What's in a name?

Over the past week I listened to more than one report about the elections that took place in Zimbabwe. The incumbent Robert Mugabe had made a speech outlining or perhaps reiterating his platform of anti-colonialism. Zimbabwe’s last decade has seen abysmal performance of their economy with stupendous hyperinflation. Mugabe did specify that the colonialism he speaks of is economic.

And it’s probably good that he makes some attempt to classify the colonialism he is opposed to. My first thought on the matter immediately saw a huge irony in his opposition of colonialism when one considers that Mugabe is an indigenous African and yet he is named “Robert”. Surely the ultimate sign of having been defeated by colonialism is that one bears a name deriving from the language and culture of the colonialists. A name is generally one of the most powerful identifying factors attached to a thing or person, and it’s this which created such a powerful irony in Mugabe’s message in my view.

When one reads further about Mugabe one realizes that he was also raised as a Roman Catholic and has therefore been subject to religious colonialism which he presumably accepts.

So there we have it; a demonstration perhaps that money is more important than culture, language, religion and identity.