Argumentum ad lazarum

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Argumentum ad lazarum or appeal to poverty is the logical fallacy of thinking a conclusion is correct because the speaker is poor. It is named after Lazarus, a beggar in the New Testament who receives his reward in the afterlife.

[edit] Examples

Family farms are struggling to get by so when they say we need to protect them, they must be on to something.

The homeless tell us it’s hard to find housing. Thus it must be.

The monks have forsworn all material possessions. They must have achieved enlightenment.

All you need to know about the civil war in that country is that the rebels live in mud huts, while the general who sends troops against them sits in a luxurious, air-conditioned office.

The opposite is the argumentum ad crumenam.

Fallacies of relevance
Accident • Ad nauseam • Base rate fallacy • Chronological snobbery • Compound question • Fallacy of many questions • False compromise • Naturalistic fallacy • Proof by assertion • Irrelevant conclusion • Special pleading • Straw man • Two wrongs make a right
Appeals to emotion
Fear • Flattery • Novelty • Queerness • Pity • Ridicule • Spite • Wishful thinking
Genetic fallacies
Ad hominem (Ad hominem tu quoque) • Appeal to authority • Appeal to motive • Appeal to tradition • Argumentum ad crumenam • Argumentum ad lazarum • Association fallacy • Ipsedixitism • Poisoning the well • Reductio ad Hitlerum