Put your reason where your claims are

 Nicholas D Kristof puts forward many ideas that are out of the ordinary in his essay “Put Your Money Where Their Mouths Are”. He makes clear claims that are well backed up with strong reasons that contribute greatly to the strength of the essay. He also makes many assumptions.

His main claim through the article is that international labor laws would put families in third world countries in a worse situation than before. This is a big statement that undermines the counterargument that drives in favor of the laws. In making this claim he points out that champions of the laws seem to look condescendingly without a real understanding of the situation. His next claim is that there's a lack of schools meaning that children with no other place to go or opportunities to pursue end up in prostitution or other similar situations.

His primary reason for the claim of the families being worse off revolves around the fact that the income the children provide is an important contribution in the well being of the family. He also points out that women's jobs are often tied to the childrens jobs, so while they may be primarily trying to help a child escape poor working conditions, they effectively take out two sources of income, thus creating more harm than good. His next main reason is the results of other laws, especially the Bangladesh case where children were forced into prostitution. He also points out alternatives that are more effective at solving the situation.

He does make some assumptions in writing the essay. He assumes first and foremost that people want to help child labor. He also assumes that people have at least some knowledge about current pushes for labor laws.

After Reading I do have some questions. How widespread is the problem and would the UN program alone be able to solve it? If there aren't schools in places like chad for Akbar to attend, shouldn't we also focus on building schools? Are there ways that we can promote opportunities for situations like in Pakistan where women are involved? While the author may assume that we know some basic facts, the answers to these questions are important to making a decision.