Broken window fallacy

{{logicnav}}{{hatnote|Not to be confused with [[broken windows theory]], which is also quite falacious.}}
The '''broken window fallacy''' (also known as '''glazier's fallacy''') is a [[logical fallacy]] which assumes that destruction and the eventual recovery from it yields a net benefit to society. Someone employing the fallacy claims that destruction is an opportunity to recover and establish a state which is better than the one which came before it. To be consistent with that argument, you either have to ignore the ''unseen'' misery created by the destructive event (which can possibly endure into the recovery stage) or believe the ''seen'' positive event which ensues afterwards significantly outweighs the (ideally temporary) misery.

The fallacy is an [[ad hoc]] fallacy and an [[informal fallacy]].

==Form==
*Negative event '''X''' has occurred but that's good because positive event '''Y''' will happen as a result.

==Explanation==
The "parable of the broken window" written by 19<sup>th</sup> century [[economist]] Frédéric Bastiat<ref>Wikisource: [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essays_on_Political_Economy/That_Which_Is_Seen,_and_That_Which_Is_Not_Seen "That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen"] by Frédéric Bastiat, 1850.</ref> is the first instance where the fallacy was explored (and from where it derives both its names). Albeit a fictitious example, it perfectly highlights the faulty logic behind this type of argument. In summary, the story goes like this: a boy breaks a window of the shop belonging to his father. The father unsurprisingly is pissed because all of a sudden he has unexpected expenses to get the window fixed. Spectators console the father by telling him that repairing the damage will stimulate the local economy, as the glazier will earn [[money]] for the work done and in turn the money earned by the glazier will be spent elsewhere, which means the incident has created new money circulation which will benefit other branches of the economy ''[[ad nauseam]]''. Even if this scenario should pan out, it still totally ignores the fact that the father lost money which he could've also spent to help the economy, which he eventually would have done anyway, therefore making the argument void; for example, buying a new pair of shoes, going to a restaurant with his wife, or purchasing a new baseball bat for his vandalizing son.

==Examples==

===Economics===
*"Ghastly as it may seem to say this, the <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[9/11]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> terror attack — like the original day of infamy <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Pearl Harbor]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, which brought an end to the [[Great Depression]] — could even do some economic good." &mdash; [[Paul Krugman]]<ref>Left of the Mark: [http://leftofthemark.com/quote/paul-krugman-911-attack-could-do-some-economic-good "Paul Krugman: 9/11 attack could do some economic good"], Sep 14, 2001.</ref>
*One of the several crank beliefs of [[Posadism]] (a Latin American [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] sect) is that a [[nuclear war]] would cause the final downfall of capitalism and create the ultimate opportunity for a worldwide communist revolution. (They [[Crank magnetism|also had things]] for [[UFO]]s and [[Dolphin|cetaceans]].)<ref>{{cite web | last=Moreno | first=Gean | last2=Moreno | first2=Gean | title=The Posadism Adventure: A History of the Bizarre Communist Movement that Embraced UFOs and Nuclear War | website=ARTnews.com | date=2020-06-30 | url=https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/aia-reviews/i-want-to-believe-gittlitz-posadism-ufos-apocalypse-communism-1202692978/ | access-date=2023-05-17}}</ref>

===War===
A popular form of this argument is justifying belligerent actions, where one party intervenes to remove an oppressive regime, defeat an ostensibly threatening enemy, or expunge a disliked (competing) [[ideology]]. No matter which context, all these variations seek to establish a society which the arguer views as a significant improvement to the one currently in place.
*"There are voices which assert that [[Nuclear war|the bomb]] should never have been used at all. I cannot associate myself with such ideas. … I am surprised that very worthy people—but people who in most cases had no intention of proceeding to the [[Japanese]] front themselves—should adopt the position that rather than throw this bomb, we should have sacrificed a million [[American]] and a quarter of a million [[British]] lives." &mdash; [[Winston Churchill]]<ref>[http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1945/aug/16/debate-on-the-address#S5CV0413P0_19450816_HOC_43 "House of Commons Debate 16 August 1945: Debate on the Address"]. Hansard. Series 5, Vol. 413, cc. 70–133.</ref>
*One famous example is the [[Iraq War]], the official reason of which was to oust [[Saddam Hussein]], get rid of [[weapons of mass destruction]] and establish a new ([[secular]]) [[democratic]] state.{{efn|The actions following the invasion led to a [https://www.iraqbodycount.org/ minimum of 150,000 casualties] (the justified collateral damage). However the new [[Shia]]-controlled government discriminated against [[Sunni]]-[[Muslims]], but worse gave birth to the [[DAESH|evil incarnate]], the total opposite of what was claimed the war would achieve.}}
*"Any military presence, should it be necessary, will be temporary and intended to promote security and elimination of weapons of mass destruction; the delivery of humanitarian aid; and the conditions for the reconstruction of [[Iraq]]." &mdash; [[George W. Bush]]<ref> Dr. Steven Metz, [http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA423323&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf "Security Strategy for Postwar Iraq"]</ref>
*"Some propositions are so dangerous that it may even be ethical to kill people for believing them. This may seem an extraordinary claim, but it merely enunciates an ordinary fact about the world in which we live. Certain beliefs place their adherents beyond the reach of every peaceful means of persuasion, while inspiring them to commit acts of extraordinary violence against others. There is, in fact, no talking to some people. If they cannot be captured, and they often cannot, otherwise tolerant people may be justified in killing them in self-defense. This is what the [[United States]] attempted in [[Afghanistan]], and it is what we and other [[Western world|Western powers]] are bound to attempt, at an even greater cost to ourselves and innocents abroad, elsewhere in the Muslim world. We will continue to spill blood in what is, at bottom, a war of ideas." &mdash; [[Sam Harris]]<ref>Wikiquote: [https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_End_of_Faith#Belief "The End of Faith"] by [[Sam Harris]], Aug 11, 2004.</ref>

==Income redistribution in general==
{{main|Income redistribution}}
The fallacy, which relates specifically to destruction, is separate from the [[hypotheses]] that inequality and income redistribution are either good or bad for the economy. This topic is hotly contested, often by people who worry about their [[money]] being taken or who want other people's.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/06/economist-explains-11 How Inequality Affects Growth], The Economist, 15 June 2015</ref>
Redistribution of money is not always a [[Game theory|zero-sum game]] and it can stimulate the economy if the recipient is more likely to spend it.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/04/better-economic-growth-when-wealth-distributed-to-poor-instead-of-rich Economic growth more likely when wealth distributed to poor instead of rich], Stephen Koukoulas, The Guardian, 4 June 2015</ref> For example if you take it from a miser who hoards it under their bed, and give it to someone who spends with local businesses, that may have a beneficial value. But it's better if money is distributed without also distributing [[death]] and destruction.

==See also==
*[[Logical fallacy]]

==External links==
*{{wpa|Parable of the broken window}}
*[https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Broken-Window-Fallacy Broken Window Fallacy] — Logically Fallacious

==Notes==
{{notelist|1|90%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{logfal}}
[[Category:Economics]]
[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Logic]]
[[Category:War]]

Categories: Economics, Informal fallacies, Logic, War