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Old 05-27-2007, 09:57 AM
 
Location: Journey's End
10,203 posts, read 27,062,238 times
Reputation: 3946

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And that technicality is important, none payment is not going to work to move programs forward.

And may I ask what is a "Model UNer?"

Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 525600minutes View Post
We techically provide a large amount of funding to the UN, but did you know that we are in arrears in our UN payments, and have been for several years?

The United Nations is not designed to be a mouthpiece for the United States in the international forum. It is not designed to be a mouthpiece for Isreal in the international forum. It's mission is to make sure international law is followed, economic development occurs throughout the world, social progress is fostered globally, and that human rights are not being violated by any nation.

I am a UN supporter. I think that it is important that there be a non-partial international forum to debate matters of diplomacy. I think it is unfortunate that people assume the UN is supposed to exists to foster the US agenda. Rather, we pay into the system because it is beneficial to have feedback about our actions on the world scale. The idea that we can do anything we want to do with no ramifications is flawed. And as such, the UN provides a good barometer of how our actions will be recieved abroad.

I am a former Model UNer, though...maybe I am too partial

 
Old 05-27-2007, 10:00 AM
 
2,356 posts, read 3,453,771 times
Reputation: 864
Quote:
Originally Posted by 525600minutes View Post
Rather, we pay into the system because it is beneficial to have feedback about our actions on the world scale. The idea that we can do anything we want to do with no ramifications is flawed. And as such, the UN provides a good barometer of how our actions will be recieved abroad.
I understand the UN is an organization with very lofty and noble goals. However, why would the US need to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to get feedback on our actions? If we wanted to know, we could just read the newspapers of any country. Or, we could just pick the phone up, call the [insert country here] Embassy and ask them what they think about it. Or we could use our own ambassadors to other countries, that's why we have them, right?

And I'm certainly not a UN expert, I'm just mentioning these because they seem common sense to me. I did see that we were in arrears with our payments to the UN. I don't know if I consider that a problem.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 10:09 AM
 
Location: Journey's End
10,203 posts, read 27,062,238 times
Reputation: 3946
I believe the UN was get up for monitoring international actions--not feedback. After two messy world wars, and no inkling that they were coming, and Chamberlain preaching that Germany was not going to do anything dangerous--except annex the East, a united watch-dog of the UN's magnitude seemed plausible, and beneficial.

Now does it work? Not often and not enough!

And the sort of safeguards put into place didn't work when the US made the decision to invade Iraq!

And, embassies and consuls are not set up for providing the scope and kind of information that other diplomats are able to accomplish--but then, I always suspect 1/4 or more of all international diplomats are covert.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 02:03 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
124 posts, read 91,350 times
Reputation: 58
on the road,

Model UN is often found on the high school level and sometimes on the collegiate level. Basically, meets or competitions simulate one of the UN bodies or a similar organization: ie, The Security Council, The General Assembly, or non-UN like the EU or the Arab League. You and your team are assigned a country and you have to do the research prior to the competition on what interests are most important to the nation you are representing. Then, at the competition some scenario is written where you and all the other countries (represented by other schools/students) engage in the simulation. You have to know parliamentiary procedure (because that is what is used in the REAL UN), and have to speak, debate, write resolutions to counter some global conflict. For nerds like me it is tremendously exciting .

I did it all four years of high school, and engaged in several competitions. Competitions were all over the Northeast (I am from NYC): Boston, Toronto, St. Catherines, Buffalo, Hartford, Albany, Philly, Scranton, etc...usually held at a college.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Journey's End
10,203 posts, read 27,062,238 times
Reputation: 3946
What a wonderful, stimulating and educational opportunity. I assume you heard about it at school. I'll have to ask my daughter who went to school in NYC if she ever heard of the program (she was at Hunter).

I would have jumped at this if it was available when I was growing up.

Thanks so much for explaining it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by 525600minutes View Post
on the road,

Model UN is often found on the high school level and sometimes on the collegiate level. Basically, meets or competitions simulate one of the UN bodies or a similar organization: ie, The Security Council, The General Assembly, or non-UN like the EU or the Arab League. You and your team are assigned a country and you have to do the research prior to the competition on what interests are most important to the nation you are representing. Then, at the competition some scenario is written where you and all the other countries (represented by other schools/students) engage in the simulation. You have to know parliamentiary procedure (because that is what is used in the REAL UN), and have to speak, debate, write resolutions to counter some global conflict. For nerds like me it is tremendously exciting .

I did it all four years of high school, and engaged in several competitions. Competitions were all over the Northeast (I am from NYC): Boston, Toronto, St. Catherines, Buffalo, Hartford, Albany, Philly, Scranton, etc...usually held at a college.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 02:13 PM
 
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
124 posts, read 91,350 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheroad View Post
What a wonderful, stimulating and educational opportunity. I assume you heard about it at school. I'll have to ask my daughter who went to school in NYC if she ever heard of the program (she was at Hunter).

Well, it was just one of the activites...we had three or four teams, we also had debate team, mock trial, quiz bowl, those kinds of things. I was a band geek (piano player), but I tried to get involved in other things like swimming and cross-country, and then the academic stuff (like Model UN)...Model UN was great because I got $1500 knocked off my semester college tuition for doing it in high school. Plus it was really fun.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 04:09 PM
 
4,657 posts, read 8,689,050 times
Reputation: 1363
The Un has devolved into an international debating society that has left itself impotent due to it's unwillingness to take action if it's sanctions are violated.

Hey a lot of minutes, that's pretty cool what you did as a un modeler but now as an adult can you answer me an honest question. What's the point of imposing sanctions if there's no penalty for violating them? It's like telling someone, "you better not, or else" and they reply, "or else what?" and your response is, "um.....well, ...you better not or else".

Whoever asked about the oil for food scandal, it's not that it went on during their watch,(well, yeah, that actually is part of it, but) it's that key members were taking kickbacks, namely Kofi Annan's son and Benon Sevan.

How can the UN protect against evil when I suspect that most higher ups in the UN don't even believe that evil exists in the first place? When everything is morally relative than there is no right and wrong.
 
Old 05-27-2007, 04:44 PM
 
Location: Coming soon to a town near YOU!
989 posts, read 2,757,008 times
Reputation: 1526
Default U.N. Dues are insignificant

Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymous View Post
I understand the UN is an organization with very lofty and noble goals. However, why would the US need to spend billions of taxpayer dollars to get feedback on our actions?
Just to put things in perspective a bit...

The total UN budget is $4.19 Billion, of which the US pays 22% or about $922 Million. Payments are roughly based on the country's wealth (but not exactly since Japan pays almost as much as the USA), so it does make a certain amount of sense to have the wealthiest country (us) pay a bigger share than others.

Less than $1 Billion... That is equal to .00769% of the US economy ($13 Trillion)...
Americans spend over $40 Billion on hair-care and $5 Billion on ring-tones each year. Funding the U.N. may not be the most important thing in the world, but I think it is a little more than 1/5th the importance of "Catchy Ring-tones" We also currently subsidize the oil companies with more than that a year.

You could make a list a mile long of unimportant items the US government funds that are over $1 Billion...

Also...

Quote:
Originally Posted by susquehannock View Post
Get the U.S. out of the U.N and the U.N. out of the U.S.

I despise the globalist U.N. for many reasons, especially their attempts to undermine U.S. sovereignty and their takeover of much of our land.

They can go to hell.
How is the U.N. (or anyone else for that matter) trying to take over US land? The only thing that might even come close is illegal immigration in the US, and what has the UN to do with that?
 
Old 05-27-2007, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Spots Wyoming
18,700 posts, read 41,915,722 times
Reputation: 2147483647
Do away with them. They've never done any good. On anything.
 
Old 01-21-2012, 10:45 AM
 
2 posts, read 1,694 times
Reputation: 10
Because the United Nations come up with stupid ideas like Agenda 21. Like your property rights? Then you had better google agenda 21 and tell ALL your friends about it. The UN wants to tell people what they can do with their land. What they can plant on their land. What kind of cars we can drive. How we raise our kids. You people who support the UN better do a bit more research. Those who live in city limits better contact your mayors and city council and tell them NO TO AGENDA 21. NOW because if you think the control of congress is crazy then just wait.
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