Britons Liken Trump to Enoch Powell in Policy

There is no proper caption I can type to describe this stupidity.(Selman Design; photographs by Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press and Popperfoto, via Getty Images)

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/opinion/campaign-stops/donald-trump-and-the-rivers-of-blood.html?ref=topics&_r=0

There are few words that can describe my emotions while reading this piece other than an endless stream of dark chuckles. It’s difficult to keep track of half of the dimwitted statements regular politicians make in any given number of debates, let alone Donald Trump. This piece from the NY Times discusses the policies of a man whose political opinions start coming back after hearing Trump’s ridiculous claims. 

According to the NY Times, Trump’s blathering is reminiscent of a British politician who was once just as against immigration, if not slightly more effective in gaining support. Enoch Powell was a British politician who was appointed minister of health in the Conservative government in 1960. He would later become the Opposition’s chief spokesmen on defense, a position he would then lose following what came to be known as the “River of Blood” speech. 

The impression NY Times article gives me concerning this that scare tactics played a big part in winning over his supporters. Sarfraz Manzoor, writer of the article, writes,

“For immigrants like my father, who arrived in Britain from Pakistan in the early 1960s, it wasn’t Mr. Powell’s words that were frightening so much as that so many seemed to agree with them.”

The use of scare tactics is a fallacy that many speakers employ to strike up a shock factor, making their words more compelling to those who might have already been associated or inconvenienced by an issue. Trump and many politicians use scares tactics today, usually they take the forms of startling statistics (sometimes inaccurate), slippery-slip claims, apocalyptic warnings and the like.

The use of scare tactics by these kinds of politicians all circle back to the idea that if they’re elected or appointed, the issue will be resolved and everyone will live better with them at the helm. Obviously as a fallacy scare tactics should be frowned upon when hearing a speech but they can have their effect.

They did back then with Powell and they could very well work again with Trump. All I know is that that picture of Trump and Powell creating a form reminiscent of a Hindu god is extremely stupid. As is Trump. 

Enoch Powell's "River of Blood" Speech: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3643823/Enoch-Powells-Rivers-of-Blood-speech.html