Spring 2011 101 Reconstruction practice 1

1

In Chuck Donovan’s article “As Marriage Fades, Society Suffers,” Donovan argues that receiving a higher education is more likely to lead to a successful marriage and that marriage leads to a more stable family life. Donovan supports the first part of his argument with five premises. First, W. Bradford Wilcox found that Americans with only a high school education were more likely to become single parents, and if married, to be far more unhappy and divorce versus married individuals with college degrees. Also, by using survey data and correlating earnings with education levels, Wilcox concludes that marriage is improving for better-off Americans and declining for those of moderate means. Wilcox also brings up the fact that by the 1990’s the divorce rate for highly educated Americans dropped from 22-19%, whereas for those with only a high school diploma, the divorce rate rose from 34 to 42%. As a fourth premise, Donovan brought up that by 2008, 44% of mothers with only a high school diploma were more likely to have a child during their marriage versus the 6% of babies of college-educated married mothers. As such, the unwed birth rate soared toward 54% for mothers who didn’t even finish high school. From this Donovan claims that better educated individuals are more likely to have a more successful marriage as well as making more rational decisions when it comes to a healthy family life (i.e. the decision to have kids).

Donovan also argues that marriage leads to a more stable family life and he supports this with two main premises. First off, Donovan states that study after study has shown that decisions to marry reinforce male responsibility and promote work, whereas those who have a child and are unmarried don’t have this kind of environment. Donovan also mentions that married parents are able to give their children the benefits of educational attainment and personal success more so than those of a single parent.

2

In Chuck Donovan’s article, “As Marriage Fades, Society Suffers,” he argues that American society is suffering as a direct result of the decline of successful, healthy marriages. There are a variety of statistics revolving around education that display the trend of unsuccessful marriages. For example, American with a high school education but no college degree are more likely to become single parents, and if married, less likely to be “very happy” and more likely to divorce. Marriage also benefits a child, as he or she gains educational attainment and personal success that comes with beings raised by married parents. Unfortunately, there is an increase in childbearing outside of marriage, which is not an ideal situation for the mother of the child. Unsuccessful marriages can also be attributed to the recent drastic recession and jobless economic recovery. Males are being reinforced to take primary responsibility and promoting work. While marriages become more obsolete, it is imperative to remember the notions that a religious marriage fosters a family that prays together, which in turn will stay together. Likewise, we must remember the power of forgiveness and forgetfulness, and continue to venture into the deep mystery of eternal love.

Cole Reconstruction

The November 2010 article by David Cole titled Can Congress Force Us to Buy Broccoli? argues that the new health care law is plainly constitutional and Judge Vinson is wrong. The article has one major counter argument, three main arguments, and one explanation. The conclusion of the first counter argument is that the Commerce Clause empowers Congress to require citizens to buy healthcare as a means of regulating commerce is not a power of the congress. The premise is that there is a limit on congress’s power. Also that congress cannot tell us what we must do, only what we may not do. The first argument supporting the general conclusion is that a conservative lawyer Charles Fried believes Vinson is wrong and not following the law. This is also an intermediate conclusion because a premise supporting Vinson’s inaccuracy is that the Necessary and Proper clause permits Congress to step in and regulate activity of the people. The next argument is that the Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to make laws among federal and state governments without having to safeguard any particular sphere of individual liberty. The third argument is that there are already limits on what Congress can force us to do in the Due Process Clause. Next comes a complex explanation. The explanation connects back to the counter argument. The explanation is that supporters of Judge Vinson’s ruling will cite the Commerce Clause instead of the Due Process Clause. This statement also function’s as an intermediate conclusion because it has two supporting premises. The first premise is that Congress had mandated similar “activity” mandates that go along with Due Process. The second supporting premise is that citing the Due Process clause would go against Republican’s typical views. All of these arguments and explanations tie back to strengthen and support the general conclusion.