The recent kerfuffle about the resolution on Israeli settlements has the United Nations back in the news. Unfortunately, no one important seems interested in taking the discussion to the next level and asking whether there’s any point reason why the UN should continue existing.
When I was growing up there seemed to be two views on the UN. In the one in my school books, the UN was a celebration of humanity’s wonderful diversity in which people from all nations, many clad in their native garb, stood around and smiled a lot. There wasn’t much detailed description of what the representatives actually did, but it all looked very happy and multi-racial. This was re-enforced by the “model UNs” that many children have gone through. The other view was that the UN’s was sending out its black helicopters with the intention of taking over the world.
The US should withdraw, not because the UN is secretly running the world, but because they are a bunch of incompetent idiots who couldn’t run a bake sale. They have shown themselves completely incapable of their stated goals of defending human rights and preventing conflict, and meanwhile they waste their time on frivolities.
On the first point, there have been an enormous number of anti-Israel resolutions over the years, none of which have achieved to long-term peace, obviously. Israel is the most democratic country in the Middle East, with the best human rights record, a free press, and other signs of human well being. Watching the Arab countries constantly pile on for condemnations of Israel gives the vibe of a classroom full of dumb jocks tormenting the one kid who actually does his homework. At the same time, the UN does nothing serious against most of the world’s worst human rights abusers. The fact that Saudi Arabia is on the Human Rights Council proves that the situation is hopeless and the UN will not get focused on tackling real human rights abuses anytime soon. This is nothing new. In the 90’s, the UN was notorious for its total failures in Rwanda and Bosnia. It’s a lengthy history of failure after failure.
So that’s the UN failing on serious issues. On the frivolous end, in October they made Wonder Woman an “Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls”. Then in December they reversed that decision because Wonder Woman is “of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee high boots”, and apparently they didn’t notice this in October. However, those who really want fictional characters to be ambassadors need not despair: one of the Angry Birds in an ambassador. So is Tinkerbell.
And how much does the US pay into this embarrassment? As with so much of what our government does, they’re in no hurry to provide the American people with a clear answer, but it seems to be somewhere around 8 billion dollars per year. Some of that may go to could causes such as food and medical aid, but it would be more efficient to just donate directly or work with established non-profits, rather than funneling the money through the UN clown show. There’s no reason for America to keep paying for or supporting an organization that attacks free democracies, supports terrible dictatorships, and wastes time and money on dumb publicity stunts.