# Great Debates **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=189 [Latest](https://boards.straightdope.com/latest.md) · [Categories](https://boards.straightdope.com/categories.md) · [Tags](https://boards.straightdope.com/tags.md) **Page:** 190 --- ## [healthcare crisis out of control](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthcare-crisis-out-of-control/724566)
**Author:** [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Replies:** 78\ **Last updated:** [July 25, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/healthcare-crisis-out-of-control/724566 "2015-07-25T20:46:41Z")
So you all know about the major shortage of doctors and nurse’s and long very long wait times in the ER 4 to 8 hours and soon to be 8 to 12 hours. About a month to see family doctor or specialist. And many months for hi… --- ## [Is conventional invasion worth a nuclear war?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-conventional-invasion-worth-a-nuclear-war/725924)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-conventional-invasion-worth-a-nuclear-war/725924 "2015-07-24T20:40:52Z")
From time to time, there are comments like,\* “China would not invade Russia because Russia would go nuclear,”\* or, “The Warsaw Pact would not have invaded NATO during the Cold War because Britain and France would have go… --- ## [Are Western governments purposely driving down living standards?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-western-governments-purposely-driving-down-living-standards/725724)
**Author:** [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Replies:** 80\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-western-governments-purposely-driving-down-living-standards/725724 "2015-07-24T19:38:21Z")
Was reading this about the heralding of the end of Capitalism as we know it, and something cropped up which I hadn’t noticed before, apparently Western Governments are driving down living standards to the level of the… --- ## [Another "debunk this" thread...this time about the Confederates and Southerners](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-debunk-this-thread-this-time-about-the-confederates-and-southerners/725912)
**Author:** [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [July 24, 2015, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-debunk-this-thread-this-time-about-the-confederates-and-southerners/725912 "2015-07-24T09:52:56Z")
My brother lived in Kentucky for a few years, and about a year or so in the Carolinas. This, of course, means (to him) that he is an expert on all things Rebel/Confederate. And I, as a dirty liberal, have of course been … --- ## [Ross Perot: Not a Bush-Spoiler but a Clinton Mandate-Killer](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-perot-not-a-bush-spoiler-but-a-clinton-mandate-killer/725935)
**Author:** [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-perot-not-a-bush-spoiler-but-a-clinton-mandate-killer/725935 "2015-07-23T20:44:58Z")
You know, every so often, particularly during election cycles, the talk about third party candidates come out. Donald Trump is the most recent example. Some people out there have posited that Ross Perot, in 1992, affecte… --- ## [stealth vs swarms of cheap drones](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealth-vs-swarms-of-cheap-drones/725201)
**Author:** [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Replies:** 89\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stealth-vs-swarms-of-cheap-drones/725201 "2015-07-23T15:19:14Z")
The US has put all its egg’s in one basket as far as having an all stealth air superiority force, both the F-22 and F-35 are stealth and no other fighters are planned at the moment. The compromises caused on the F35 pro… --- ## [Could A European Dictator Like Hitler Emerge?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-european-dictator-like-hitler-emerge/725240)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 71\ **Last updated:** [July 23, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-european-dictator-like-hitler-emerge/725240 "2015-07-23T01:50:58Z")
I would say “no”. Hitler and the Nazi Party rose due to an unfortunate confluence of events-Germany’s defeat in WWI, the hyperinflation of the 1920s, and the rise of Communist Russia. Plus, Europe is an ageing continent-… --- ## [Righteousness vs. Happiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/righteousness-vs-happiness/724829)
**Author:** [@HumbleThinker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HumbleThinker)\ **Replies:** 12\ **Last updated:** [July 22, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/righteousness-vs-happiness/724829 "2015-07-22T15:08:01Z")
Which is more important: being right/just or being happy? Or put a different way, is it more important to judge another person when they are wrong or seek their happiness when they are wrong? Or put an even different way… --- ## [Could empirical evidence change your position on gay marriage?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-empirical-evidence-change-your-position-on-gay-marriage/725742)
**Author:** [@Construct](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Construct)\ **Replies:** 48\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-empirical-evidence-change-your-position-on-gay-marriage/725742 "2015-07-21T23:27:14Z")
This question is for both sides. Let’s say that in the wake of Obergefell, academic research clearly establishes a scientific consensus that either: a) children raised by same-sex parents have worse life outcomes in a n… --- ## [Legalized recreational marijuana - standard dosages? warning labels?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalized-recreational-marijuana-standard-dosages-warning-labels/724629)
**Author:** [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legalized-recreational-marijuana-standard-dosages-warning-labels/724629 "2015-07-21T16:42:17Z")
So recreational purchase and use of marijuana is now legal at the state level (take that, feds) in Colorado, Oregon, Alaska, Washington and DC. I had always pictured that when this happened the product would be regulate… --- ## [Ebay is banning listings of confederate flags and related items.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258)
**Author:** [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Replies:** 322\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-is-banning-listings-of-confederate-flags-and-related-items/723258 "2015-07-21T01:48:12Z")
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102781633 Amazing. This is obviously gaining momentum. --- ## [Trophy Hunting / Black Rhino Hunt Auction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trophy-hunting-black-rhino-hunt-auction/725468)
**Author:** [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [July 21, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trophy-hunting-black-rhino-hunt-auction/725468 "2015-07-21T00:20:22Z")
I recently listened to a Joe Rogan podcast with hunter Corey Knowlton (podcast link (also free in iTunes)), who won an auction to hunt an endangered black rhino. The hunt took place in May. (CNN link.) My gut reaction … --- ## [Just-in-time work scheduling](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-in-time-work-scheduling/725550)
**Author:** [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Replies:** 33\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-in-time-work-scheduling/725550 "2015-07-20T20:49:03Z")
Retailers often schedule workers last-minute, sometimes requiring workers to call in shortly before their scheduled shift to see if they are needed. Should the manner in which work is scheduled be regulated by the govern… --- ## [SSM debate and separation of church and state](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-debate-and-separation-of-church-and-state/725187)
**Author:** [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Replies:** 290\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ssm-debate-and-separation-of-church-and-state/725187 "2015-07-20T19:44:30Z")
I could almost put this in the BBQ pitt because I am being very critical but I want to try to keep the discussion more civil than that. We are hearing conversation, possibly related to the Hobby Lobby decision, hearing c… --- ## [Greek default seems to be inevitable...what's the fallout?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-default-seems-to-be-inevitable-whats-the-fallout/723811)
**Author:** [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Replies:** 550\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greek-default-seems-to-be-inevitable-whats-the-fallout/723811 "2015-07-20T16:14:54Z")
It seems that a Greek default is only hours away and, at this point, seems pretty much inevitable. I don’t see how either side has any room politically to make the major concessions the other needs to make a deal especi… --- ## [Was The Protestant Reformation Worth It?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-protestant-reformation-worth-it/725320)
**Author:** [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Replies:** 79\ **Last updated:** [July 20, 2015, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-protestant-reformation-worth-it/725320 "2015-07-20T11:26:19Z")
The end of Christian unity in the West is usually take as the time in which Martin Luther broke with the church of Rome. later, there came the Church of England, then tons of new sects. The Reformation resulted in hundre… --- ## [No permit needed in Maine to pack](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-permit-needed-in-maine-to-pack/724719)
**Author:** [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Replies:** 25\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-permit-needed-in-maine-to-pack/724719 "2015-07-19T18:01:09Z")
Great idea. Expect crime to drop rather sharply in Maine. --- ## [Should the Sale of Fireworks be Banned (except to Trained Professionals)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sale-of-fireworks-be-banned-except-to-trained-professionals/724364)
**Author:** [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Replies:** 58\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-sale-of-fireworks-be-banned-except-to-trained-professionals/724364 "2015-07-19T16:29:27Z")
Should the sale of fireworks be banned (except to trained professionals)? Here is a Google News search for fireworks accident: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=fireworks+accident As you ca… --- ## [Social Weed Smoking in Denver - Rocking the Boat?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-weed-smoking-in-denver-rocking-the-boat/724597)
**Author:** [@MegaNazz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaNazz)\ **Replies:** 53\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-weed-smoking-in-denver-rocking-the-boat/724597 "2015-07-19T12:46:02Z")
I was reading this article this morning about how some people in Denver are petitioning for limited social use of marijuana: Do you think this is a right or do you think they’re rocking the boat a bit considering so m… --- ## [Right to die-For a physically healthy mentally depressed 20 something?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-to-die-for-a-physically-healthy-mentally-depressed-20-something/724500)
**Author:** [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Replies:** 94\ **Last updated:** [July 19, 2015, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/right-to-die-for-a-physically-healthy-mentally-depressed-20-something/724500 "2015-07-19T02:36:03Z")
Doctors in Belgium have granted a woman, who is in otherwise good health the right to die. She has suffered by all accounts from some major phyciatric illnesses for most of her life. I can sympathize, I have suffered fro… --- ## [The Senate torture report](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-senate-torture-report/706773)
**Author:** [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Replies:** 858\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-senate-torture-report/706773 "2015-07-18T22:40:06Z")
Details here. “Highlights” (beyond waterboarding) include forcing some detainees with broken legs or feet to stand in stress positions, sleep deprivation for a week, some detainees were told they would be killed, some w… --- ## [Two arguments against the death penalty: one effective, one ineffective](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-arguments-against-the-death-penalty-one-effective-one-ineffective/725013)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 61\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-arguments-against-the-death-penalty-one-effective-one-ineffective/725013 "2015-07-18T16:32:59Z")
Someone (can’t recall who) once pointed out that opponents of the death penalty often use two arguments. One is highly effective, the other is highly ineffective. The \*effective \*argument points out that innocent people… --- ## [Believe Me Now (Re: Republicans Doing Away w/Judiciary)?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-me-now-re-republicans-doing-away-w-judiciary/725445)
**Author:** [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Replies:** 23\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/believe-me-now-re-republicans-doing-away-w-judiciary/725445 "2015-07-18T11:33:52Z")
I actually feel vindicated in a way. In this thread, I talked about George W. Bush wanting to do away with the judiciary, and specifically judicial review (if that is what you call declaring laws “unconstitutional”–it’s … --- ## [The IQ of God? Can it be measured?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iq-of-god-can-it-be-measured/298641)
**Author:** [@Philozi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philozi)\ **Replies:** 30\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iq-of-god-can-it-be-measured/298641 "2015-07-18T10:33:30Z")
According to the Bible God made man out of his own image. Therefore god looks like us. Also when we ate the forbidden fruit we became wise, in the Bible god comments on something like “You have become just like us”. Mean… --- ## [Can homosexuality be cured?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-homosexuality-be-cured/725173)
**Author:** [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Replies:** 137\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-homosexuality-be-cured/725173 "2015-07-18T06:48:14Z")
If we disregard the question of whether it should be, are there any methods, psychological or medical, which have shown to be effective in turning gay people straight? Certainly the only I thing one hear from the faith b… --- ## [ISIS from Islam](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isis-from-islam/713069)
**Author:** [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Replies:** 228\ **Last updated:** [July 18, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isis-from-islam/713069 "2015-07-18T00:39:07Z")
I understand Obama’s strategy to not label ISIS Islamic, to say ISIS has hijacked Islam, to say,“These are evil people using Islam.” I get that it’s not a good idea to paint and entire religion with a broad brush. For pe… --- ## [The "No, Both Sides Don't Do This" Thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990)
**Author:** [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Replies:** 273\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-no-both-sides-dont-do-this-thread/718990 "2015-07-17T23:57:18Z")
Every time I see some Republican craziness - stuff that shouldn’t get any further than Alex Jones, or maybe Glenn Beck, in a more sane era, but has broken into what is now the GOP mainstream - I think of starting a threa… --- ## [Would illegal immigration be as big of a problem if the incentives were eliminated?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-illegal-immigration-be-as-big-of-a-problem-if-the-incentives-were-eliminated/724775)
**Author:** [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Replies:** 104\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-illegal-immigration-be-as-big-of-a-problem-if-the-incentives-were-eliminated/724775 "2015-07-17T15:19:42Z")
Rather than wasting time securing borders and building walls would it make more sense to eliminate the things that illegal immigrants are seeking in the US? It seems the basic things they hope to find here are jobs, hou… --- ## [Do African-Americans have extra energy in their muscles?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906)
**Author:** [@Simis34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simis34)\ **Replies:** 185\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-african-americans-have-extra-energy-in-their-muscles/724906 "2015-07-17T01:59:24Z")
I have not done any research on this topic. This is a straight question. What I DO know is that back when there was slavery, (very bad times), that these awful slave owners would literally “breed” African-American who h… --- ## [What makes socialism good but Communism bad?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-socialism-good-but-communism-bad/725206)
**Author:** [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Replies:** 32\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-socialism-good-but-communism-bad/725206 "2015-07-17T01:47:40Z")
This question is mainly for Bernie Sanders supporters, although anyone can chime in: What makes socialism good, but Communism bad? (I’m assuming that’s the viewpoint; if you consider socialism and Communism to \*both \*b… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=188) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/c/great-debates/13.md?page=190)