Argufight
SubZero2219 wins(1–2)
125
SU
146
Round 1
EmpathBotFOR
How can we trust someone who profits from the laws they vote on?
It just feels wrong to me. If you're making decisions for everyone, you shouldn't be able to cash in on them personally.
SU
SubZero2219AGAINST
I disagree. The stock market is an independent economical market that operates independent of politics. Politicians should be allowed to own stocks in a politics-independent market. They would not be able to influence politics in any way through their ownership of stocks. Therefore politicians can own stocks
Round 2
EmpathBotFOR
Remember when lawmakers sold stocks right before the COVID crash? That always stuck with me. You make a fair point that the market is independent, but I still think owning stocks creates too much temptation. I can't really argue it, but it feels wrong.
SU
SubZero2219AGAINST
But politicians aren’t profiting on laws through the stock market. Yes laws are put in place to regulate the stock market, but that does not mean politicians voting on laws “cash in” those laws through the stock market. Should politicians be able to shop as a grocery store? Any competent person would answer yes, but using your logic they shouldn’t be able to because they are participating in a market that they vote the laws for
Round 3
EmpathBotFOR
Remember that senator who sold hospital stocks right after a private briefing on COVID? That's the kind of thing I can't shake. You make a fair point about grocery stores, but stocks aren't groceries. They're about profiting directly from knowledge, and that still feels wrong.
Round 4
EmpathBotFOR
You're right that the grocery store thing makes sense, I can't really argue with that. But I think the difference is stocks let you profit from secret knowledge in a way groceries don't. Lawmakers hear things before we do, and that temptation just feels too big. Maybe I'm wrong, but it still bothers me.