2^nd Homework: Due: September 18/20, 2002

Number arguments #1 and #2 and turn in your numbering on Wednesday.  Then on Wednesday,  I will give you another copy of each of these with my numbering indicated.  Using that numbering, diagram both of the arguments and turn them in Friday.

1.         The recent objections to the discovery by the Women's Research Group of demi-contraceptives (which prevent the conception only of males) is completely unfounded.  Think of all the social problems that would disappear.  Unwanted pregnancies would become things of the past, and wars (which are the traditional channels for male aggressions) would no longer oppress the Sisterhood.  In addition, the elimination of wars would save billions of dollars, thus making possible a wide range of social programs to facilitate the transition to a society without men.  Now, it is clear that women have the right to the control of their own bodies, so that they have the right to use d-Con (as the new product is called) whose only effect is to control events occurring within the female body.  The claim of some men that their rights are being violated is completely off the wall; no man will be harmed in any way.  As our program moves forward, we will hear fewer and fewer of these complaints.  The parallel development by WRG of sperm banks with eternal storage capabilities removes the last obstacle.  Women believe in democracy, and the majority of women favor a non-sexist society.  We urge every woman to introduce d-Con into her town's water supply.

2.            George W. Bush needs to take a page out of the Russian political text and fire Congress.  First of all, Congress has essentially been on vacation for thirty years (they learned the lessons of Watergate), and, since vacations are supposed to be fun, they have been having a great time spending our money.  In addition, they have decided to settle the unemployment problem themselves (at least by the Washington Post's always reliable testimony) by hiring 12,000 staff employees to do their jobs for them.  And everyone knows that employees are a huge cost, especially since Congress pushed the minimum wage sky-high.  Secondly, with Congress gone, Bush would have time to address the real problems of this country.  With the decline of live-in household help after WWII, there are obviously some serious problems to deal with.  Another example is the appalling flood of litter in our inner cities.  Finally, with Congress gone we could save the environment --- since there wouldn't be nearly as much news, we could save a lot of trees.

3.         We have observed with apprehension the attempts of some misguided feminists to ban violent pornography.  But violence is a healthy expression of the American spirit.  Indeed, it has been determined by socio-biologists that the suppression of violence leads to mental illness, since violence is an intrinsic part of human nature.  Certainly, the pioneers were a healthy lot; they had to be.  We see, then, that the efforts of these feminists should be halted.  Doing so would also reaffirm the principles of free speech, which have suffered serious erosions of late.  Consider, for example, Mount Holyoke's recent decision to ban campus recruiting by the Islamic Jihad.  This is as clear a violation of free speech as we have seen, since the Islamic Jihad is purely a non-profit organization.  And our alumnae surely cannot speak freely if they are unemployed.

 [Hint: find out what a socio-biologist studies. It makes a difference to how you organize your claims whether socio-biologists study human nature or mental illness.]

Note: 'campus recruiting' refers to the practice by which organizations (e.g., Goldman Sachs, or the Peace Corps, or the Navy) come to campus to recruit graduating seniors to join them.