Evaluation of Example 12: Will Rogers on Government

Passage:

Curia Julia third Roman Senate House adapted from Magnus Manske photo de.wikipedia “One thing I would like to repeat, ancient Rome declined because it had a senate. Now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House? Let's be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.”

D. R. Hann, My Interviews with Famous Dead People, (Las Vegas, NV: Create Space Publishing 2009), 159.

Analysis:

The humor in this example is based on the fallacy of false cause. The flawed logic is that if Rome declined with one branch of government then a fortiori the U.S. would have declined with more branches than Rome, if the citizens were getting their money's worth.