Sunday, October 16, 2011

Brian Walborn Blog #15

The topic that I chose to do is America's unemployment rate. I find it to be an interesting and controversial topic, thus good to discuss.


Blog #1
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/07/09/questions-and-answers-on-americas-unemployment/


This blog post by Mike Brownfield runs through a question and answer type format with the Heritage Foundation's Director of Data Analysis, William Beach, regarding the current economic and unemployment problems in the United States. A basic summary of the article would be that there hasn't been unemployment woes this bad since the depression in the 1930s and that it's government policies, not people, that are causing it. This article appeals to me as a reader because of the simple Q&A format which gets the point across in an easy and fun to read way. This article uses a lot of logos, or logic. It is a logical way of explaining the causes of the current recession and unemployment downfall. This article is different than other essays I have read again because of the question and answer format.


Blog #2
http://blog.heritage.org/2011/09/20/improving-americas-future-how-americas-youth-can-fight-unemployment-and-u-s-debt/


The author of this blog, Katie Yoder, explains how America's youth have the ability to change the rate of unemployment in the States. A quick summary of the article would be that by using monthly budgets, personal savings, and financial plans, today's youth can fight debt problems. She also states how the government should discontinue regulating businesses: "Instead of spending and regulating, the government should retreat from American businesses to allow them to prosper and create more jobs" (Yoder). This article appeals to me as a reader because it has important data to back up it's claim. This blog, like the previous blog, uses a good amount of logic and concrete facts to get it's point across: "The poll indicates that almost three-quarters of young Americans ages 18 to 29 will postpone important life events associated with the American Dream, such as purchasing a home, preparing for retirement, furthering education, marrying, and having children" (Yoder). This article isn't much different from most of the other articles out there. It gives a clear opinion on how the youth may be able to change the unemployment and debt problems in the United States.


Blog #3
http://digitaljournal.com/blog/12929


This blog, written by Paul A. Ibbetson, generally states how the "true unemployment" rates are much higher than what is reported, and it can be the fault of the policies put forth by President Obama. "...more and more people continue to run out of Obama’s extended unemployment benefits and no longer qualify to stay on the rolls..." (Ibbetson). This statement is saying that people have lost incentive to work because of the benefits they are given when they are unemployed. The argument made in this article is simply summarized as that it's technically Obama's fault for the current unemployment rate, and that things are actually much worse than what is being reported. The author of this article wrote it from a personal point of view, which is why it appeals to me as a reader. It is more opinionative than factual, which makes it more interesting than someone just rambling off facts. This article uses more emotion than most other articles. Ibbetson uses things such as the show Twilight Zone to catch the reader emotional attention: "As if pulling a clip from an episode of the Twilight Zone, the Obama administration said America’s new reality on unemployment would now be evaluated from the perspective of people who didn’t lose their jobs due to the president’s actions" (Ibbetson). This article is different from the other articles because it is bluntly putting Obama at blame for the entire situation.


Blog #4
http://community.elearners.com/all_blogs/b/from_higher_ed_to_hired_career_blog/archive/2011/09/09/higher-education-a-big-part-of-the-answer-to-america-s-unemployment-problem.aspx


The author of this blog article is Liz O'Neill. The summary of the argument made in this blog is stated directly in the title of the blog; higher education may lead to an improvement in America's unemployment rate in the future. This article appeals to me as a reader because it gives a good amount of detail to a subject which usually lacks detail. It gives a lot of concrete facts which prover O'Neill's point. Ethos is used in her argument: "But in the long term, more people going to college (or completing some form of postsecondary training) is exactly what researchers prescribe" (O'Neill). This article is different from the other essays because it is describing how not only America's youth may change the unemployment, but an educated youth as a whole may be what can change it in the long term frame of things.

2 comments:

  1. Its crazy to think we haven't seen think bad of unemployment rates since the 1930s, it really puts everything in perspective! Great research!

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  2. Your second blog you chose was interesting. There are many comments on it and it has people interested in the topic. Also it follows a narrative and is in reverse chronological order.

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