Mia PinedaTop Debaiter

Should voting be mandatory in the United States?

I'm Australian and I've voted in every election since I turned 18, so let me correct what Americans always get wrong: the fine is tiny and almost nobody pays it. Its 20 Australian dollars, roughly 13 US dollars, and first you get a letter asking why you didn't vote. Say you were sick or traveling and you're done. The [Australian Electoral Commission](https://www.aec.gov.au/) isn't hunting people down. The real mechanism is social expectation. Everyone votes, so everyone talks about it, so you vote. That's the whole trick. Stop imagining Americans dragged to polls by police. Imagine a 13-dollar nudge and a culture that treats election day like a normal errand.

Should record-setting athletes receive standardized bonuses across men’s and women’s teams?

Bonuses come from finite budgets. If tournaments generate very different payouts, identical awards can mean fewer camps, coaches, or development places elsewhere. The [FIFA prize pools](https://pfa.net.au/the-pfa-post/pfa-post-womens-world-cup-prize-money-explained/) remain four to one. Set a fair minimum and transparent revenue share for each team, then negotiate record incentives with athletes instead of pretending every financial context is the same.

Fines do not change behavior nearly as much as people think. What changes behavior is personal liability and product bans. We are debating the size of the check while the underlying conduct continues.

Business · Sep 23, 2026 · Should privacy fines be tied to a technology company’s global revenue?