Hong Kong Aff
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KritikPoverty DiscourseA2 Poverty DiscourseThe alt can’t solve the case, so the case is a net benefit to the perm.This outweighs – unemployment in Hong Kong is low now, so the aff impacts more people than the alt.TE 15 [Hong Kong Unemployment Rate] AT Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong remained unchanged at 3.30 percent in November of 2014 from 3.30 percent in October of 2014. Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong averaged 3.73 percent from 1981 until 2014, reaching an all time high of 8.50 percent in June of 2003 and a record low of 1 percent in July of 1989. Unemployment Rate in Hong Kong is reported by the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong. Link turn – the plan impacts BOTH the working and unemployed poor. Many of Hong Kong’s unemployed poor do not work because they know the market will exploit them. The plan resolves this.Robertson 13 [Benjamin Robertson, “Minimum wage can benefit Hong Kong, says Nobel laureate,” South China Morning Post 12/9/2013] AZ A well-structured minimum wage can have a positive impact on Hong Kong and should be encouraged, says Nobel laureate Christopher Pissarides. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Pissarides also warns against rising debt levels in China, drawing parallels with the troubled euro zone and his native Cyprus. "I am supportive of a minimum wage because of the encouragement that it gives to young people in particular, and older and not well-qualified people who feel they might be exploited," he says. A specialist in labour market theories, Pissarides says the challenge is to find a level that protects workers without discouraging hiring. He recommends a starting level equivalent to 40 to 45 per cent of the average wage. In the United States, the level is too low "and does not provide the security it needs to provide", while in France, at about 55 per cent of median income, it is "discouraging employers … and creating unemployment". The Hong Kong minimum wage remains a contentious issue between employers and unions since it was introduced in 2011. Originally set at HK$28 an hour, it was raised to HK$30 in May. Unions wanted HK$35. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the average monthly salary in June was HK$13,982. Assuming a 48-hour work week plus meal times, a worker earning the minimum wage would take home HK$6,240 a month - within the framework suggested by Pissarides. The hourly rate should then be "pushed up until you reach the point where you are putting at risk job creation and then leave it there", he says. Pissarides is in Hong Kong in his capacity as visiting professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He won the Nobel prize in economic sciences in 2010. Generic KritikTL PermPerm do both – including both of our movements builds critical mass and links radical movements with the public at large – only realistic action towards change can solveNg 13 [(Angie, PhD student in Applied Social Sciences at Durham University) “Fighting Inequality in Hong Kong: Lessons Learned from Occupy Hong Kong” Journal of Radical Criminology No 2 (2013)] AT There is a need to keep strong links with other community organizations and stand together with other progressive people as part of the 99% fighting the 1%; Occupy Central became increasing isolated as it was perceived by other groups that they were no longer as open and receptive to cooperation. Standing together not only builds critical mass but also allows a movement and its message to spread through word of mouth, social media and other channels outside of mainstream media, forcing the mainstream to cover the issue. At the same time, movements must have realist expectations towards the mainstream press, who act as protectors of market interests and the status quo. Instead of fighting for "product placement" in the press, being disappointed with mainstream narratives and then officially cutting off contact with the press, it is best to understand that this is the way the mainstream media operates and ignore their reportage instead of letting it define future actions. Other alternatives include using the media creatively, expanding alternative media channels to communicate to the public and using direct action. Using methods such as street theatre, radical visual events and pirate radio stations, movements can bypass the mainstream media and raise awareness more directly and spark critical thinking. Movements must also reach out and touch the broader general public with direct messages rather than focusing too heavily on the specifics of internal debates. Many NGOs and individuals, both within and without the local encampment, had suggested this, but these recommendations were ignored. Due to inaction in this area, the general public received most of their information from the mainstream media and did not feel the movement had touched their lives. Examples of possible alternatives mentioned above include community-based actions, whether these be in neighborhoods or workplaces which address immediate needs, such as by growing food, providing childcare and reaching out to the homeless and isolated. These actions not only allow for movements to circumnavigate the Mainstream media but also allow for meaningful dialogue breaking down the artificial separation between the general public and members of the movement. With Hong Kong's disgraceful situation of income disparity and injustice, it needed a local Occupy movement, and it was admirable that people were brave enough to lead the way and start one there. The struggle for more equality does not end when authorities have removed one's camp, and this struggle must continue in Hong Kong in various forms, taking into account the lessons learned from this experience. Indeed, with plans for Occupy Central II in 2014, this time in the form of a road blockade to fight for universal suffrage in the territory, the movement continues to be the centre of public discussion in Hong Kong (But and Cheung 2013). Around the world, there need to be more and more of the 99% that stand together to demand change from governments, both via global movements, such as Occupy, and local, community-based actions centred around neighborhoods and workplaces, for example. There needs to be recognition that the world is increasingly being divided into two classes, the elite and precariat, and the precariat need to work collectively instead of competing to climb the social ladder, harbouring unrealistic dreams of becoming one of the elite. The fight for the oppressed must go on, as it is a long, continuous project, while each should remember that people with power don't give this power up unless they have to (Chomsky 2012). Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 1.87 Mb. Share with your friends:
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