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Locke The Ironies Of Philosophy Term Paper

Others might allege that Mugabe has held elections, unlike John Locke's legitimate sovereign. But the presence of elections does not necessarily guarantee the existence of a good and fair representative government, or even the existence of a legislature. The BBC news reported that during the 2002 Zimbabwe election "some people from Europe were in Zimbabwe to watch how the voting was run. The Norwegian observers said the election was severely flawed and failed to meet international standards." (BBC News, 2002) the numbers also tell a sorry tale, as Mugabe's Zanu-PF party still dominates what is virtually a one party state occupying 147 out of the country's 150 parliamentary seats. (BBC News, 2000)

Lastly, John Locke above all stressed that the citizens of all nations have a property in their own persons, that the labor of the citizen's body and the work of the citizen's hands properly belong to the citizen, and should not simply be used to enrich the state. The warlike and Marxist government of Mugabe, however, has not protected nor restored the economic fortunes of his nation. People have been imprisoned for private acts and for speaking freely in print. The wars embarked upon for the...

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Inflation and unemployment are soaring to record levels. These are manifestations of President Mugabe's inability to protect his people's property, as well as his lack of respect for the life and liberty. Most damningly of all for a leader who has used the rhetoric of anti-colonialism to conceal so many of his self-interested actions, one the issues that swept him to power in 1984, namely the president's stated aim of handing over large tracts of fertile land from whites to blacks has still not been accomplished. (BBC, 2000) Property has not been resorted as promised, liberties have been curtailed, and lives have been needlessly lost, merely to enrich the president -- what clearer definition of a tyranny could exist?
Works Cited

BBC News. "Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwe Strongman." February 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/643737.stm

BBC News. "Robert Mugabe wins Zimbabwe election." 13 March 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_1870000/1870227.stm

Locke, John. Second Treatise on Government. Prometheus Books, 1987.

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Works Cited

BBC News. "Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwe Strongman." February 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/643737.stm

BBC News. "Robert Mugabe wins Zimbabwe election." 13 March 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_1870000/1870227.stm

Locke, John. Second Treatise on Government. Prometheus Books, 1987.
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