NationStates Jolt Archive

Growing concerns from local police departments have arisen from the number of consumers complaining that criminals are using their identities and their hard-earned money to ruin them. Everyone from the government to business to concerned retirees are coming out of the woodwork with ideas.

The Debate

1. "It's like I've always said, it's these damn credit cards!" shouts @@RANDOMNAME@@, head of the nation's largest consumer advocacy group. "We would be a lot better off if we just banned credit cards. It's these high spending limits and the fact that a lot of people have cards they barely use that attract thieves. And while we're at it, let's just ban all forms of payment other than cash. Sure, the online industry will suffer, but that's where the biggest problems are anyway. And it's time those internet companies cleaned up their acts."
[effect]the all-cash treasury has replaced high-tech crime with other forms of crime

2. "If we go to all cash, we have to deal with old-fashioned thieves!" insists @@RANDOMNAME@@, CEO of Electronic Money Inc. "I don't have a problem doing away with those awful credit cards as long as they're replaced with something that ties into my patented system. I call it the Cyber@@CURRENCY@@ Wallet. All money is in the form of this little handheld device that shows you your balance whenever you want it. Overdraft fees and dropped money is a thing of the past! And the best part is, if people don't paytheir taxes, we can audit them in seconds, since we have all purchases on file! Even a privacy advocate can see how wonderful this crime-stopping would be!"
[effect]most people avoid "embarrassing" purchases after the introduction of electronic money

3. "Electronic money? That's insane! There are better ways," cries out @@RANDOMNAME@@, whose credit was ruined by identity thieves. "And it doesn't bring back my ruined credit score! What we need are laws that require thorough investigations of identity crimes, the return of all merchandise bought with stolen money, the return of that money to the victims, and a nice, long jail sentence for the offenders! After that, identity theft won't be an issue because people won't be dumb enough to try it! Maybe it opens up another realm of abuse, but it's a far cry better than letting criminals get away with their crimes!"
[effect]consumers "change their minds" about purchases by claiming identity theft

4. "Oh, come on, it's a victimless crime," says a mysterious voice who claims to be star athlete @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Why, just the other day, I used some unsuspecting schlub's ID number to get approved for a mortgage worth a half million @@CURRENCY@@s. Would that guy have bought a house with it? I doubt it. Identity theft is good for the economy, and while a few token arrests of some real scum is in order, most of us are thieves by trade. It's a business that will never die no matter how hard you try, so why spend the taxpayers' money on it? Besides, spending the taxpayers' money is my job."
[effect]people frequently are forced into major purchases they don't remember agreeing to

Option 1's effect should be changed. Less people are bold enough to commit crimes that involve directly stealing cash, since most people tend to think they are completely anonymous behind their computer screens. However, it would still create problems. Like shrinking your information technology and retail industries. Or making it harder to keep a record of your assets, thus harder to get them back if lost.

I think this is a good idea for an issue, but I personally like shorter debate options (which I know are hard to write).

For your first option:
[quote]1. "It's like I've always said, it's these damn credit cards!" shouts @@RANDOMNAME@@, head of the nation's largest consumer advocacy group. "We would be a lot better off if we just banned credit cards. It's these high spending limits and the fact that a lot of people have cards they barely use that attract thieves. And while we're at it, let's just ban all forms of payment other than cash. Sure, the online industry will suffer, but that's where the biggest problems are anyway. And it's time those internet companies cleaned up their acts."[quote]

Consider changing the first part (shortening it some).

@@RANDOMNAME@@ of the @@NAME@@ Small Business Association argues, "We would be a lot better off if we just banned credit cards. The ease at which you can get a card with a high spending limit really attracts thieves. Sure, the online industry will suffer, but you can't really convince a bank to send you plain cash in the mail."

Option 1's effect should be changed. Less people are bold enough to commit crimes that involve directly stealing cash, since most people tend to think they are completely anonymous behind their computer screens. However, it would still create problems. Like shrinking your information technology and retail industries. Or making it harder to keep a record of your assets, thus harder to get them back if lost.

My thought on this was that it opens up to other forms of crime...cash is harder to trace than other forms of payment, so if people are forced to carry cash everywhere, they risk having no recourse if their cash is stolen and, if their property is stolen and sold, it's harder to trace. So having an all-cash industry may decrease crime, but it would increase some forms of crime. Plus, it would probably hurt the economy, as it's a little hard to earn interest off of cash.

Well it might, but then again this game is about exaggeration, so I was being overly realistic. It actually looks good as is, my bad.