Most of us have found ourselves in meetings and organizations with grand plans, but little action. We have been in meetings that last hours, fill pages of minutes, but never actually accomplish the business for which the meeting was called. One example from my life: during a meeting of the central committee of a political party in a small rural county to discuss local candidates, one person started a long heated debate about something happening on the federal level. The committee spent the entire meeting time on discussing and venting about this. When the next meeting (a month later) starting heading the same way, I got the floor and asked: “What can we do about what you are discussing?” The unanimous answer was nothing. I then asked: “Why are we wasting people’s time on things we can’t effect instead of doing something constructive?” The meeting changed and we completed our business quickly. In other such groups nothing would change them, so leaving was the only opton.

The United Nations is such an organization. A perfect example of the problems is the Commission on Human Rights. This group of 53 member nations has included such paragons of human rights protection as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Bhutan, Pakistan, China and Cuba. According to the UN website, this commission exists for the elaboration of human rights standards and to monitor compliance with these standards. When the watchdogs of human rights are themselves gross violators the futility of such an organization is obvious.

The US has invested billions of dollars in the United Nations, providing the lion’s share of funds for this wastrel gaggle of useless bureaucrats for too long. It is time the US makes a an important decision. We can either pull out of the United Nations allowing them to fend for themselves, or demand a change of structure giving the nation that pays the most the greater say. The latter would make the UN more of a mouthpiece of US interests and nullify all that it claims to be so the best choice is to leave the United Nations.