Fast Food Nation: Chapter 08

Ethos:

Ethos

Schlosser revisits his own personal experience of observing the horrendous process that occurs in the meatpacking industry of America. Schlosser paints the image of innocent and unsuspecting cattle being lead into the building only to be “shot in the head with a captive bolt stunner” (Schlosser 171). He also recounts how he firsthand “hear[d] the steady pop, pop, pop, of live animals being stunned” (Schlosser 171).

Pathos:

Pathos

Schlosser writes about Kenny Dobbins and how “despite the fact that he was first in seniority at the Greeley plant, that he’d cleaned blood tanks with his bare hands, fought the union, [and] done whatever the company asked him to do” he was still fired (Schlosser 190). When Schlosser talk about all that Kenny goes through it instills a feeling of remorse and a sense of betrayal in the reader. Why shouldn’t it? Kenny was stabbed in the back by a company he was loyal to for sixteen years only to be fired due to injuries that were sustained while on the job.

Logos:

Logos

In the subsection “Don’t Get Caught” Schlosser writes about the harsh regulations imposed on workers’ compensation and avoidance of inspections. To avoid inspections, supervisors would falsify injury logs and bribe employees of whom were injured on the job. Schlosser states that “a law suit filed in May 1998 suggests that little has changed since IBP was caught keeping two sets of injury logs more than a decade ago” (Schlosser 182).

Logical Fallacy:

Logical Fallicy

In order to convince readers on his claim, Schlosser used many techniques in chapter 8 including logical fallacies. On of the ones Schlosser used was the post hoc ergo propter hoc argument. Schlosser stated "a high injurgy rate would prompt insurance companies to demand changes in the workplace" (Schlosser 184). Although a high injury rate may cause a rise in insurance prices it is not the only reason. To say that the high injury rate is the cause is to say that no other causes are probable, since equipment that is out of date and less stable than newer equipment could also cause an increase in the insurance price.

Sharp Knives

Sharp Knives

The meatpacking industry consists of some of the most dangerous jobs. Women are packed into tight quarters with sharp knives where they make the same lacerations day in and day out. Supervisors exploit their employees by threatening expulsion if debilitating injuries are reported. “Supervisors have been known to sell ‘crank’ to their workers or supply it free in return for certain favors, such as working a second shift” only making the work place much more dangerous (Schlosser 174).

The Worst

The Worst

Possibly the worst job to obtain within the U.S. is on the sanitation crew of processing plants. Sanitation may even possibly be the most dangerous job since workers are minimally trained to perform tasks that require the use of boiling hot water laden with chemicals and there are areas of the floor with little ventilation that need to be sanitized. Workers have died from equipment being left on and falling into blood-collection tanks where they were overcome by hydrogen sulfide fumes. OSHA fined National Beef for negligence due to the death of two workers and “the fine was $480 for each man’s death” (Schlosser 178).

Don't Get Caught

During the reign of the Regan Administration OSHA had been downsized and had to resort to a voluntary compliance. Meatpacking plants were now only inspected if the number of injuries accumulated by workers was above the national average. In order to avoid inspection, companies such as IBP had “failed to report fatal injuries” (Schlosser 180). Employees have even been asked to return to work on the day of surgeries and amputations to avoid a loss of work days.

Don't Get Caught

The Value of an Arm

The Value of an Arm

In 1991 Colorado imposed harsh regulations on workers’ compensation, and the rest of the country soon followed suit. These regulations made it possible for businesses like ConAgra, IBP and other meatpacking firms of whom are self-ensured to cut workers compensation benefits to the bare minimum. Benefits have now become even harder to claim and could even take years to do so. While fighting for benefits, employees that were injured on the job are generally out of work and rely on their community or have to find another job to pay for their medical bills. Even with the large amounts of work related injuries in the meatpacking industry, by the late 1990’s OSHA had been forbidden from “conducting any work place inspections or imposing any fines” (Schlosser 186).

Kenny

Kenny

Schlosser relays the stories of meatpacking plant workers who have been injured on the job and talks of a man named Kenny Dobbins. Kenny had been working at the meatpacking plant in Greeley and over the years has had injuries ranging from chemical burns to heart attacks, all of which his employers had shrugged off. Kenny was loyal to the plant for sixteen years but “despite the fact that he was first in seniority at the Greeley plant, that he’d cleaned blood tanks with his bare hands, fought the union, [and] done whatever the company asked him to do” he was fired (Schlosser 190).

Main Idea

The meatpacking industry has become corrupt because of corporations like ConAgra and IBP. A workforce that used to be small but respectable has now grown to become what Schlosser call the “most dangerous job in the United States” (Schlosser 172).

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to reveal the blatant disregard of safety that meatpacking companies display. Not only does the industry itself provide harsh conditions for workers, but also a harsh reward system in which the rewards are limited, especially in the form of compensation and Schlosser uses this approach to target individuals who are firm believers in that system.

Leading Claim

Leading Claim

According to Schlosser "meatpacking is now the most dangerous job in the United States" (Schlosser 172). This is due to the fact that thousands of employees aren't taught the proper way to handle the equipment, the speed of the assembly/disassembly line, and the environment of the plants themselves. Work related injuries can range form chemical burns, amputations, heart attacks, impalement, and even death.

Counter Claim

Although meatpacking is a hazardous job is it necessariy the most dangerous? Meatpacking isn't the only hazardous job in the United States; jobs like logging are meatpacking are similar in how hazardous they are since they involve similar equipment. Both jobs are similarly dangerous because they both involve sharp blades, equipment with teeth that shred and grind up material. Although, unlike meatpacking, loggers "use their tools and equipment, they deal with massive weights and irresistible momentum of falling, rolling, and sliding trees and logs" (Logging 1). Unlike logging meatpackers don't have ot be worried about the possibility of runnaway trees flattening them into pancakes. "By many measures, logging is the most dangerous occupation in the United States" (Logging 1).

Tone & Syntax

In chapter 8 of Fast Food Nation, Schlosser tone displays a negative attitude toward the precautions, standards and practices all while trying to purseude the reader to believe just that the industry itself is horrendous. Towards the begining of the chapter Schlosser mentions how the meatpacking process disgusts him and how it is a truely horrible business. Later on he also mentions the stories of former meatpacking employees who were injured on the job and acquired little to no compensation. Schlosser uses this approach to convince and to sell the reader the claim that meatpacking companies are only interested in helping themselves.

The syntax that Schlosser uses is fairly simle and was strategically intended to be that way in order to keep the reader on the same page as the author. Schlosser takes the terminolgy of the meatpacking industry and breaks it down to more familiar terms, which a person of average intellect would understand, without compromising the integrity of the term's importance let alone the intended definition. The author also writes as though his writing is the only logical argument and hardly refers to counterclaims to possibly avoid losing credibility.

Conclusion

Schlosser has attempted to win over the judgement of readers by appealing to their pathos logos, ethos, and manipulating their thoughs with logical fallicies inorder to convince them of his argument: the meatpacking industry has become corrupt and little has been done to change that. Although his logical appeals in chapter 8 were some of his weakest in the book, he managed to effectively use his pathologicl appeal for persuasion. By manipulating the feelings of the reader, Schlosser can connect with the reader on an emotional level and make them feel what he was feeling when he wrote the chapter. His credibility for the first half of the chapter is reliable since it was his personal observations and experiences while touring the meatpacking plant, but towards the end his arguments lost its hold. Alltogether, Schlosser provided an effective arguments since his writing left resonating thoughts of how the industry has failed its own employees, the people who make the industry run smoothly.

Works Cited

Schlosser, Eric. Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal.

Mariner Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012.

“Logging.” Occupational Safety and Health Administration, United States Department of Labor,

www.osha.gov/SLTC/logging/.