This just in: Today I want to talk about the idea of “false equivalency.”
False equivalence is a logical fallacy in which two completely opposing arguments appear to be logically equivalent when in fact they are not. This fallacy is categorized as a fallacy of inconsistency.
For this blog, one side of the argument will be “They all do it.” The other side will be “No, they don’t.”
Let’s start with a story…
There is a path that cuts through the middle of a small village. In this village, there are 1,000 people on each side of the road. Travelers have learned that to be wary as pass through as about 500 of the people on the eastern side of the road will throw rocks at them. Also, from time-to-time, a person on the west side of the road will also throw a rock.
One day, the king sent his army to the village to punish the people of the village. The General road into town and said, “Who is throwing all of the rocks around here?”
The leader of the west said, “Those people on the west are throwing the rocks.”
The leader on the east said, “Hey, both side are throwing rocks. In fact, one of you threw a rock just last month.”
Which side it correct?
In my view, you can say that technically, both sides have thrown rocks. I also think that if you are a “rock thrower,” you are 500 times more likely to be from the east.
So, let’s look at politics…
When I say “both sides,” I am referring to Democrats and Republicans.
Both sides take bribes to influence their vote. If you take a bribe to influence your vote, I think you are much more likely to be a Republican. As an example, Stanford University just completed a study that showed if you took our the “bots” that posted comments in favor of getting rid of Net Neutrality, then you would find that more than 99% of voters prefer Net Neutrality. Why did the Republicans vote to get rid of it? Go to this link to find out.
Both sides have racists. I believe you are much more likely to be a racist if you are a Republican. I believe this because every time a member of Congress is found to be racist, he/she seems to be a Republican. Hardly a day goes by without a Republican being outed as part of a white supremacist group or saying something like “Muslims are the problem”. Also, the Republican Party is openly supporting a racist president.
Both sides claim to believe in the Constitution however, only one is actively working to keep people from voting. Only one supports a president that opposes the first Amendment. That would be the Republican Party. Yes, you will find a Democrat that does this…but it would be rare.
Both sides don’t tell the truth. But, only the Republican Party supports a president that lies publicly at the rate of more than 4 lies per day.
You can find a rare Republican that believes in climate change.
You can find a rare Democrat that thinks it’s okay for a candidate to the Supreme court to lie to Congress under oath.
You can find a rare Republican that actually votes for measures that will improve healthcare.
You can find a rare Democrat that misused campaign finances.
I think you can see where I am heading here.
It seems to be that people are having to do all sort of gymnastics to justify their support for the Republican Party and president Trump. Their “go to” justification is that they found someone on the other side that is doing exactly what many of us are accusing the GOP of doing.
In short…they are cherry picking data.
This means they are using “outlier data” as a means of describing an entire population.
It’s like taking 1,000 people of average age and finding that one person that is 100 years old and then declaring, “The people in that group are 100 years old.”
It’s an indication of desperation.
Vote next month and help to save the world. Not voting is to enable more of the same we are now seeing in Washington, D.C.
Time to save the world.
Up, up and away…
Jim
