TOW #19- Thomas Nast "The Tammany Tiger Loose" (Argument)

In 1871 during the Gilded Age in America, Thomas Nast created a series of cartoons attacking Boss Tweed in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times.  The Tammany Hall tiger shown in this cartoon represents the New York City political organization that was charged for corruption as it was led by leaders such as William Tweed.  Nast created such cartoons in order to warn the public of Tweed's power because he was causing corruption in the economy in this time period.  Tammany Hall's original purpose was to help the poor and New York City's immigrants, however this did not occur that way.  Thomas Nast portrays Tammany Hall as a tiger, mauling a citizen, representing the population of New York City.  The tiger has destroyed her sword and shield, which represent the ballot and the freedom of voting.  Tweed and the other leaders of Tammany Hall would give baskets of food or assist the poor who could not afford it.  Then, those who received that assistance would have have to show their gratitude at the polls.  The corruption of Tammany Hall led to a corrupt vote and elections that did not accurately portray the votes of Americans.  Another way that Nast gets his point across is by showing the spectators just watching and enjoying the show.  Nast is helping his audience understand that the public is just sitting around witnessing the corruption and doing nothing about it.  This gives the audience something to feel guilty about.  As spectators, they are seeing the destruction of the freedom of the public and the freedom of the vote.  After seeing this cartoon, Nast hopes to inspire them to start taking action against this corruption.  After learning about Tweed's schemes of the Gilded Age in history, I would agree with Nast's point of view.  The image that Tammany Hall portrays is that it helps the poor and gives opportunity to immigrants.  While this was true for some, many suffered because of Tweed's corruption.  The tiger is an accurate depiction of Tweed's power structure because of it's strength and relentless aggression.  The citizens can not escape Tammany Hall's power because they were in need of economic support, but in the long run, all that this did was hurt them.  His depiction of the public's helplessness in this cartoon is also accurate.  They had nowhere else to run, just as this person was stuck in the arena with the Tammany Hall Tiger.  Thankfully, the cartoons that were published in Harper's Weekly and the New York Times did inspire change.  Nast's effective cartoon's eventually led to the downfall of Tweed and Tammany Hall.

TOW #18- The Crisis of Minority Unemployment (Argument)

The New York Times Editorial Board published an article this week about the necessity of a solution for minority unemployment in America and Congress's failure to put a solid plan in place to fix this issue.  Subsidy programs have been proposed and disapproved by Congress multiple times in the past years making it very difficult to fix this impending issue.  The author starts by introducing the problem of minority unemployment and emphasizing its importance to the functionality of America.  To support this, he uses statistics of the unemployment rates of various races in different cities with large minority populations.  This introduction to the article's argument puts it in perspective for the audience so that they can understand its importance.  The author then reveals that the subsidy programs have been proposed and shot down by Republicans in Congress, targeting a specific group to blame for the issue.  This is an effective strategy in order to get the audience to feel strongly towards this group in order to make a change.  The use of statistics showing subsidy program success in other communities is extremely helpful to the argument of the article.  By showing the success of the proposed programs, the author can convince the audience that subsidy programs are not only necessary but that they would be effective if they were used in America.  In the conclusion of the article, the author points out the advantages of increasing employment for the minority groups.  The author points out that the suggested programs would not only solve the issue of minority unemployment, but provide other benefits as well because "Work reduces alienation, gives people a stake in society and allows children in poor communities to absorb the ethic they need to be successful."  The strength of this argument is caused by its appeal to logos as the author works in different statistics about subsidy programs to show how effective it would be in America.  The only part of the article that may have weakened the argument is in the concluding paragraph when the author writes, "If Congress fails to take on this crisis, as it has failed on so many issues...".  The bias that is revealed in this dig at Congress's actions weakens the author's argument by showing that he or she already has a rivalry with Congress's decisions.  Rather than focusing on the Congress's decision about this specific issue, the author zooms out to a wider scale showing their underlying feelings of discontent with Congress.  Besides the flagrant bias in the conclusion, the article offered a very strong argument overall that convinced me of the issues of minority unemployment in our country.

TOW #17- "Staying Sober After Treatment Ends" (Argument TOW)

     An article written in The New York Times by Tina Rosenberg addresses the issues with patients who suffered from an alcohol or drug addiction after they leave a rehab treatment facility center.  She argues that today, doctors are not doing enough after the initial treatment to keep patients sober.  The statistic she uses that only 40% of people who leave a rehab center stay sober shows the necessity of a solution.  I agreed with the author's argument that more needs to be done by doctors to help those patients stay sober.
     The author offers a few solutions that are currently being worked on by people around the country that are helping patients.  For example, in West Virginia, as opposed to having to find a way to get to group meetings or one-on-one sessions with peer coaches, the Atari Program allows patients to get "one-on-one outpatient counseling over secure video."  This program allows patients to get the counseling they need even if they do not have transportation to attend group meetings.  Rosenberg then continues to offer some more solutions that have been tested across the United States, but the most effective and interesting one that I found strengthened her argument the most, was apps that help patients stay sober.  These apps aren't used as treatment by themselves, however, they can help keep patients on track when on the road to recovery.  They help them communicate with their counselors and find rides to group meetings.  The most interesting aspect of one of these apps, A-Chess, is that patients can program it to notify family members or counselors when they are in a location that isn't safe for them.  In other words, the app would send a message to their support team when they were in danger of relapsing.  This could be in a spot where they used to buy drugs or a place where they used to hang out with people who encouraged this behavior.  Overall, the author covers a lot of different solutions that could work to improve this issue.
     Although, the other 60% of people in the statistic she mentions in her introduction, may not be those who aren't getting the necessary treatment, but those who do not seek it.  If people do not want to go get help or treatment, they will not benefit from group meetings over video chat or apps such as A-Chess.  They will leave treatment and continue their unhealthy habits regardless of how people try to help them.  The statistic that Rosenberg uses to show the issue of relapsing is valid, but the solutions she offers probably wouldn't be applicable to many of those who have suffered from an alcohol or drug addiction.  Rosenberg's argument does establish a need to find a solution for relapsing drug users, and it does offer some solutions for those who try to seek treatment after being in a rehab facility, but the majority of drug users who leave rehab and do not seek more help will not benefit from the solutions that she offers.