Let us reason together

 Dear Friends and Neighbors,

You might recognize the Bible quote, Isaiah 1:18, where God speaks to Isaiah: "Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD...."  Reason and logic are some of the attributes God gave us when He made us in His own image.  We should use reason and logic when we debate issues, especially when precinct chairs (PCs) speak for or against resolutions, motions, and rules in the Executive Committee (EC), or when there are discussions on Facebook.  But as fallible humans, we make mistakes.  There are entire books that catalog standard logical fallacies, like "the red herring", "the straw-man", and the "Ad Hominem" attack.  Here is a short list that you can download for free:Valid Arguments and Logical Fallacies.  

I have discovered two logical fallacies that are not in the catalogs by listening closely in the EC and  watching pro and con arguments in Facebook (FB) comments.  I will name these errors (1) "false priority" and (2) "inversion."  As volunteers you can watch some of the "debates" on this page:  CollinGOP - Discussion Group.  It's a private group, so you have to ask to join, but since there are already 1,900 members, you should be able to tell the administrator that you are a reliable Republican voter and that they can check on that.

As a simple example of "false priority", imagine that you are 8 years old again, and when you get to the park with your friends and your football, some older kid tells you, "I was here first.  You take your toys and go home."  If that has not happened in your childhood, I am happy for you.  This also happened in the Bible.  In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, verses 38 to 40, the disciples complained to Jesus that an outsider was casting out demons, the disciples tried to stop him, and failed.  “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied. For whoever is not against us is for us.

This is a common human failing, believing that because you got there first, you own the playground, or the miracles, or the Republican Party -- this is a false sense of priority.  I just saw this in the "CollinGOP - Discussion Group", where someone says something like "she's only been here 5 minutes and she thinks she can run the party."  When volunteers join the party as PCs and want to improve our community, they are told, as I once was, "be quiet, sit down, and do as I tell you."  This kind of arrogance comes from a false sense of priority, from getting to the playground first.  But if we recognize that this is a logical fallacy, and a common human failing, then we can work together better.

Now I will give you two examples of the logical error that I call "inversion."  In the first example, a person inverts cause and effect.  A friend told me in conversation that a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) causes inflation.   This backwards.  The rise in CPI is one way inflation is measured; it is an effect of inflation, but not the cause.  Milton Friedman has explained that the government printing too much money causes inflation, so that is the cause, and the increase in CPI is how we notice its effect.

Flipping cause and effect is a simple type of logical inversion, but there is another type of logical inversion that is not so obvious, but has huge consequences for our society:  the logical inversion of duties and responsibilities.

In our system of government, we the people vote for our representatives, and then they have a duty to obey the will of the people.  If they let us down, then we replace them in the next election (unless the election is rigged).  The logical inversion that we experience here is when people believe that it is their duty to obey their elected officials.  Yes, many people feel good when they are obedient to someone perceived as their leader.

I am reading a history book now that looks at English political struggles between Tories and Whigs in England in the 1600's.  The author describes the Tories as "authoritarian and servile." Here is a definition of Authoritarian: favoring strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom.  A local example is when CC GOP leadership tried a bait-and-switch trick to sneak someone into the role of party chair.  Some of the PCs were outraged, but some of the PCs were happy to obey.  The PCs who objected to the bait and switch are following the Whig tradition, while the PCs who don't mind are following the Tory tradition.

Remember your history.  The Tories in America during the American Revolution supported the King of England.  The rebels were following the Whig tradition.  The Republican Party was created by Whigs. In our political tradition, our leaders are supposed to serve the people.  The logical inversion happens when the people believe that they are supposed to serve their leaders.  Probably this logical inversion is related to personality types and emotional needs.  Sometimes it is hard to separate logic from emotion, which is why political conflicts sometimes turn into emotional expressions.

I believe that I am seeing friction and hostility by some people who have fallen into the logical errors of "false priority" and "inversion."  I hope that by identifying these logical errors, the different groups within the CC GOP can understand each other better, have better discussions, and better conduct our business.

Thank you for your patience with this complex topic.

Robert