#174: Maternity Leave A Must, Say Mothers [Vashaan; ed:Sirocco]
The Issue
A coalition of expectant mothers (Mothers 4 Justice) has banded together to demand legislation allowing for six months of fully paid maternity leave.
The Debate
1. "Six months?! Six WHOLE months?!" blusters @@RANDOMNAME@@, a payroll manager. "Six whole months of being fully paid by our company for doing nothing but looking after a baby?! This will sink the small businesses and lose us an obscene amount of revenue! We cannot allow this to pass!"
2. "I believe that passing this law will be a step in the right direction," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, the nation's most outspoken feminist advocate. "These kids need their mothers' love and attention during an important part of their growth development! I don't see why mums should be forced to juggle with the stress of bringing up children and having a job! It's simply too much! Six months maternity leave with full pay is what this country needs - even if it is at the expense of a few avaricious fat cats."
3. "Look, I've got an idea," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, an obsessive centrist. "Perhaps we can allow for six months of paid maternity leave, but have the government pay the companies for lost revenue? That way the mothers can bring up their children without financial worries, companies won't lose investors, and everyone will be happy. Apart from the taxpayers, of course, but you can't please everyone."
I'm all for helping out the moms, but I refuse to pass legislation that will hurt my civil rights (liberty), and I really don't like the idea of passing legislation that will hurt my economy (prosperity). But if I have no choice, I'll let the economy suffer a minor setback for the sake of improving my civil rights, which is my government's primary goal right now.
So, basically, what are the effects of the three choices? (None have impact on political freedoms, do they?)
