Sajjad1994May I request for evaluation of my essay, based on the undermentioned AWA prompt :-
QUESTION"Although Ramshackle County has had fiscal problems for the past few years, there is no reason to raise local taxes. A significant part of the shortfall has come from road, bridge, and rail maintenance projects. However, those expenditures will soon decrease dramatically, since recent survey results show that the percentage of employed persons who telecommute has been growing at double-digit rates over the past four years. Thus, far fewer people will be using the county's roads, bridges, and rails, significantly reducing maintenance costs."Discuss how well-reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion, be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.ESSAY The argument under reference, possibly an extract of the Ramshackle County Expenditure and Liabilities Report, strongly argues against raising local taxes to meet the fiscal shortfall based on the sole assumption that road, bridge and rail infrastructure maintenance costs will decrease considerably in future. The argument seems convincing in the initial glance; however, on a deeper analysis , it comes to the fore that it suffers from lack of additional supporting evidence and is based on weak assumptions. Besides the inadequate evidence and supporting examples, the argument also has several critical flaws regarding the logical soundness as described in the succeeding paragraphs.
Firstly, the author has developed his argument considering only a single facet of the fiscal shortfall. Even if the significant portion of the shortfall related to the maintenance costs of the travel infrastructure decreases in future, there is a likelihood of the requirement to execute additional new projects in the hinterland of the County. Such new projects will require additional funds for their execution, which will in turn require raising of local taxes.
Secondly, the author has simply failed to consider other important fields such as health, education, food etc, which are also key components of the budget requirement for the County. Expenses on these fields have not been assessed as part of the argument's premises.
Thirdly, the author has not provided enough supporting evidence in the form of graphs and illustrations regarding the distribution of the fund requirements for the County. The argument's sole emphasis on the travel infrastructure costs may lead to a false perspective while planning the County's finances for the forthcoming year.
Lastly, the author also has missed on insights regarding the requirements of the locals of the County. Depiction of survey regarding the locals' requirements regarding availability of housing, infrastructure, health and employment avenues also need to be factored in while deciding on the requirement of raising or not raising the local taxes.
Besides the critical flaws as mentioned above, the author's assumption regarding the fact that far fewer people will be using the county's roads, bridges, and rails, significantly reducing maintenance costs also rests on a weak footing, since there are several other factors affecting the bridge's deterioration such as climatic conditions and natural calamities.
Towards improving the logical soundness of the argument, the author needs to broaden the perspective to include all facets of the County's economy. Suitable examples from the neighboring Counties ,as also views of the finance experts will strengthen the author's argument.
In essence, the reference argument, in its existing state, suffers from logical inconsistency, in that it has not been supported by strong supporting evidence and examples while drawing its recommendation to not raise the local taxes, If illustrations, analyses and views of experts are included as part of the premises justifying the conclusion argument, it will significantly boost the argument's reasoning and will significantly strengthen its strong recommendation against raising local taxes to meet the fiscal shortfall of Ramshackle County.