108 The UN

<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There are 193 nations in the United Nations, headquartered in New York. It was established right after WWII in an attempt to prevent future wars. Its operations are financed by assessments on member nations according to their GNP with the U.S., of course, being the largest at over $3 billion a year, a quarter of the total budget: reasonable as long as it serves America's best interests but that's often questionable because no where do ideological differences so stymie productive action than in the United Nations because global socialists are intent on wealth redistribution from America to rest of the World. The U.N. also wraps an aura of legitimacy around clearly Marxian thoughts & goals that are not amenable to liberty. Plus, responsibilities are often thrust onto the U.S., a common socialist tactic.</p> <p>At its worst, the U.N. serves as a platform for preening, grandstanding & disingenuous behavior, and the relationships between countries is a queer mixture of paternalism & sycophants. But at its best, the U.N. satisfactorily embraces tribalism, giving all the nations a forum in which to speak, thereby serving as a pressure-relief valve, and indeed there has been no large-scale warfare since its inception, and it was integral to the Cold War winding down peacefully. Just in that ombudsman capacity, the U.N. seems a worthwhile investment as long as America does not capitulate its own sovereignty over to it as some kind of World Overlord.</p>