working children

i found this article particularly interesting. i am enrolled in several development courses, and the material falls along these lines. with so many established markets and patterns of behavior, the overhaul solutions to develop third world countries are often much more idealistic than practical. to help get his point across, Kristof very much simplifies the issue of development, but his ideas are very interesting!

by no means do i consider myself qualified to discuss the logistics of development, but the points that Kristof brings up make me feel an adequate understanding of the issues he is presenting. while the understanding may not be complete, his writing strategies are effective in convincing readers. He uses Abakr as his first example. by most western moral standards child labor is abhorred, but as he points out, if we in our "knight in shining armor" attitude implement laws preventing it, the desired effects will not be reached. this appeals to the logic in us all, when typically the emotion takes over when we hear of children working. he masterfully works in the argument that pacifies both our conscience and brain. 

he does make some sweeping generalizations that take away some of the potency from his argument. the assumption that most of us want to help the people around us is harmless, some of his less-than-positive references to democrats did more harm than good. he already made the connection with the humanitarians in all of us, and the additional references were unnecessary.

overall, the article was well done, and Kristof successfully convinced me (but lets be real here, i am very susceptible to rhetorical strategies)! i feel considerably more informed, and feel a desire to look into the issue further.