Analysis

Carnes does a fantastic job in this article portraying the economic imbalance within the representative portion of our government. He uses ethos, logos and pathos to incite the audience and enlighten them to a potentially threatening issue. Throughout his article, he uses many phrases that make it seem as though the citizens have lost power. Phrases such as, “By Election Day, that choice has usually been made for us” and “Even in our great democracy, we rarely have the option to put someone if office who isn’t part of the elite.” These selective phrases give the impression that the imbalance of money in society has created an imbalance of power in governing the nation. This imbalance shifts away from blue-collar, hard-working individuals who comprise the majority of the American work force. He follows this by empowering blue-collar individuals by referencing his research. When he says that there are so many “more blue-collar Americans with the qualities we might want in our candidates”, he tries to give these people, who have a minority in power, a feeling of empowerment, possibly to invoke them to become more involved in the political system. By constantly stating facts on how many more working-class Americans there are than millionaires, not only does he provoke his ethos appeal but he also tries to make working-class Americans that they have a civil duty to the country to become more involved in politics. The sheer numbers of working-class Americans is overwhelming compared to that of millionaire businessmen or lawyers, which is why this population should be the ones in power and making the decisions. He continues on this idea by stating that while millionaires are in power, they bring different biased views and perspectives to the political office. On the other hand, blue-collar workers such as Edward Beard (as previously quotes) carry with them values that were instilled through their experiences in the working-class. He again states the problems with having white-collar individuals in political office or positions of leadership and how it affects economic policy, “favoring the white-collar professionals at the expense of the working class.” In his next point, he highlights Mr. Beard, a hard-working ironworker for 20 years who eventually went to law school, to show hard-working citizens that it is possible to create change and voice opinions for others in their same situation. By also adding the point of “the matter with Kansas” (previously mentioned), he again tries to incite these workers to stand up for themselves and prove them wrong. In yet another emotional inciting appeal, he states “If we want government for the people, we’ve got to start working toward government by the people.” Referencing the values the constitution was built on gives the ultimate emotional appeal. These core values are the key to the success of America. The minute society begins to stray from these values is when we begin to crumble. Everyone knows this, and Carnes knows that everyone knows this. He uses this line to motivate this hard-working, blue-collar class of citizens. And to motivate this group even further, he finishes his article with the line “If the boys’ club isn’t invincible, the Millionaire Party probably isn’t, either. They just take a little hard work.”