Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events » in reply to re: Whoa there

U.N.
Tom Brosz — (archived)

When I was young, I was all for a world government like the ones Heinlein had in some of his books. But I visualized something that was based on individual rights, minimal interference, and respect for political and economic freedom. The current U.N. is not, at least insofar as its political wing is concerned. I have no real argument with its humanitarian activities.

It may be that the idea of the U.N. was poisoned at its root, when it had to accept the U.S.S.R. as a primary member. I don't think there was much choice back then, but having Stalin as a fulcrum of the organization pretty much negated any moral authority it had, and guaranteed that respect for individual freedom would not be number one on the organization's list.

Right now, it's got pretty much the same concept of the state as the central authority that the European Union does. When I think about a version of the EU taking over the world, I'm kind of glad the U.N. is toothless.

Heck, sometimes I wish our own Federal government was a little more toothless.

Let's see what happens with NATO.

In any case, this is kind of a moot point in our current controversy. When Bush was trying to decide what to do about Iraq, he had to work with NATO as is, and the U.N. as is. Not some ideal international organization.

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