US election: The ignored topics in the presidential debates

By Brendon O'Connor, University of Sydney

There are some important topics that are likely to be ignored in the series of three presidential debates this month, but that do deserve attention:

American drone attacks: “Democrats spent several days at their convention two weeks ago wildly cheering and chanting whenever President Obama's use of violence and force was heralded. They're celebrating a leader who is terrorizing several parts of the Muslim world, repeatedly killing children, targeting rescuers and mourners, and entrenching the authority to exert the most extreme powers in full secrecy and without any accountability – all while he increases, not decreases, the likelihood of future attacks.”

Incarceration: “America imprisons more of its citizens than any other nation on earth by far, including countries with far greater populations. As the New York Times reported in April 2008: the United States has less than 5% of the world's population. But it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners.”

Inequality:

Brendon O'Connor does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.