Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11 Rhetorical Analysis

When reading the essay Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11, the first argument to catch my eye was directed around the strong reaction to the number of deaths, 2800, on 9/11. Americans immediately began to react to the catastrophe of that day. The supposed reason behind this reaction is the number of deaths in the single day when not so much as one bullet was discharged to cause one of the deaths. The author of the essay used two premises to prove the conclusion that the number of deaths was not the sole reason for the reaction of the American people. The first premise is the fact that the number of deaths per month in 2001, and every month since, in America outweigh the number of deaths caused by the terror attacks on 9/11. While there is naturally some reaction to these deaths the reaction is nowhere near as strong or irrational as the response to the attacks. The second premise to support the conclusion is the unlikelihood that Americans remember that also in 2001 another catastrophe occurred, an earthquake in Gujarat,
The premise presented by the author to disclaim the argument is the fact that malice is a part of the 15,000 murders that take place every year in the US and yet the only reaction society has towards the deaths is making murder illegal and having the criminal a fair trial. There is no big “war” or a huge expense applied to prevent and severely punish murderers. The conclusion the author is using the premise to support is the fact that malice is present in all forms of murder and since society does not react irrationally to everyday homicide why would the terrorists malice be cause for a different reaction? The arguments provided in this instance by the author are inductively strong. While a little fact is presented to disclaim malice, and is quite believable, the argument is not solid and can be easily argued