The definition of this fallacy from
Wikipedia is: “Appeal
to emotion or argumentum ad passiones is a logical fallacy
which uses the manipulation
of the recipient's emotions, rather than valid logic, to win an
argument. The appeal to emotion fallacy uses emotions as the basis of
an argument's position without factual evidence that logically
supports the major ideas endorsed by the elicitor of the argument.
Also, this kind of thinking may be evident in one who lets emotions
and/or other subjective considerations influence one's reasoning
process.” These fallacies are
nothing new in politics of course, pretty much every word out of a
politicans mouth is an appeal to emotion, tradition, authority etc.
The video I watched is
about Kirtsy who is so intelligent that she is mulling over Scottish
independence as a foetus. And she has some questions which I'd like
to answer for her.
Will it be a Scotland that is fairer
and more prosperous? A Scotland where I can reach my full potential?
Crystal ball
anyone? I always worry when the word 'fair' comes up in political
discussion in Scotland because it's usually used in a socialistic
fashion. For example people may think that it's fair to steal money
in the form of taxes from hard-working people to give to people who
choose
to do nothing with their lives. Is it fair to give said money to
people just for having children? What about the word 'prosperous' by
that are the SNP talking about the oil fairy again? We would be more
prosperous if the SNP dropped the idea to keep the pound and we could
finally escape from the control of central banking which creates
money out of thin air and causes inflation.
Will it be a Scotland of
opportunity, where free higher education is a right for all, and
going to Uni depends on your ability, not your bank balance?
Unpopularity alert – education like healthcare is not a right. I
don't actually mind funding intelligent people from poorer
backgrounds to get an excellent education but I would like to do it
voluntarily and not have money stolen from me to do it. Also, what
about parents, is saving for your kids college education (which would
be easier with much lower or no taxes) such a bad thing? Another
point to this is that University education for prosperity is a lie.
There are many people with degrees who are out of work or in low
paying jobs (believe me, I know a few) and at the same time we have
very prosperous people like Richard Branson and Bill Gates with no
degrees! With a wealth of information available at our fingertips
higher education is becoming irrelevant in many fields, how about
teaching entrepreneurship in schools? That would make us prosperous.
Will the land of my birth be a true
nation that stands proudly alongside all other nations, with a voice
and a vote to help build a better world? This
is a classic meaningless sentence. What is a 'true nation' anyway,
one that exists? What does a “voice and a vote to help
build a better world” actually
mean? A vote where? In the EU perhaps? With it's unelected president?
This is just meaningless emotional garbage.
Will my Scotland be free of weapons
of mass destruction and a country that can never be led by others
into illegal wars? I would love
nothing more than to say yes, yes and yes again. I have never agreed
with the 'deterrent' argument for the UK having nuclear weapons,
there is no circumstance under which we will fire them unless we
decide with other countries to all have one huge earth-wide suicide.
But with the SNP voting to stay in NATO it seems likely that they
will exert pressure to keep the nukes if they think it's beneficial
and just by being in NATO it is likely that we will be dragged into
'illegal wars' – guess what, pretty much all wars are illegal, mass
murder isn't exactly a good thing. Another point is that NATO was set
up as a defence against an attack from the Soviet Union – something
that doesn't even exist any more.
Will I grow up in a Scotland where
our wealth and natural resources are in Scotland’s hands, not
squandered by Westminster governments we didn’t even vote for? Hmm,
well did we not affect a hung parliament in Westminster when only one
Tory MP was elected in Scotland? Let me tell you this is a
post-Thatcher type of voting because the Tories used to pick up many
MP's in Scotland before the Thatcher-era and the disastrous poll tax
that left a very sour taste in Scottish mouths. Oil could be great
revenue for Scotland but we would have to keep the EU's hands off it
to profit.
Will my mum and dad be able to live
their old age with dignity, in a Scotland that respects and cares for
its pensioners? Ah yes, back to
the appeals to emotion here. Why would you not want a private
pension? They don't take as much as the tax man and you will have
more in the end than you would with a state pension. Also, the SNP
have talked about how much they would have to increase immigration in
an independent Scotland to have enough young people working to pay
for it. Now, I have no problem with immigrants all my grandparents
were and my wife is one also. However, mass immigration can lead to
major social tensions (as we are seeing right now in Glasgow) that
can lead to major social unrest and a strain on these much praised
'services' that our tax money pays for.
Will my own kids be born into a
society that is more equal and safer, a society that reflects the
true values of Scotland? Again,
more emotional chat and not much facts or policy. What are the “true
values of Scotland” anyway? Friendliness? Sure, there's a lot of
that. Sectarianism? There's just as much as that also. By “safer”
do they mean increasing the already growing police state? If they
want all this immigration and it causes social tension will that make
us safer?
Will I raise my family in a Scotland
where the decisions about our future are taken by the people who care
most about Scotland, the people who live here? I
hate to break it to you Kirsty because I've come to be quite fond of
you but the elites in power don't give a shit about you and they
never will. Governments are no better than organized crime, they are
inherently violent. They steal your money through tax and if you
object they send uniformed thugs to your door calling themselves
police to kidnap you. If we accept that initiation of violence and
stealing are wrong then we have to conclude that government is
morally wrong.
Now, I
have picked on the SNP in this but the Better Together mob are every
bit as bad. I would love the people of Scotland to think critically
instead of being led into emotional arguments either for a yes or no
vote. If we don't see through the manipulation of the people through
emotional arguments then we will never figure out what works
economically. We have to get out of thinking in the sectarian box,
that's the only way we can make sensible decisions about the future.
Sorry Kirsty.
Greening Out - Libertarian Podcasts, Writings and News
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_emotion
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