Save Lives or Save the Rhetoric? : Comparing the Logic of Evidence with the Power of Rhetoric

Save Lives or Save the Rhetoric? is for those who think for themselves and follow the logic and the evidence wherever it leads. It offers an alternative to believing what others tell us through the media, the pundits, the politicians and all those partisans who benefit from their particular narratives. Whether we know it or not, we are inundated with rhetoric that is based on the numerous forms of flawed reasoning and fallacies which are discussed in this book. The first step is to develop the skills needed to distinguish between rhetorical claims and evidence-based claims. This book provides a method to accomplish that. David H. Goldenberg presents and shows how to debug many currently relevant real world examples. Innovative discussion questions provide the reader an opportunity to practice and be actively involved. This book is not about taking positions but about learning how to analyze and assess them using logic, evidence, data analysis, and economics—not confirmation bias. Hopefully the reader will resist the rhetoric, with its reductionism and polarization, by depoliticizing their approach to this book’s intent and content. The goal of the examples, theory, case studies, economics, statistics, historical documents, and data analysis offered in Save Lives or Save the Rhetoric? is to provide citizens with an informed approach to examining and evaluating the issues, the rhetoric, and the evidence in order to ultimately make their own informed decisions. The second part of the book delves into concepts and methods that any intelligent citizen may apply in order to make informed decisions about policy proposals. The objective throughout is pedagogy, not partisanship: to help the reader better understand current events, better identify the rhetoric in partisan debates, and better evaluate public policy.