False Equivalence

Time for another ‪#‎FallacyFriday‬! Every week, Oliver Diaz Neda will post a logical fallacy and an example to help you all become better debaters, persuaders and rational thinkers. What is a logical fallacy? It is defined as – a flaw in the structure of an argument which renders the argument invalid.

Today’s fallacy

False Equivalence

This breed of fallacious logic equivocates two different people, groups, events, situations or actions that share at least one common trait.

False equivalences rear their ugly heads most often in journalism, where the journalistic practice of trying to be neutral, fair and unbiased often conflicts with the responsibility of framing a story in an accurate manner that reflects reality.

Example:

Larry

I am so tired of the Washington establishment. Democrats, Republicans, they both suck and can care less about us. We need an outsider to run the country.

Rick

How can you say that all politicians are alike? All “establishment” politicians are alike? That is like saying all CEOs are equally rich, or every smartphone is an iPhone… Different politicians have different records, different merits.

Larry

Both parties are crap, Rick. All of those establishment politicians only care about the next election. They are all the same. Don’t drink their Kool-Aid!

Larry seems to believe that all “establishment” politicians are the same. This view is formulated out of ignorance of the individual merits/faults of individual politicians, or is intentional strategy to create a commonality despite real and meaningful differences. Either way, don’t be like Larry.