Non-Fiction Article: "No Job? Get Lost!"

     The article in The New York Times Upfront Magazine, "No Job? Get Lost!" by Andrew Higgins, is about how in Svalbard, Norway unemployment is illegal. The article shows the different views of living in this type of environment in Norway and the reasons for these conditions. The author wants the reader to know that there is no perfect society, even in places like Svalbard where crime rate is low there are negative affects of living in a place where there are very few inhabitants.
     Throughout the article the author uses many crafts such as narrative, loaded words, imagery, and different perspectives. For example the author describes how fresh food is very expensive in this area for example the author talks about how a gallon of milk in Svalbard costs $27 per gallon compared with an average of about $3.70 in America. The authors uses this in a way so it creates an image of something an American can relate to so they can understand how shockingly steep the price is. In addition the author brings  up how polar bear attacks are a common occurrence in the city. It states, "Polar bear attacks regularly make front-page news. That's why nearly everyone in Svalbard owns a gun. This shows the reader how extreme the living environment is. If you have to carry a gun with you to protect yourself from polar bear attacks is it any different that carrying a gun with you to protect yourself from someone attacking you?
     In this article I learned how there is no perfect living environment and how the climate of the area you live in has a very powerful impact on the habits and ways of the society. Svalbard is safe from criminals but is so isolated other dangers that are uncommon in most areas are a daily threat there. Also Svalbard's climate is so extreme that the whole point of these laws are to keep people from freezing to death. One thing that I found suspicious about this article was that there was very little perspective from the people who actually lived there. i found this disturbing because the only way someone can really know what the living environment is like is if they can get a first person account.