202. False Dichotomy




Many people in the right (at least, the United State's right) abhor college education. Many of them HAVE college degrees, but still huff and puff about colleges. They tell their constituents that colleges are a highway to communism; that the instant you enroll in any class, you're obligated to read Marx and call your parents capitalist pigs. I definitely missed that part during my college education, part of which was in the US.

What they DO teach you in college is to apply reasoning skills. You have to compare and contrast in many classes and avoid logical fallacies. You learn about false dichotomies. Simple messages (both from the left and the right) tend to do this: 

  • "You're either with us or not." 
  • "You can't be a Republican and racially aware."
  • "You can't be a Democrat and like cops."
It's easy to get sucked in. I lost friends and contacts because of Trump. My argument went: "If you liked Trump after he cancelled DACA, you were a xenophobic bastard." My argument was therefore, you can't be a Trump voter and not be a xenophobic bastard. It is a false dichotomy because you can also be an ignorant fool, a heartless prick or a selfish monster. 

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