. They have the benefit of leverage where any improvements or efficiencies they initiate are multiplied many times by all the workers underneath them. Businesses should be run to work with increased output with reduced input and the gains for this should be shared by all the contributors and not just the members of the executive committee My opponent has soundly demonstrated what happens when one side of the politcal spectrum comes to power and dogmatically applies their ideology. In the case of the right wing it is this unquestioning belief in the power of the market to provide everything for everyone, with no solutions to the issues other than to lower taxes. They attack the programs implented by the left, yet are at a loss of how to resolve these issues. A free, dare I say "liberal" market is the best source of wealth creation, as can be seen from the meterotic rise of China. The left of the politcal spectrum understand this, but they are also realistic about its limitations. There is an old saying that if you are not a socialist when you are young you don't have a heart, and if you are not a capitalist when you are old you don't have a brain. For a wealthy, enriched and thriving society you need a little bit of both. The left wing is just as important as the right wing and no less Vote Con - you know you want to ;o) Exit "stage left (1)http://data.worldbank.org... (2)http://www.bbc.com... Thanks to The World for Morals for an enjoyable debate