The current president of the United States, Donald Trump

Mereological Fallacy and the Muslim Label

When he labeled Muslims as dangerous and labeled them jihadists and people out to hurt Americans and threaten its peace; when he labeled Africans as lazy and corrupt; and when he implied that America could cut off Africans from social media networks, Donald Trump used Mereological Fallacy.

1.1 Background

This fallacy was used by the current president as part of his campaign policy. As strange as it may seem, Donald Trump’s campaign used this argument about Muslims and Arabs as part of a well-planned policy. Eh took advantage of the numerous terrorist threats and massacres that occurred throughout the United States of America. Examples are the Orlando shootings which were executed by a man of Afghani origin living in the United States and the San Bernardino, California shootings that were executed by a couple. In the latter attack, 14 people died and 22 were injured. The couple who executed this shooting were a Pakistan national Tashfeen Malik and the United States born Syed Rizwan Farook. We can see just from these two examples that people of Muslim faith seem to be a common denominator in the shootings. Donald Trump used these real examples to effectively convince the citizens that Muslim people were the problem. His campaign reiterated the statement that Muslims were unstable and extremist. They were predisposed to terrorism. These claims, as much as they are generalizations, were backed with persistent shootings evidence that the citizens of America found hard to ignore. The American people were more inclined to believe in his philosophies thus. Donald Trump then proceeded to explore these policies to garner support in a unique manner. He knew that people were terrified of terrorism, having seen it in local the news and international news.

1.2 Exploiting Fear and Generalizations

From this perspective, Trump’s campaign exploited the psychology of the masses to push their agenda of anti-Muslim. While it is true that Americans are liberal people who are hospitable to everyone that requires hospitality, they were made to believe that every Muslim was potentially dangerous and as such, must be subjected to additional vetting before he or she can be offered hospitality. As much as this sounded as a simple careless statement from the campaign, it actually turned out to be an appealing campaign slogan that the people were willing to follow and see how it pans. At this point, it is necessary to note that this type of generalization is unwarranted, especially considering the provisions of the United States constitution. The United States constitution clearly prohibits the discrimination of people based on race, gender, the color of their skin, and their religion. This applies to local residents as well as potential refugees or anyone who applied for a visa to enter and live in the United States (Revesz).

Trump’s Fallacious Views on Africans

2.1 The African Lazy and Incompetent Stereotype

The Trump campaign also used the Mereological Fallacy when he stated that Africans are lazy and incompetent. He even alleged that social media networks are owned by the Americans and that they can switch them off so that Africans do not use them to insult him. This was after there was a barrage of comments targeted at his comments to African countries regarding their corruption levels and alleged incompetence. Again, this statement actually seems true generally. However, it is false on several levels since it uses the activities of a few Africans to characterize every African. The claims that Africans are lazy and incompetent held due to the various negative stories that come from the Africa continent. There are several stories in the media that indicate runaway corruption on the African continent. This fallacy was effectively used in the Trump campaign, which was largely based on making America free of harmful people and focusing on those that were keen on developing the counter. The statements actually resonated with the citizens of the American state who wanted a change in leadership. They opted to go for a radical leader, a choice they had not made in a long time (Quartz Africa).

2.2 Impracticality of Closing Africans Out of Social Networks

The part about closing out Africans from the social networks is a fallacy as well. While it is possible in theory, it is legally impractical and economically unfavorable. The legal impracticability comes about due to the fact that the laws of the United States of America do not allow the discrimination of fellow sovereign states based on personal vendettas. Additionally, the economic unfavorability would make the social media companies shun this proposition. This is largely due to the fact that these issues are personal from the campaign. However, it is true that these comments caused some chills down the spines of several people in African nations. This is so much that several African citizens checked out alternatives to the big America social media platforms. This fallacy worked well in the Trump campaign primarily since it showed that he was a no-nonsense candidate that was not willing to make compromises with other nations based on pity or compassion. The American population seemed to like this approach as they saw that it could go a long way in helping strengthen their country (Utep.edu).

Conclusion

As much as these statements were fallacies, they were well-crafted to pass a message that resonated well with the current activities and time. This timing is what carried these statements regardless of their flawed logic. As a matter of fact, it is worth noting that the citizens were not necessarily fooled, they simply saw what the candidate meant to imply and do. This is what they agreed on, his strict stand, not necessarily his statements. Donald Trump is the current United States President.

Works Cited

Quartz Africa. The truth about what Donald Trump has and hasn’t said about Africans. 2017.

Revesz, Rachael. Donald Trump still wants to ban Muslims from US and build ’registry’ despite backtracking after election. 2017. 05 February 2017.

Utep.edu. Master List of Logical Fallacies. 2017. 05 February 2017