Unemployment benefit should be paid in the form of vouchers for food, shelter and the basics of life

The proposition does not fully understand what unemployment benefits are, and is confusing it with a system like a welfare system where people are paid for doing nothing. Furthermore, the proposition is confusing this insurance benefit as a ‘rewarding’ system. The unemployment benefit is different from a welfare system and vastly different from a ‘rewarding’ system.

Firstly, the unemployment benefit is nothing like a welfare system because a welfare system is giving people who can’t sustain living with the lack wealth because they have been fired, has had no job in the first place, or are drug addicts. On the other hand, unemployment benefit is for people who have been laid off from work because of substantial lack of jobs in the economy. In fact, there are standards the people need to meet before requesting for unemployment benefit such as having worked for a certain number of years, depending on the state in which they live in the US.

Secondly, unemployment benefit is not a ‘rewarding system’. It is a system that provides people with funds so they can sustain their lives after being laid off. These people are paid monthly funds because they absolutely need it. They need it because they have no other options or ways to earn money on their own. Thus, this insurance is essentially preventing people from getting their houses repossessed or only eating half a meal per day because they cannot afford it.

Moreover, a pension system is very irrelevant to his resolution because it is vastly different from an unemployment benefit, as we have proved and clarified what an unemployment benefit is.

Lastly, we’d like to point out that the Proposition is misunderstanding the entire point of unemployment benefits. As they were kind to mention once, one requirement to be eligible to the benefit is to constantly search for jobs. The government only pays benefits to sincere people, and once it has decided that a person’s not searching for jobs, it’ll stop paying

Unemployment benefit is only eligible for those who have worked for certain amount of years, depending on the state in full-time jobs. Moreover, people are not eligible if they have: quit without a good cause, fired for misconduct, or involved in a labour dispute. Hence, it is highly improbable that drug addicts or alcoholics would even pass those standards in the first place. In fact, people who apply for unemployment benefit are very responsible and rational, meaning they will make smart choices such as making their own lives and their family’s lives a priority before drugs and alcohol, and self-satisfying unnecessary objects.

The opposition’s interpretation of the proposition’s argument about how they will get people out of unemployment by depriving them of their freedom of choice is that they will use the ‘stick’ rather than the ‘carrot’. In other words, they are essentially using hard power to force people to do what the government wants them to. History has proven that hard power is not the best way to resolve issues, such as the Korean war, where the US would have saved thousands of lives through negotiations.

The government only gives back a certain percentage of the person’s original salary when the person requests for a unemployment benefit. For example, an average American makes about $28,000 annually. When they request for an unemployment benefit because they were laid off, they would be getting about half of their original salary, which is barely enough for their necessities. Thus, if they want to get back into their normal lifestyles, they will be motivated to get a job as soon as they can. Thus, this is already an enough incentive for people to pull themselves out of unemployment. This means that we do not need another incentive because this already serves as a sufficient incentive.

The proposition’s claim about the difference in salary vs. unemployment benefit tells us that their understanding or interpretation of an unemployment benefit is incorrect. The unemployment benefit provides people who have been laid off with a certain percentage of his/her normal salary. This money also comes from the insurance taxes that the people who are now unemployed paid for. Nevertheless, the proposition labels these people as ‘parasites’ as if they are leeching the money out of the economy. Though this may be true for a small number of people who are on unemployment benefits, it is false for the vast majority of the people who benefit from the insurance. In fact, some people absolutely need this money because they are unable to find job due to a lack of jobs in the economy. In fact, it is not the matter of people wanting to work or not, but it is rather the matter of whether people can even find jobs at all. Yes, the proposition’s plan may be able to remind people that they need jobs, however it is very unfair for people in circumstances where there is a huge lack of jobs for them. Thus, the opposition believes that cracking the whip on the unemployed for an issue that was neither their fault nor in their capability to amend is very unfair. In fact, the circumstances the people are in right now is so harsh that forcing them to find jobs rather than supporting them will shatter the fragile confidence the unemployed have, thus discouraging them further, as mentioned in the previous rebuttal. This will lead to more unemployment.

It is true that if the government receives money as in “taxes”, citizens should be entrusting government’s control to use whatever they can do with those taxes; thus, we should enjoy the protection comes in the forms of “police, access to medicine and drinking water, and even the military force”. However, even with paying these taxes, individual should care for how the society and the government do with “our money”. Especially in the case of unemployment benefits systems citizens are explicitly giving specific % of their income just for the case when they are laid off in no fault of their own: being unemployed for more than a year. Again, it seems that proposition is confused how unemployment benefits system works.

People that are claiming unemployment benefits are responsible people. They were gainfully employed, full time and responsible people will make sure they have a roof over their heads and food in their kitchens. If given the choice between having their homes seized by the bank and going to Mexico, the obvious choice is to use the money to pay their mortgage. There may be a few people whose intention it is to abuse the system, but the majority of people are only claiming benefits because they have no other choice. People are only given a percentage of their previous income. This cut in income would not allow for frivolities and as such the majority of the money would be used for necessities.

Last but not least, regarding the last point, the Washington Post source is very irrelevant to this debate. The article outlines a scandal regarding a republican politician. Moreover, they merely used the first paragraph of the article, but did not bother to read the rest of the article. If they had read the whole article, they would have noticed that the woman backtracked about what she has stated before.

The timeline of the proposition’s plan is much too short. In the US, people can get up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, including extensions. The need for extension and the long time frame of the insurance tells us that the market in SQ is drastically dismal; thus we can conclude that their plan of 6 months of monetary compensation is much too short.

Furthermore, the problem is not a lack of people trying for jobs. Because the highly educated people have more incentives to work and potential to serve in tertiary/quaternary sector of economy, it is more efficient to let them work at their places. They even agreed that they “will stimulate people to take a job according to what they deserve.”

The status quo definitely incentivises unemployed people. If getting back into employment was as easy as 1,2,3, the plan would be acceptable. Furthermore, the proposition is confusing the past with the present. The difference is that in SQ, countries’ investments in education for people are going to waste because these people are not living up to their full potential due to unemployment as a result of a recession.

There are natural incentives for educated laid off workers in SQ. Not only do these people need the jobs to pay their higher bills, but also the incentive of pursuing their careers is motivation. The issue of people abusing the system is inevitable; neither plans can completely solve it, but we believe both sides should focus on helping people participate in a healthy economy.

The proposition says that enforcing their plan will make people “understand possibilities”; leading unemployed people to fill any open jobs. However, for example, if we force unemployed scientists and CEO’s into low-income jobs, this creates more problems. Not only will the lower class unemployment rate go up due to their replacement with skilled workers, but also the millions spent on education for these people will go to waste when they are merely making coffee.

The main argument that the proposition operates on is the claim that the unemployed population is not motivated to work and therefore, will abuse the system of cash unemployment benefits. However, many of these people, as we have emphasized earlier, are responsible workers that got laid off because entire companies have collapsed in the economic recession. The closure of a business affects from all the way from the top CEOs to unskilled laborers. Many qualified people do want to further their careers and get better jobs.

Moreover, the proposition has stated that the money that people will get from unemployment benefits will remove the incentive to take low-paid jobs. This is probable in a sense that high paid skilled workers will be offered the jobs with low wages of unskilled laborers, which is what the opposition is advocating for. However, it is wrong to put highly qualified people into unskilled jobs, when their skills are able to bring economic growth. Also, they have stated that it’s hard to motivate yourself to accept a job offer below your level of expectations. We do not want highly skilled intellectuals to bend down to lower paying jobs that pay less than their original salaries. Educated individual have a valuable place in society because they contribute to the well being of all. We need to make sure that they can sustain themselves until they find skilled jobs again.

There are two major impacts that can result with skilled workers taking away the jobs of unskilled laborers. First, society will not benefit as much because the education and intellectual aspects of those skilled workers are going to waste. Second, unskilled laborers will not be able to get those jobs.

The proposition has stated that workers in the West demand too much for their level of productivity. However, we do not want an economy that is based on sweatshop labor. We the keep clarifying our point that in today’s economy highly qualified people are unemployed too.

Before we can begin, we would like define some significant terms, such as the government, which affects this debate as unemployment rates and benefit systems differ between countries, hindering us from making specific points. We will specify the government as the US government, and by vouchers, government-issued bills/coupons for specific uses. Registering with the state job service and actively seeking work is a requirement to collect unemployment benefits. You must not confuse the social welfare system with unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits do not come from state money, but from the money that the people have been paying as a FUTA tax. Previously, unemployment was not as significant a problem, but due to the recent economic crisis, people who are fully eligible for employment are getting laid off by no fault of their own. People who are willing to work cannot find jobs. Unemployment benefits to go people who desperately need them, not because they do not want to work, but because there are simply no jobs to be had. Millions of people in developed nations today are unemployed. Because of this, countries like Canada and the US provide these people with unemployment benefits. Unemployment benefits are when the government collects a certain % of one’s in the event that someone is laid off, the government provides a certain percentage of their previous annual wage. Eligibility requirements for collecting unemployment compensation vary from state to state. In SQ, the unemployment benefits are “creating jobs faster than practically any other program,”[1] according to Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives. This is crucial because in order to reduce unemployment, more jobs are the sole solution, and a healthy economy is the key to more jobs. However, vouchers for human survival necessities are not the way to stimulate an economy or employment.
[1]http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/01/pelosi-unemployment-checks-best-way-create-j

Giving out cash rather than vouchers for basics of life, as in SQ, allows people to use the money freely, thus satisfying some of their personal needs, while vouchers limit freedom of choice. It’s just like the government telling people what to wear or eat. These people still have rights to pursue their own needs, for unemployment is not always a vice. Those people eligible for unemployment benefits have all once been employed full time, and it was not their fault that they got laid off.

Furthermore, the idea of limiting freedom of choice as a means of forcing people to search for jobs is both contrary to democratic beliefs and debilitating. According to the democratic ideology, the state must serve its people. While it seems that the government is rescuing its people from destitution, it is, in fact, sacrificing people’s needs for better economy. Does the government really have rights to use people’s money however they want? Vouchers impose limitations to where people can shop. When such a high percentage of the population is unemployed, forcing these people to shop at large chain stores would negatively impact revenue for small local businesses. Those people who prefer to support small businesses would be unable to do so.

Unemployment benefits are reserved for the case of economic emergency. Therefore, the government has no jurisdiction on how the benefits are to be spent. With cash, unemployed people can maintain better life quality altogether with basic necessities, which is why they have saved and paid the government 1.5% of their income.

What is more, not allowing unemployed people pursue their personal needs simply pressures both the people and the society. The people would be forced to give up their private life and live as the government would have them to instead.

Vouchers limit where people can buy their survival necessities because they cannot provide access to a variety of stores. The government will most likely buy vouchers from partner companies, where goods are cheaper. When this happens, only the big corporations in partnership with the government would benefit, leaving the small local markets unsupported, causing more unemployed people, which does more harm than good to the SQ. Since the US government is investing into big corporations, 29 million small local markets would be left unsupported. This would have two effects on the economy. First of all, millions of families owning crashed local businesses would not have money to put back into the markets to stimulate different industries. Therefore, vouchers will make our overall economy fall. These small, local markets are what holds up our economy and are what provides people with money which go back into stimulation of the economy. Vouchers will take out the support for these markets and essentially destroy the overall economy.

The second impact is that decrease in small local markets will cause people to rely on to big companies even more. This increasing dependence on large corporations is bad because big corporations are not the nicest folks you meet. The corporations, solely operating for profit, will eventually jack up their prices for their profit. When the prices soar, the people dependent on the companies would have no choice but to adapt to the high prices. Hence, people’s lives would be a monotonous cycle where they work, then spend nearly all of their paychecks on human necessities. This essentially means decrease in quality of life, all because of the issue of vouchers for basics of life skyrocketing the prices, thus putting people on the verge of poverty. Therefore, we don’t see the need for implementing the Proposition plan, as it will certainly do more harm than good to the status quo.

Cash reimbursement is better than providing vouchers in unemployment benefits system in boosting the economy and in creating jobs.
We have proven why vouchers will only make the situation worse in the SQ. We believe that unemployment benefits should be cash compensation, the way it is now. Roughly 1.1 million “discouraged workers” in the US have given up hope of finding jobs, which indicates how bad the market is. As aforementioned, only jobs can reduce unemployment, and a healthy economy is the key to more jobs. For a healthy economy, the population needs to stimulate the economy, which can be done by investing money into the market. First, when given money, people can spend it in local markets, which will prevent small businesses from closing. Secondly, spending money provides “double benefits,” meaning it helps those who lost their jobs by stimulating economy which is a key for more jobs, and acts as a “job creator” for those who are being paid. This is the best option because we are helping the unemployed and providing more jobs for people, which the voucher program certainly lacks. Thus, the cash reimbursement increases the quality of millions of lives regardless of their employment status because the economy is being pushed forward. Most importantly, the cash benefits create more jobs, thus decreasing the unemployment rate and fostering a healthy economy. Hence, the opposition solves for the SQ of unemployment, and in fact, the proposition’s plan may be the last straw on the camel’s back, as their plan may lead to a future with higher unemployment rates. Distribution Checks will give people more choices on their own needs. Distributions of Checks are just like replacing the salary the people deserve but are not earning. These people have not been fired, are qualified to work, but due to unfortunate circumstances they cannot find work to support themselves.

The side opposition agrees that the government has the right to intervene when individuals are harming the state of economy. Nevertheless side opposition believes that intervening with the situation in SQ can not only be more detrimental, but also it can act as a violation of human rights and a contradiction to the concept of democracy. We have proved earlier that vouchers are not the best way of dealing with unemployment. In fact, the proposition even said that “the longer the period of unemployment is, the smaller the chances of coming back.” We the opposition agrees with this point. This proves that educated people already have the incentive to get back on their feet because they know that their chance of returning is slim as their unemployment period extends. Yes the vouchers will force people back into jobs, but that is not the right way to solve for the issues in this debate. In fact, it will exacerbate the situation because the high-skilled people who are unemployed would have to find whatever job they can due to vouchers and also to be less shameful. They would even resort to working minimum wage jobs which would lead to more unemployment and a deficit to the healthy economy and the society as proven earlier in the debate.

Their plan of using vouchers to take away the freedom of choice concerns side opposition. Freedom of choice is one of the main pillars of democracy and the backbone of human rights. When the government takes this away from people, they are not fulfilling one of their main obligations to their own people. Hence, not only will the proposition’s plan fail, but also it will cost them the trust of the people in their government.

The Proposition correctly claimed that citizens must respect gov’s aim to use the tax revenue most efficiently, except their “efficient” is flawed. Since local markets don’t have vouchers, gov needs to focus on them. They noted people often buy from big retailers anyway. This is why public expenses in SQ local markets are necessary. They claim that we didn’t prove how all those shops would go bankrupt. Well, the economic recession in SQ has stricken lots of businesses. While the unemployed people are only a minority, the impending recession puts vulnerable local shops on the brinks of bankruptcy. Vouchers would only worsen SQ. Also, their claim about gov protection of economic backbones explains why they’re being supported in SQ. Thus our focus is really on those many local markets, vulnerable to economic recessions. Then they bring up anti-monopoly agencies and competitions among companies, but due to the consumers’ increasing dependency on big corporations, demands go up, jacking up the price as the rule of supply & demand.

They claim that vouchers and SQ benefit are essentially the same. However while money circulates in markets with expenses benefiting millions, vouchers are only applicable to one corporation. SQ works as a “double benefit” by letting people spend their money on crucial things other than survival needs, like job creation by healthy economy.

They’re still mixing welfare systems with unemployment benefits. Unlike reward systems, benefits sustain people’s lives while allowing them to use it for other needs until a job is found.
Their lower class with little rights to benefits claim is very biased. These people met the standards for the benefits and pay the regular tax rate just like anyone else; thus they’re just claiming the money they paid, which is fairly low due to their low income anyways.
The system abuse claim had been addressed many times in this debate and the opposition doesn’t feel the need to mention it further

Vouchers limit freedom of choice, as conceded by Proposition. Since unemployment benefits are from citizens’ own income, the citizens should be allowed to use it freely. The Proposition’s attack that “The benefit of the society trumps the freedom of individuals, if their actions hurt the welfare of the society while they receive benefits from the society,” lacks explanations on how individuals hurt the society. As foretold, the Plan wouldn’t fix those corrupted people and thus we must focus on highly skilled, incentivised people.

Secondly, vouchers worsen the economy. Since small markets don’t have vouchers but high prices, they’d go bankrupt. Then the economy would stagnate, for money circulates in them. Proposition’s attempt to attack this in 3 ways is futile. We explained how the government must focus on local markets, which are undersupported in SQ and vulnerable to recessions. We also explained how supply & demand proves the probable inflation when local businesses go out.

Last and foremost, maintaining SQ would boost the economy and reduce unemployment. Free flow of money is a key to secure economy and employment. Therefore, public expenses save small business from bankruptcy. Again, they try to attack this in 3 ways. However, we’re concerned that they don’t understand the SQ. First, we clarified that money circulates in markets stimulating economy while vouchers only benefit a few enterprises. Also, the unemployed people once had paid UI tax so they’ve rights to benefits like anyone else. The claim that unemployed people are predominantly low income used to be true in the past, but not in SQ. Lastly, we stated the impacts on economy when CEOs are forced to serve food in McDonald’s.

The Proposition would convert to vouchers after 6 months to limit freedom of choices to force people back to whatever work found, hopefully boosting the economy. However, they’re misunderstanding three things:

1) As reiterated, those we’re focusing on are high-skilled people who need high-skilled jobs. Therefore, there’s no need to pressure them more since they’re desperately finding suitable jobs to develop the economy. Also, please note that unemployment benefits are for those who cannot find jobs or work due to personal circumstances, not by a choice of not working.

2) Their plan is severely flawed as there’s no warrant that 6 months is enough to get a job. Also, this idea is in no way relevant to vouchers. 3) They do concede that “society can make a better use of this money for the whole society,” however do not realise what “a better use” is. To us, the better use is a system that reflects democratic ideologies, as well as benefits the economy.

We have so far proven how their Plan is useless, for the time frame is not even substantiated, and how it does more harm than good to SQ economy and society. We rest our case.