When will these upper-crust intellectuals realize that the masses of working people are not in cozy, cushy, interesting, challenging, well-paying jobs, professions and businesses? My husband is now fifty-one; for most of the last thirty-three years he has worked in the same factory job, and only the thought of retiring at sixty-two has sustained him. When he reaches that age in eleven years, who will tell him that his aging and physically wracked body must keep going another two years? My heart cries out for all the poor souls who man the assembly lines, ride the trucks or work in the fields or mines, or in the poorly ventilated, hot-in-summer, cold-in-winter factories and garages. Many cannot afford to retire at sixty-two, sixty-five, or even later. Never, never let them extend the retirement age. It’s a matter of survival to so many.

Most of the following selections were taken from letters-to-the-editor columns of news papers and magazines. Identify any fallacies that may be committed, giving a brief explanation for your answer. Then, if a fallacy is identified, discuss the possible factors that led the arguer to commit the fallacy.