In this blog post I will be summarizing three topics from the documentary Where to Invade Next and developing a research question and an argument for each of the questions. This will help me further analyze the film and develop a topic and argument for my research paper.
Topic #1: Defense spending in the United States. Research Question: Is it viable for the federal government to reduce the defense budget and use those funds for other resources? Argument: The United States spends more on defense than the next eight countries combined. China’s economy ranks second in terms of GDP yet education, social security and transportation all rank in the top ten funding areas. National defense spending in China is less than spending for healthcare or public service. In 2015 the United States congress allocated more than half of discretionary spending to the military. If China can maintain status as a world economic power without spending half of its budget on national defense, the United States congress should be able to figure out how to at least reduce military spending and allocate those funds where they are needed more. Topic# 2: Labor rights. Research Question: Should the US government intervene to give workers more time away from work? Argument: The United States is the only industrialized country without statutory agreements for minimum leave for work. After five minutes of research and simple math, I found that the average number of paid days off for the top nine countries in terms of GDP is 24.8. This includes paid vacation days and public holidays. I think that there is a stigma in America that the government should not mandate paid time off because it will directly affect productivity. If anything, I believe the opposite is true. Topic #3: Prison system reform Research Question: Should private prisons be made illegal? Argument: Private prisons take advantage of prisoners and their families. The two biggest prison corporations in the country made $3.3 billion in 2012 profiting from government payments and prison laborers. A company called Global Tel*Link charges more than a dollar per minute for inmates to talk to their families or friends. Global Tel* Link makes more than $500 million a year from exploiting these people. The reason we have prisons is to rehabilitate offenders, not to make money by exploiting them.
2 Comments
Rebecca Stevens
4/2/2018 11:50:59 am
I agree and feel as though the United States should definitely reduce spending and wisely allocate those funds to where they're needed considering America is in the hole for about $20 trillion! Nice choice of topic!
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Andrew Barone
4/2/2018 03:05:46 pm
In regards to defense spending in the US; I thought you brought up some really interesting and eye opening statistics related to the issue that I never knew b4, great job!
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