An Act of God

By Christian Silva

The year 2020 will not be soon forgotten. The world we have known for so long seems so long-
ago when the year started. A world where you could to a restaurant and not have to worry about
getting a life-threatening virus. A place where going to an event with thousands of other people
was something to be desired not feared. A place where a forest was a forest, and not an inferno
making thousand homeless. The world has suffered, and some parts of the world have never
faced such adversity.
According to Timothy Egan, a New York Times opinion writer, the United States west coast has
never been in as much distress as it is currently. To be honest, he most definitely has a gripe with
what has been going on over there. The west coast has been home to some of the hardest hit
spots for the pandemic. In fact, California holds a couple infamous records for the number of
cases they have had.
On top of the pandemic, the west coast has seen some of the most aggressive parts of the protests
for police reform and black lives matter movements. It is here where many radical extremists
have taken advantage of the mostly peaceful protests and turning it into a full-on riot.
Now, on top of everything else, there is now a blazing inferno ravaging most of north and central
California. May I add that at this current moment the forest fire is showing no signs of slowing
down. It has gotten so bad that the actual sky above most of the west coast is showing a bright
orange hue that looks like something out of a horror film.
With all this going on Timothy is justified in his position, but not the way he goes at it.
Throughout the article he seems to appeal to emotion by stating how much the west coast has
been affected, and how he has been affected personally. This does add impact, but he has no
statement saying why what’s been happening to the west coast now is actually worse than
anything else it has ever faced. Now I know this is an opinion article but the point is to sway
people to believe what you believe.
Secondly, quotes like this make me question is true purpose in writing this article in the first
place. “The West of 2020 is very sick. Like much of the country, we Westerners are at one
another’s throats, struggling to put our lives back together under a madman for a president.” He
takes a couple more shots at the president throughout this article and I simply do not know why.
In what way does bashing the president help sway your readers into believing what you believe.
There is no use of logos, ethos or pasos here. While I do agree the president is a very pulverizing
figure and even stating his name will incite some type of response. I do not believe this helps get
his opinion across.
On top of everything else he seems to put all the blame of all the ill-tidings that have occurred in
the west coast on him. It almost comes off as whining. While what’s happening to the west coast
is unfortunate, it is no more than an act of God.