Is it fallacious to say that liberalism is the reason some cities have high murder rates?
Historical archive only. New interaction is disabled.
Original Question
I've seen a lot of right wingers imply that the reason places like Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis have the highest murder rates in the country is because they are "liberal cities." I personally think this is fallacious reasoning, even if I don't know what the fallacy is, considering that they aren't the most "liberal" cities in the country, and places like Vermont and Massachusetts have some of the lowest murder rates in the USA. Not to mention the fact that Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana have the highest murder rates of any states in the USA and they are conservative states. What do you think? Is there a fallacy or cognitive bias in this reasoning?
Answers
2The statement is vague as to what is meant by "liberalism" and what comparison is made by "high murder rates".
A clearer statement might be "cities with progressive policies have had higher increases in murder rates during the last year (two years etc.) than cities that do not have progressive policies" (where "progressive policies" includes cities with District Attorneys that do not fully prosecute violent crimes, police departments that have been scaled back, judges that handed out lenient sentences, etc.)
Whether this latter statement is true or not is a factual issue, not a logical fallacy.
It is just a claim. Even if "liberalism" were somehow a contributing factor (rather than just a spurious correlation) then it would fall under insignificant cause .
Master Logical Fallacies Online
Take the Virversity course and sharpen your reasoning skills with structured lessons.
View Online Course