ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in a newspaper editorial during the holiday shopping season:
"Americans spend far too much of their time buying and consuming non-essential goods. Studies show that, on average Americans spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping. As such, it is no secret why America is losing its competitive edge relative to other countries. Instead of spending their time productively, Americans are wasting time through frivolous consumption. In order to counteract this trend, Americans should spend more time focused on personal and communal development--by, for example, pursuing educational advancement or participating in volunteer opportunities."
MY RESPONSE:
The argument that Americans should focus on educational advancement and participate in other productive activities rather than on buying and consuming non-essential goods is flawed. Though the fact might be one of the other reasons, it cannot be said for sure that the buying nature of Americans is responsible for the losing competitive edge of America relative to other countries of the world.
First, the argument assumes that the Americans fail to work productively if they are engaged in purchasing some items which are probably non-essential from the author's point of view. This assumption is particularly problematic as there might be the citizens who make the balance between their work and the activities done in their leisure time. To illustrate, if we assume the argument to be correct, we can infer incorrectly that the personalities responsible for the financial and cultural advancement of the country can not devote much time for their purchasing habits. In addition to this, the inference that the competitive edge of a nation is losing just because of the buying nature of its citizens is far-fetched. For instance there might be a number of other reasons contributing to the factor.
Second, as the argument generalizes the behavior of Americans, the conclusion is based on assumption that almost all the Americans are indulged in the process of buying unnecessary goods and hence do not effectively contribute in the advancement of America. For instance it is possible that their is just small percentage of the citizens who actually admire buying and as a result spend and sometimes waste their time, which they could have devoted to increase the productivity of the nation and eventually could provide America an edge over the other nations.
Consequently, the fact mentioned in the argument regarding buying nature doesn't lead to the conclusion in any manner. Had the argument provided some figures about the percentage of Americans involved and given a proper link between the the fact of buying habits and the advancement of the nation, the conclusion could have been produced.
The following appeared in a newspaper editorial during the holiday shopping season:
"Americans spend far too much of their time buying and consuming non-essential goods. Studies show that, on average Americans spend over a quarter of their leisure time shopping. As such, it is no secret why America is losing its competitive edge relative to other countries. Instead of spending their time productively, Americans are wasting time through frivolous consumption. In order to counteract this trend, Americans should spend more time focused on personal and communal development--by, for example, pursuing educational advancement or participating in volunteer opportunities."
MY RESPONSE:
The argument that Americans should focus on educational advancement and participate in other productive activities rather than on buying and consuming non-essential goods is flawed. Though the fact might be one of the other reasons, it cannot be said for sure that the buying nature of Americans is responsible for the losing competitive edge of America relative to other countries of the world.
First, the argument assumes that the Americans fail to work productively if they are engaged in purchasing some items which are probably non-essential from the author's point of view. This assumption is particularly problematic as there might be the citizens who make the balance between their work and the activities done in their leisure time. To illustrate, if we assume the argument to be correct, we can infer incorrectly that the personalities responsible for the financial and cultural advancement of the country can not devote much time for their purchasing habits. In addition to this, the inference that the competitive edge of a nation is losing just because of the buying nature of its citizens is far-fetched. For instance there might be a number of other reasons contributing to the factor.
Second, as the argument generalizes the behavior of Americans, the conclusion is based on assumption that almost all the Americans are indulged in the process of buying unnecessary goods and hence do not effectively contribute in the advancement of America. For instance it is possible that their is just small percentage of the citizens who actually admire buying and as a result spend and sometimes waste their time, which they could have devoted to increase the productivity of the nation and eventually could provide America an edge over the other nations.
Consequently, the fact mentioned in the argument regarding buying nature doesn't lead to the conclusion in any manner. Had the argument provided some figures about the percentage of Americans involved and given a proper link between the the fact of buying habits and the advancement of the nation, the conclusion could have been produced.
