Hi guys - please help me take a look at the following essays from the Manhattan online mock GRE. These are my first two, after taking the GMAT about 6 months ago. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks!

People who make decisions based on emotion and justify those decisions with logic afterwards are poor decision makers.
Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Every person has had different life experiences and will therefore react to situations differently, responding with varying combinations of emotion and logic. It is difficult to evaluate exactly what is "poor" compared to "correct" decisions, especially in situations that do not have an obvious, logical answer. While there are many examples of both the pros and cons of basing decisions more emotionally as well as more logically, confirming which decision is best will always be debated.

While we look to our President to make difficult choices for the country, there will always be an element of regret, regardless of what the President chooses. For example, if there is a hostage situation in a country where an American family has been captured, and the belligerents want an exchange for a high-profile war criminal with the US, the President may not wish to make the exchange. This may be the logical decision, but will receive criticism as being a poor decision by some. On the other hand, making the exchange will also inevitably be considered a poor decision by others. Just because a decision was made for the greater good, does not mean it was the correct decision to all.

Further, critics of poor decisions must be placed in the decision makers' shoes. How can one evaluate what decision was poor if they do not share a common background? While many Americans felt disenfranchised with the recent police violence and reacted through the Occupy Wall Street campaign, their response received harsh criticism due to the riots, violence, and other social disruptions. While it may seem logical to protest after such injustices by bankers, the emotional response will inevitably be a factor, and influence the protestors' decisions, especially in aggregate. While protestors may not intend to riot, the circumstances and situation may evolve beyond anyone's control.

Lastly, Donald Trump's presidential campaign is another highly visible example of debatable decision making. He is logically capturing many peoples' attention through emotional arguments, and while many of his statements can be considered poor judgement or illogical, his campaign has been highly successful. Would his strategy be considered poor or smart?

Ultimately, there is no objective way in defining what is right and what is wrong, especially in complex situations where there are a spectrum of participants. Without considering people's experiences and backgrounds, one cannot objectively state that a person's decision was "poor;" what that person believed to be logical could be more of an emotional response to someone else.

An international development organization, in response to a vitamin A deficiency among people in the impoverished nation of Tagus, has engineered a new breed of millet high in vitamin A. While seeds for this new type of millet cost more, farmers will be paid subsidies for farming the new variety of millet. Since millet is already a staple food in Tagus, people will readily adopt the new variety. To combat vitamin A deficiency, the government of Tagus should do everything it can to promote this new type of millet. Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

The population in Tagus is undergoing a vitamin A deficiency crisis and an international development organization has offered a strategy to alleviate the situation. A genetically modified version of millet has been developed to address the vitamin A deficiency, and there are already plans in place on how to implement the new crop efficiently. However, there are several considerations by the government of Tagus that should be carefully evaluated before widespread adoption. While the international development organizations's new breed of millet does address the issue, there could be other more feasible solutions.

The government of Tagus should first understand what is causing the vitamin A deficiency, and whether it is a short or long term issue. If it is simply a bad year in it's existing millet crop, they may be able to supplement the population with vitamin A tablets instead of transitioning to the new breed, and thereby perpetually relying on this organization for the foreseeable future. Further, this transition would effectively eradicate the existing millet crops and breeds, and potentially other food sources. A new disease that could impact the new breed of millet could potentially wipe out this staple food source for Tagus. Tagus should evaluate if there are alternative ways of obtaining vitamin A before adopting the new breed.

Further, as a relatively impoverished nation, the farmers are all mostly small scale subsistence farmers, who have low visibility and little/no power in these large scale, country-wide level initiatives. Not only would registering and distributing the new seeds take time and resources, but ensuring they are properly subsidized would also be a tremendous effort. Additionally, government officials at several levels may not be able to effectively implement this initiative, with potential of graft and other issues. This transition may also cause most small farms to consolidate into a large factory farm to capture economies of scale, since the small farmers may not be able to afford the more costly seed on their own. This may reduce the viability of being a self-sustaining farmer, and forcing farmers to move into a large corporation may disadvantage the Tagus economy in the long run.

There are also challenges such as ensuring the new millet tastes similar to what the people of Tagus have been eating for generations. With several breeds of millet and likely different breeds across different regions, it may be difficult to transition to only one breed of millet. The government would be prescribing this new breed that was manufactured in a foreign factory to the entire populace. Further, the growth time for the new crop would need to be evaluated, as the time required for the crops to mature may exceed the urgency of the vitamin A needed.

Before widespread adoption of the new breed of millet, the government of Tagus needs to evaluate the short and long term impacts of the transition. Obtaining enough vitamin A supplements to address a short-term need is likely very feasible, while waiting for the governmental acceptance, distribution, subsidization, and growth of the crops would take a long time with many unforeseen challenges. The government should create both a short-term and long-term plan to ensure the issue is properly addressed both now and in the future.