The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The crew of Egg Drop Soup poses with director Yang (bottom, center).
SMU student film highlights the Chinese-American experience
Lexi Hodson, Contributor • May 16, 2024
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Get off the pedestal

The Reactionary
 Get off the pedestal
Get off the pedestal

Get off the pedestal

The international community had been calling President Bush the stupid cowboy who would create more international instability than anyone in the axis of evil. American liberals claimed that America needs the United Nations for legitimacy to act in the international community. They also took the time to point out America?s debt to the United Nations with their typical ?they-need-us-more-than-we-need-them? tone. Let?s for one second forget that the United Nations just appointed Libya to the human rights councils. Forget also that President Clinton did not ask the United Nations approval for Kosovo and there was little fanfare about that. However, that was kill-for-race reasons which for some reason is worse than killing for any other reason. I suppose the victims of Pol Pot felt better than the victims of Hitler. But let?s get down to the real reason why this money eating bureaucracy called the United Nations gets so much respect. The United Nations is like drugs; it is a temporary solution to a long-term problem. Rarely does the UN leave countries it enters. Those who want to justify this answer need to look at the record of nation building, because that is the only thing that can justify such a long occupation. One must further question ?does the United Nations really save lives when in places like Kosovo?? Sure there are not thousands of people being killed every month, but the United Nations does not stay for just a month it stays for years. In that period of time people died every month or week in unreported attacks. The second to last word in that sentence is what makes the United Nations so respected instead of being seen as the failure it is most of the time. Leaders must not allow emotion to play with their judgments. If a conflict cannot be solved then it cannot be solved. Does anyone really see any long-term solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict? Who has the resources to go into a war zone for years and promote economic development and understanding between two peoples who completely hate one another? No nation, let alone an international origination, has the time and money to over see such a projects. Yet large amounts of the United Nations resources are spent on this conflict. Like public education it is an expensive nothing. Since the days of the slave trade Western civilization has been living above its means ? for horrible reasons then and not much better ones now. Political elites need to understand just because you see something does not mean you can do anything about it. Humans are a part of nature and sometimes nature needs to run it?s course. The political community has adapted to new environments ? a dog eat dog world (within reason) could also be adapted to. International politics cannot be used as an excuse to ignore reality. Wait that happened after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe when the ex-communist overlords were never held to the same accountability as the Nazis were. Bosnia contently removed them from the picture. Sorry I forget that Bosnia was race killing and thus worse than political killing. It also happened in a short period of time instead of 50 years of brutal occupation. I do not want to get rid of the United Nations. I just want to stop interacting with people who think its importance is above question. The United Nations should be seen for what it is ? a club house, not a legislative body.

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