SWA#3

Amanda Youngblood
English 102-111
SWA#3
23 January 2012

One of the issues mentioned in today’s reading from The Carolina Reader is the issue of letting the elderly become isolated until they die in nursing homes or similar facilities. Often times the facilities they are in are unpleasant places where the residents are frequently neglected and abused. This issue brings up a question for discussion. Is it morally right to let old people move into nursing homes without the care or company of their family? Shouldn’t we care for the people who raised us instead of casting them aside? This issue is important because one day everyone will be old. And once we are old, we would like our families to take care of us. If facilities like nursing homes keep continuing and growing, we will end up just like the isolated elderly people in them today. If we want to change that fate, we are going to have to change our morals and ways of dealing with the elderly. Sacrifices by our future children and family will have to be made to ensure our best treatment. This will change the idea of how to deal with old people completely and that change of ideals is what will stop the isolated, cruel treatment of the elderly.

In Chapter 2 of Writing Arguments, there is a protest photo of a man holding an American flag and a poster that says, “It’s illegal to hire illegals.” This man is speaking out against illegal immigrants getting hired in America. Often, when illegal immigrants come to the US, employers will give them jobs even if they do not have citizenship. Most of the time it is because the immigrants, being desperate for a job, will do work for little pay. However, despite the fact that illegal immigrants are looking for work, hiring them over American citizens looking for work upsets many individuals. It is believed that US citizens should get work before illegals because the illegals aren’t supposed to be working anyway. Many workers go on strike to protest this act of hiring immigrants that are illegally in the country.