The Porcupine: Battle for Southern Chamber

[JustinTimeCuber]

I'm JustinTimeCuber, and I'd like to thank Classic Conservative for being here and also Representative OneJ for moderating.

[JustinTimeCuber]

Citizens of the Southern region, as we all know, want to be safe. What would you propose to help keep crime as low as possible?

What research shows us is that better educated people with more income are less likely to commit violent crime, as one would expect - what reason would they have to do so? I think that the most effective way to reduce crime is to reduce poverty, which we can do by supporting strong social safety programs designed to get people back on their feet. Our food stamp program is weaker than it could be, and expanding that would help millions of poor kids do better in school and have a better chance to go to college. We need to end the cycle of poverty in order to effectively decrease crime.

I'd also like to mention that I believe mandatory minimum sentences and other "tough-on-crime" measures do not address the root of the problem and in some cases cause worse, unintended consequences. These laws come from special interests such as private prisons, which are a ridiculous idea at face value.

[JustinTimeCuber]

So is this still going to continue?

[JustinTimeCuber]

Q2: Are you in favor of having open or closed borders? Why or why not?

I believe that this is a false dichotomy. Do we need to have control of our borders? Sure. Some people are to the left of me on this issue, but I think we do need borders, otherwise there are too many ways for people to theoretically cheat the system. If someone is caught crossing our border without going through any legal process, I'm fine with deporting them. However, I also believe that it's immoral to deport people who have been here for years, especially if they have a family here. Contrary to popular belief on the right, undocumented immigrants pay significant amounts of taxes without nearly as much in return as a citizen. Undocumented immigrants actually commit less crime than citizens, so let's end this weird conception that most undocumented people here are "bad hombres" (or bad mujeres). I would support amnesty for people who have been here for a long time, but again, if someone is caught crossing our border, they should be sent back until they come in legally.

Another issue this ties into is another controversial one, Syrian refugees. I think that the South should accept at least 50,000 refugees (which for the record is less than 0.1% of the Southern population). There is an extensive vetting process in place to handle these people already, I don't believe we need to expand that. Besides, that's a federal system anyway. Point is, although terrorism is a major world problem, helping people escape, with proper precautions that are already in place, would save countless lives and it would show that Atlasia and the Southern region are willing to help those in need.

[JustinTimeCuber]

I'm going to post my responses to Classic's answers in my campaign thread by tomorrow afternoon. I don't want to start a fight here.

[JustinTimeCuber]

Q3: Euthanasia has recently become a "popular" issue in the Southern region. Federalists have successfully banned the right to euthanasia. Is the ban on euthanasia a good decision or not? Elaborate.

I disagree strongly with the premise that the government should force people who are terminally ill to fight to the end. I've explained my reasoning thoroughly on my campaign thread. Is it "liberty" to tell someone that "Yes, you are going to die anyway, but we're going to prolong your life as long as you can, so that you can experience every last miserable moment of it."? That's completely wrong. Although I strongly support the right to death with dignity, I believe that any doctor found intentionally euthanizing a patient who did not give consent, was not mentally capable, was under 18 years old, or had a significant chance of survival should be severely punished, especially for the first three. ("Significant chance of survival" is hard to pinpoint, that's why I'm less sure about that one, but if the patient has the flu they shouldn't be able to be euthanized.)

[JustinTimeCuber]

CLOSING STATEMENTS

I'd like to thank Classic Conservative for participating in this debate and again thank OneJ for moderating. I stand strongly for progressive principles: equality, civil rights, justice, and democracy. Our Labor candidates for the Chamber all show encouraging positions regarding these principles. I hope you'll take a few minutes to go vote, not just for me, although that would be greatly appreciated , but also for fhtagn and Jacobin American, both of whom, again, I believe would be the great leaders the South deserves in the Chamber.