My theory (based on perception) is that conservatives ala John Bolton and President Bush hate the UN because it gives a voice to crummy third world countries populated by dark-skinned people who are only looking for a hand out.
They love anything that makes UN look bad such as the Oil for Food scandal, all the while acting shocked and apalled.
So there’s my perception. Whats the “real” reason?
Well, if you assume that in global power terms instead of individual finances, the US is the Bill Gates of the world: How many low-income people are generally going to tell you that Gates should cut back his power, be nice to his competitors, give his money to charity and them, and apologise for being an evil person?
Simply, most Republicans don’t like the UN because they feel that the US got where it is because it kicked ass and worked hard for it. But in real life, probably 90% of everything the UN does is mundane and has nothing to do with any sort of anger towards the US nor vice-versa. So I think it’s probably more of a grumbling Democrats vs. Republicans, giving each other mean looks type thing than a real hatred but actually not really having any sort of issue on 90% of everything.
I don’t think you’re going to get many responses that agree 100% with your post, Gene.
I don’t fit into either the Republican or the conservative camps, but I think the real reason is… <dun dun DUN> FEAR.
IMO, people fear that the UN will exert real control over American politics, industries, and the economy. They fear that by signing a treaty with enough parties, we are able to be in the minority on any particular issue, and could concievably lose a vote on something. The fear that the world’s best interest and what they see as America’s best interest might not be the same, and that America would thus surrender some sovereignity to foreign nationals.
And of course, although few would admit it today, some of them do indeed fear the dark-skinned man, because he is different from themselves.
Remember, fear is a greater motivator than hate.
I’m neither a conservative nor a Republican, and I hate the UN.
I am a conservative Republican. I don’t hate the U.N., I think that it is ineffective and somewhat corrupt. There appears to be an anti-American sentiment underlying a lot of its actions, as well.
Conservatives and Republicans fear and hate the UN for the same reason they fear and hate everything else: they do not control it, and they fear and hate anything they do not control.
Man, this is not turning out one of our greater debates so far. Can anybody here provide a cite for any of the assertions s/he made?
(I exclude Liberal’s post and any similar expressions of mere personal opinion.)
Dunno, seems like if that was true “Today in Dom Play” would be on FOX every day. :dubious:
I think it’s interesting that several of the responses so far have been from liberals explaining why conservatives hate the U.N. I also think the premise of the question is false. I haven’t heard any of my conservative friends express hatred for the U.N., just the opinion that it is not very useful.
To an extent it’s more of a poll-type question than a debate… And I’m not even a republican, so I can only go by republicans I know. Personally, I have no particular issue with the UN–though I don’t think it serves the global purpose that an (even limited) international government should (International patents, regulating multinational corporations, global policing, etc.)
Less intelligent ones do. My mom hates the UN and thinks that they’re a group who exists solely to antagonize the US.
You’ve never watched O’Reilly, have you? 
I do not think the conservatives who post on the Dope are representative of conservatives generaly. For one thing, they post on the Dope. For another, they tend to be fiscal conservatives rather than social conservatives. For a third thing, they know they’ll get a major finger-slapping if they try any of the shit the conservatives in the mainstream media get away with. I bet the same question (phrased slightly differently) and posted to, say, Free Republic, would get a ton of positive responses.
And to be fair, I’m a liberal and I think the UN is corrupt and very badly designed. An effective UN would have stopped the shit in Serbia, the Congo and Darfur. If they can’t get their act together to oppose even Third World genocide, they are worth diddly.
As a conservative, I agree 100% with you. But rather than have the US pull out of the UN forever, I would like to see it “reorganized” to become a more effective body that could actually do the things that it strives to do, but gets hampered by it’s member nation’s inability to act.
Nanny The Yawping Chimp is bad enough. I don’t need Nanny The Eight Ton Elephant. And forcing me to pay for it is an outright tyranny.
Among some religious conservatives, is there not an aversion to any sort of ‘one-world’ solution? Whether it be currency, government, etc. they are usually against it.
That’s not to say there’s not a reasonable argument to made against the UN’s role in certain things, or that every anti-UN person is into the conspiracy stuff (far from it), but it is something I’ve seen floated on CBN, and from the mouths of local religious conservatives.
Yeah, that’s the new-world-order-paranoia wing of the conservative movement.
Tyranny? On whose part - the US government’s, or the UN’s? If you’re talking about the US, doesn’t your duly-elected government have the constitutionally-granted right to spend your tax dollars on foreign affairs (and arguably defence, justice and other functions of the UN)? If about the UN, does your government not have representation for the money it puts in, in the form of GA and SC seats and an SC veto?
As a forum where nations can discuss common issues and attempt to solve their problems the UN is useful. As an organization devoted to protecting human rights, the environment, etc. I have nothing but contempt for the United Nations. Then again I don’t think unilateral is a dirty word.
Marc
Not a comprehensive answer, but it’s very heritage is suspect as Alger Hiss was one of the more prominent if not the most prominent U.S. organizers of it.