About half of America hates poor people. Frankly, they'd love to see the elderly euthanized... since an increase in medical entitlements unfairly bankrupts healthy tax-payers. These conspicuously evil people prey upon America's sick, impoverished, and disabled. Ostentatious schemes to decimate the health, wealth, and general welfare of America's underprivileged proliferate their yacht club social events. You may even find these people toting their guns and bibles while chanting, "the poor don't deserve social security entitlements... tell those losers without medical insurance to get a job!" A motley bunch of dopes, conservative Americans wage war against society's indigent, impoverished, and incapable populace...
Uuuuummm (Obama pause), that sounds ridiculous! Right?
None of the above stated rhetoric approaches real, logical argument. Yet, we often hear politicians, pundits, and popular media echo these types of sentiments as argumentative truths. How ignorant!
This type of diversionary speech models what is referred to as a "Straw Man"... a fallacy illustrating a person's intentional decoy during an argument. While ever-so-slight, the "straw man" distracts the audience from the principal argument. A diversion from the core issue offers a new (but unrelated) debate arena, whereby the straw man takes the abuse. Often energizing emotional disputes (rather than logical ones), the straw man replaces the argument's original burden of proof with a syllogistically dysfunctional one. Typically, the straw man steers the debate away from intellectually-challenging positions to defend... often because of the positions' associated political collateral.
This type of diversionary speech models what is referred to as a "Straw Man"... a fallacy illustrating a person's intentional decoy during an argument. While ever-so-slight, the "straw man" distracts the audience from the principal argument. A diversion from the core issue offers a new (but unrelated) debate arena, whereby the straw man takes the abuse. Often energizing emotional disputes (rather than logical ones), the straw man replaces the argument's original burden of proof with a syllogistically dysfunctional one. Typically, the straw man steers the debate away from intellectually-challenging positions to defend... often because of the positions' associated political collateral.
For example, politician A says that he opposes Obama care. Politician B quickly asserts that politician A doesn't care about young people who can't afford private healthcare. Enter straw man... young people who can't afford private healthcare. Politician A may offer a plethora of reasons to oppose Obamacare... perhaps citing congressional lack of money or unconstitutionality of such an act... but politician B's straw man diverts attention from core issues. Unless politician A burns the straw man (removing it from the argument) and refocuses the debate on the principal issue (Obamacare), then politician B prevails in the argument by scoring an emotional victory with the audience.
Some might read this and think, "that's genius... that's like the Houdini of argument!" Such ignorance, however, gives way to intellectual decay... marginalizing virtue and transparency, while also dumbing down critical subject matter. Straw men interfere with the population's ability to oversee the fruits (or poisons) of their elected officials. Masking true issues by using smoke and mirrors, politicians using straw men dishonestly manipulate public perception... consolidating power and reinforcing private, political agendas.
What is the eventual societal consequence of accepting straw men? An intellectually incoherent mass of fools, incapable of distinguishing real core issues from their emotionally, diversionary manipulations... enslaved to the elitists who believed them too stupid to understand the difference... destined to moral mediocrity and societal stagnation.
So, next time you hear someone arguing with straw men, burn them... the straw men, that is. Such fallacy manipulates the principles of sound argument and impedes intellectual advancement. Plainly, straw men disrespect our intelligence.
But the straw men have so much more emotional appeal and that is why the "fact match" won't light in their presence.
ReplyDeleteI submit the "more money addiction" is no different then a "heroin addiction." It is very difficult to dissuade a drug abuser from getting high on heroin. Most drug addicts only go through successful rehab after they hit bottom.
I believe the same will be true for the "more money addicts" in America. Unfortunately, when they hit bottom, the country may be beyond resurrection.