Read the passage below It is a fictitious political speech b

Read the passage below. It is a fictitious political speech by Peter, a candidate for the upcoming national election. Then answer the following questions: 1. List the arguments 2. List the non-arguments 3. List the facts 4. List the non-facts 5. What statements are subjective? Why are these statements subjective? 6. What statements are relativist? Why are these statements based in relativism?

Political Speech

Good afternoon, fellow citizens! We are at a turning point in history and it is up to you, the voters, to determine our country’s future with your vote this upcoming November. Do you want to remain on the economic treadmill, barely making ends meet, and worried about the security of your job…or would you rather live the American dream by making good money through stable and predictable employment? My economic plan will create jobs and put more money in your pocket. My opponent, Jon, has had the previous four years to fix the economy. What has he done? Nothing. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that unemployment has risen 4 percent since he took office. This is because he supports the out-sourcing of your hometown jobs! In 2009, he signed an executive order that effectively abolished all federal income taxes for companies that choose to outsource labor yet remain incorporated in the United States. I believe this is wrong; we need to take care of our people first because America is the greatest country on Earth with the hardest-working labor force. In essence, Jon is punishing hard-working Americans by stealing their ability to earn a living for their families. I talked with a factory worker last week in Michigan. He was laid off, due to out- sourcing, more than a year ago. He has not been able to find a job since then and he says that makes him feel like a bad provider for his family. However, it is not the factory worker’s fault. Jon is a bad provider for his family. Jon’s plan is targeting your wallet and threatens your family stability. The average American family now earns 5,000 dollars less per year than when he took office. He wants you to fear losing your job so you work harder for less pay. He wants you to experience hard times because you then have to take any job, no matter how demeaning or low paying, just to support your family. Jon wants to destroy America and give our security to workers in other countries. I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio-the ‘steel belt’ of the 1970’s. My father worked in a steel mill there and provided a great living for my brothers and me. Well, his job was outsourced in the late 1970’s and he was laid off. We no longer had new clothes, good meat on the table, or money for school supplies. Our high school football season was cancelled due to lack of funding. Many in our community endured the same hard times. All of us felt that outsourcing was unethical because, without work in the local factory, none of us would be able to eat. Jon doesn’t want you to eat. I leave you with these final words-vote for America this November. My plan will raise the average annual salary by $10,000 as confirmed by the Rand Institute, an independent economic review board. I will fight corporate outsourcing by imposing a 50 percent federal income tax on any corporation that outsources American jobs. I believe in you, the American worker. Jon believes in lining his and his corporate buddies’ pockets with money. Vote for me and vote for America’s future! Peter for Progress!

Solution

In this fictitious political speech I identified arguments and non-arguments, facts and non-facts, statements that are subjective and statements that are relativist. The fifth paragraph shows an argument. There are a series of statements that support the final claim that “…our community endured the same hard times.” The supporting statements start with Peter’s father being laid off at the Steel Mill, then their family not having enough money for school, and finally the football season being canceled due to low funding.

In the fourth paragraph I found the non-argument. The writer of the article, Peter, says that Jon wants you to “fear losing your job”, “experience hard times” and that he “wants to destroy America.” Peter does not explain how Jon is going to get us to be afraid, make us experience hard times, or how he is going to destroy America. There are no explanations that support the writer’s claims and thus that makes this paragraph a non-argument.

A factual issue can be answered by an objective test. A non-factual issue cannot be proven by experiment. I found the following statements to be fact; paragraph two, “Wall Street journal recently reported that unemployment has risen 4 percent…” Also in paragraph two is the following fact “In 2009, he signed an executive order that effectively abolished all federal income taxes…” and finally in the fourth paragraph is the final fact of the text “The average American family now earns 5,000 dollars less per year than when he took office.”

When it comes to subjective statement they’re based on personal opinions, interpretations, points of view, emotions and judgment; I can see this speech have many subjective statements, in the first paragraph “My economic plan will create jobs and put more money in your pocket.” In the second paragraph “I believe this is wrong; we need to take care of our people first because America is the greatest country on Earth with the hardest-working labor force.” And then in the fourth paragraph Peter gave his own opinion about Jon’s plan “He wants you to fear losing your job so you work harder for less pay. He wants you to experience hard times because…” In the fifth paragraph is the following statement “Jon doesn’t want you to eat” this is subjective because it reflects Peter’s own point of view. And finally “…I believe in you, the American worker. Jon believes in lining his and his corporate buddies’ pockets with money…” this phrase doesn’t have evidence that Jon believes in all that so that’s why is subjective.

The theory of relativism says that all points of view are equally valid, and that all truth is relative to the individual. This means that all moral positions, all religious systems, all art forms, all political movements, etc., are truths that are relative to the individual. So according to this theory the following statement are relativists:

“I talked with a factory worker last week in Michigan. He was laid off, due to out- sourcing, more than a year ago. He has not been able to find a job since then and he says that makes him feel like a bad provider for his family. However, it is not the factory worker’s fault. Jon is a bad provider for his family.”

“I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio-the ‘steel belt’ of the 1970’s. My father worked in a steel mill there and provided a great living for my brothers and me. Well, his job was outsourced in the late 1970’s and he was laid off. We no longer had new clothes, good meat on the table, or money for school supplies. Our high school football season was cancelled due to lack of funding. Many in our community endured the same hard times. All of us felt that outsourcing was unethical because, without work in the local factory, none of us would be able to eat. Jon doesn’t want you to eat.”

In conclusion, the third and fifth paragraphs are relativists because these statements are true according to Peter but not true for Jon, so the validity of these statements are relative to the person.