Student Loan Debt

Is the controversy overblown?

The average college student has student loans totaling less than or equal to the average new car loan.

Text

data from Forbes.com

Total Student Loan Debt is about

$1,400,000,000,000

($1.4 Trillion)

Vaping

Is the controversy overblown?

Vaping was initially designed as a way to lessen cigarette addiction.

We've lost sight of that and are merely replacing cigarettes with vapes instead of using vapes to lessen tobacco addictions.

Marketing targeted children (flavors and "coolness" factor)

Marketing has changed, and now flavors are being banned.

Is that enough? Or do we have to ban vapes?

How come we don't ban cigarettes or alcohol?

Psychedelics for Mental Health and Medical Uses

Microdosing DMT/LSD/Psilocybin plus counseling shows potential mental health benefits

But studies are mixed

However, thi

But is that why we should decriminalize?

Criminal Justice Reform

Personal Consumption

is no more or less harmful than alcohol

Why should the gov't care?

Prison Reforms

The US has the largest prison population of any developed nation. Why is that?

Outlawing privatization is just the first step?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Dreamers / Immigration /

Border Wall

Is ICE actually bad news or is it just getting a bad rap?

How do you enforce border laws?

Should you even bother with borders?

Why or why not?

Jobs, Safety, Refuge

The United States has among the most permissive immigration laws in the world. In fact, even Canada's laws are more restrictive than our own, and they police them more actively. Their requirements for asylum are much stricter and granted far less frequently. While sheer numbers-wise we deport more people, Canada's per-capita rate dwarfs ours.

Minimum Wage Increase

Under the new law, the minimum wage for most workers will increase to $10 an hour on July 1.

Every January it will go up another dollar until it tops out at
$15 on Jan. 1, 2024. 

The tipped minimum wage will rise to $5.13.

Economists' opinions on the effects of raises in minimum wages are scattered and contradictory.

The biases of your sources will definitely reflect their conclusions.

Artificial Intelligence

Why are we so worried?

We use it all the time, often without knowing, because it doesn't resemble the science fiction we were promised.

Climate Change

The topic is simply too broad on its own. And the controversy about its existence is not the right starting point.

Global warming is real. It is being caused by humans. There is a 97% consensus among climate scientists worldwide. Climatologists are even more certain about this than archaeologists are about how the pyramids were created.

• Taxes?

• Laws?

• Limitations on energy use?

• Rationing?

• Restrictions on the growth of developing nations?

Should we combat global warming?

If so, how?

Banning/Restricting Plastics

(specifically bags, take out containers, and straws)

Some Concerns

• Accessibility concerns (plastic straws)

• Financial (plastic take out containers vs paper: styrofoam is also usually banned, leaving few options)

• Convenience and weight reduction (plastic bags/bottles, and other packaging)

• Safety/purity (plastic packaging is more tamper resistant and also more sterile)

School Shootings

And Gun Control in general (though too broad)

Why do shooters pick schools?

What measures should we take to stop them?

Video Game Violence

Does violence in video games and other media lead to more violence in real life?

Is video game violence different from violence consumed in other media forms?

Social Media

How much information is too much for a technology company to have?

Privacy concerns?

Drug Addiction

Imprisonment or rehab?

Is NARCAN a good thing

or a bad thing?

Vaccines

Vaccines work.

Opposition is based almost entirely on celebrity opinions and lies by people who aren't immunologists.

Before the vaccine, measles caused an estimated
2.6 million deaths
each year

Before the vaccine, mumps was the primary cause of deafness in humankind

GM Foods vs Organic

All foods have been genetically modified

The newest method is actually the most scientific and easiest to control and experiment with

Plant-Based Diets

Agriculture, specifically of meat, is one of the leading causes of global warming.

There are also concerns about ethics of eating sentient animals

Electric Cars

Current Issues

• Battery capacity

• Charging time

• Distance

• Recharging locations

Other concerns

• Shifting from gas to electric only works if the electric is supplied by renewable energy

Physician Assisted Suicide

Morality of death

Morality of pain and suffering

Mental health

Economic concerns

Photo/Video Manipulation