ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:
"The inflow of immigrant workers into our community has put a downward pressure on wages. In fact, the average compensation of unskilled labor in our city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. Therefore, to protect our local economy, it is essential to impose a moratorium on further immigration."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
YOUR RESPONSE:
In the preceeding argumnet the author of the editorial states that the inflow immigrant workers has put a downward pressure on wages. Although his claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument based on questionable premises and assumptions, citing the decline in wages of unskilled workers as his only evidence to back his claim. Based solely on the evidence the author presents we cannot accept his argument as valid.
The primary flaw in the author's argument lies in his unsabstantiated premises. The only evidence the author presents is the decline of compensation of unskilled workers. The author presents no statistical data or evidence to show his reader that the inflow of immigrant workers has indeed led to this decrease in wages. The author also fails to mentioned to his reader that in the past five years there has been an increase in outsourcing of unskilled work to foreign countries. In addition a troubled economy has led to a lot of industries shutting down in the last few years; these indutries had been major employers of unskilled labor. The authors premise the basis for his argument, lacks any legitimate evidentiary support and render his conclusion invalid.
In addition the author makes assumptions that remain unproven. The author assumes that the inflow immagrant workers into the community is of unskilled labor, whereas in fact the most of the workers could be skilled labor having no effect on the salaries of the unskilled labor force.
Another fact that the author fails to mention is that with advancement of technology there have been several changes, not only in our homes but also in our workplace. To remain competitive industries have to keep up with changing technolgyleading to an decrease in demand and in turn the compensation of unskilled labor.
The author has failed to back his argument with concrete dat. If he wishes to change his readers' mind, he will need to restructure his argument, substatiate his evidence, explicate his assumptions and fix flaws in his logic. Without these things his poorly reasoned argument will convince few people.
The following appeared in the editorial section of a local newspaper:
"The inflow of immigrant workers into our community has put a downward pressure on wages. In fact, the average compensation of unskilled labor in our city has declined by nearly 10% over the past 5 years. Therefore, to protect our local economy, it is essential to impose a moratorium on further immigration."
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
YOUR RESPONSE:
In the preceeding argumnet the author of the editorial states that the inflow immigrant workers has put a downward pressure on wages. Although his claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument based on questionable premises and assumptions, citing the decline in wages of unskilled workers as his only evidence to back his claim. Based solely on the evidence the author presents we cannot accept his argument as valid.
The primary flaw in the author's argument lies in his unsabstantiated premises. The only evidence the author presents is the decline of compensation of unskilled workers. The author presents no statistical data or evidence to show his reader that the inflow of immigrant workers has indeed led to this decrease in wages. The author also fails to mentioned to his reader that in the past five years there has been an increase in outsourcing of unskilled work to foreign countries. In addition a troubled economy has led to a lot of industries shutting down in the last few years; these indutries had been major employers of unskilled labor. The authors premise the basis for his argument, lacks any legitimate evidentiary support and render his conclusion invalid.
In addition the author makes assumptions that remain unproven. The author assumes that the inflow immagrant workers into the community is of unskilled labor, whereas in fact the most of the workers could be skilled labor having no effect on the salaries of the unskilled labor force.
Another fact that the author fails to mention is that with advancement of technology there have been several changes, not only in our homes but also in our workplace. To remain competitive industries have to keep up with changing technolgyleading to an decrease in demand and in turn the compensation of unskilled labor.
The author has failed to back his argument with concrete dat. If he wishes to change his readers' mind, he will need to restructure his argument, substatiate his evidence, explicate his assumptions and fix flaws in his logic. Without these things his poorly reasoned argument will convince few people.
