Revolutionaries are the Best Ways to Effect Positive Change in Research Paper

Revolutionaries are the Best Ways to Effect Positive Change in Opressive Regimes When Human Rights are Violated - Research Paper Example Revolutionaries are the most effective means of effecting positive change in oppressive regimes. Examples of revolutionaries that succeeded in bringing positive change and ending injustices include American Revolution, French Revolution and Recent revolutions in Arab countries. Revolutionaries are the best ways to effect positive change in oppressive regimes when human rights are violated and injustices exist Introduction Revolutionaries are the best way to effect positive change under any oppressive regime. Revolutionaries are justified when citizens experience continued injustices and violation of basic human rights by the ruling government. Revolutionary refers to drastic change that occurs when citizens break laws in order to protest against government policies. Examples of revolutionaries that were precipitated by oppressive regimes include the Civil Rights Movements in the US and recent Arab World uprisings. Citizens engage in revolutionaries by refusing to pay taxes, damaging government property and civil protests that aim at blocking traffic flow in major highways. Revolutionaries occur when the oppressive regime blocks the channels of negotiation or when the government is not willing to address the problems affecting the citizens (Spielvogel, 2011). This paper will discuss the importance of revolutionaries in bringing positive change in oppressive regimes when citizens experience injustices and violation of fundamental human rights. John Locke (1632-1704) asserts that governments derive their authority from the people thus civil liberties of the citizens should be protected by the government (Grant, 1991). Citizens should engage in revolutions if the government violates their human rights and curtails freedom of expression. According to Locke, if regimes alter the laws in order to curtail the rights of individuals, the citizens are justified to protest and overthrow the government (Grant, 1991). The ruling regime should adhere to the social contract be tween the government and citizens. John Rawls asserts that civil liberties enable citizens to live harmonious in the society thus all individuals should be accorded equality in rights and freedoms (Grant, 1991). Government economic policies should not disadvantage of the minority or create inequalities in income and wealth distribution. Most of the Arab uprisings were occasioned by high income inequalities that created high unemployment and poor living conditions to the low income earners. The ruling regime should promote civil rights and minimize social classes in the society in order to promote the welfare of the whole society (Richards, 2004). Revolutionaries are the best method of affecting positive change when several minority groups encounter discrimination and injustices from the oppressive regimes. Such regimes are characterized by dictatorship rule, disrespect for humanity and lack of freedom of expression in the society (Spielvogel, 2011). For instance, President Mubarak v iolated Egyptian constitution by hindering the freedom of media and civil liberties of individuals who criticized government policies. In oppressive regimes, citizens have no economic and political power to change the ruling government. Oppressive regimes have total control of the media thus citizens should engage in mass civil protests and boycotts to effect positive change in the political leadership. For instance, Gaddafi’s oppressive regime targeted journalists who criticized or reported of atrocities that were committed on the