- US trans policy shift -

 

Since Trump has been in office, there seems to have been a shift in the policy of transgender people and issues. Recently an agreement between the University of Pennsylvania and the US government announced that transgender athletes would no longer be able to compete in women sports. Not only this but all transgender athletes that had previously won awards and university credits will be stripped from them. Republicans claim this is a victory for common sense, but democrats are claiming this is discrimination and an abuse of transgender rights. Elsewhere, the military has implemented a ban on transgender individuals stating that a diagnosis of gender dysphoria means they do not meet the strict physical and mental requirements needed for military service.

 

Is this change of direction a good thing? A return to "common sense"? Or is it turning back on "progress"?

 

- DEBATE: Does Japan need immigration? -

 

This is a debate style class, so it is not about your opinions. Please check the teams below to see which side you are on. If your name is not there (I wrote this on Saturday afternoon), then I'll try to update the teams on Wednesday or Thursday.

 

As with many things, Japan is a few years behind the western world. One such thing is on immigration. The Western world has been dealing with huge rises in immigration for the last 20 years or so. It hasn't really been a big thing in Japan, and still isn't (currently only about 2-3% of people living in Japan are foreign born immigrants). 

And yet there are lots of people arguing that those foreign immigrants are the cause of all of Japan's problems. On the other hand, many people say that Japan needs immigration because without it, there just wouldn't be enough people to pay taxes and do all the jobs that Japanese people simply don't want to do. 

So is immigration really necessary for Japan?

 

Just to make sure we don't waste time, I want to make it clear that foreign residents living and working in Japan HAVE to pay tax, just like Japanese people do. Anyone saying otherwise is either ignorant of the law or wilfully lying. I have to pay tax, national health insurance, and pension. If I don't, I start getting harassed by the ward office and pension office...because it's mandatory to pay, even for foreign residents. 

 

Team 1: Japan NEEDS immigration

 

Fumihiro

 

Team 2: Japan DOESN'T NEED immigration

Junko

 

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3