The Rationalist Conspiracy

The Chinese Robber Fallacy is where you use a generic problem to attack a specific person or group, even though other groups have the problem just as much (or even more so).

Suppose you’re racist against Chinese people. You can go on the Internet and say:

“Man, screw the Chinese. The Chinese are thieves.”

And when someone replies: “Hey, is that really true?”

“Yeah! Just look at <example> and <example> and <example> of these robberies by evil Chinese criminals.”

“Sure, but that’s just anecdotal evidence.”

“Our statistics say that Chinese people commit an average of <big number> thefts a year. That’s a lot! How could you trust a Chinese person?”

“But don’t non-Chinese rob people too?”

“Maybe, but if so, that doesn’t make the Chinese any less guilty, does it? First we should deal with the Chinese criminal problem, and then if we’re successful, maybe we can move on to other types of theft.”

“Are the Chinese really the first group we should target in our anti-theft campaign?”

“Hey, quit trying to change the subject. Are you trying to deny the immorality of stealing people’s hard-earned property? Why, just go into Chinatown and walk around for a while, you’ll see a Chinese mugger soon enough, it’s right there in front of our eyes… “