On The UN
The thing that gets my blood warmed up the most in the realm of politics is the subject of the UN. The concept is a noble one, but one can say that about communism. The idea of selfless acts for the good of the greater citizenry is a wonderful ideal, and one we would hope to hold dear, but it goes against human nature in most ordinary circumstances. Humans are selfish, and for a reason. It's called survival.
This is why we choose leaders, and hold them to higher standards than the ordinary Joe. Leaders are granted extraordinary powers by the collective and are expected to care for their charges, i.e., us. When those leaders fail we can have two responses depending on the circumstances: forgiveness or holding them responsible.
Forgiveness is possible when we determine that the leader in question has tried his or her best, had the welfare of the people in mind, but turned out to be just human, just like us. Holding a leader responsible is required when the subject in question has been shown to be looking out for his or her own best interest; whether it be for financial gain, simply to wield power, or other base motives such as protecting their legacy. The people affected should determine punishment, but oftentimes that is not possible. In this case someone must act as stand-in for those not present.
The UN exists to be this stand-in for the world. It is granted great and extraordinary powers by the collective of sovereign nations to intervene in situations where the ordinary citizens have become victims of their circumstances. In this most primary function it has failed, and most spectacularly under its current leadership.
The Guardian UK has a story today initially describing one of those failures culled from remembrances of those ordinary citizens in which they point their bony fingers from the grave. It's a story I know well and one that you should know if you have an opinion at all about the UN, or especially about the Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
The author of the article, Kenneth Cain is also coauthor of the book "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures," (available through Amazon via the picture link on the sidebar over there) has been spending time in Rwanda, helping clean up and restore that battered country. Cain is a former UN human rights lawyer that has seen UN field operations from the inside. Stalin famously remarked that "one death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." It takes someone like Cain to remind us of the individual death.
According to the SURF Survivors Fund one million people were slaughtered over the course of one hundred days. I remember seeing photographs of the rivers filled with bodies floating downstream. If you've read this far, go to the article and do your part to bear witness, as the UN is wont to do, and be prepared to hold the person that allowed this tragedy to happen responsible.
By the way, the tragedy continues, right now, so it is important look at this. In his article Cain describes his personal experiences in these ongoing outrages, some of which are currently or have recently been in the news, and for me it is a welcome addendum to his book, which left me wanting to know more. Here is the link again to Cain's story. Go. And then go buy the book which describes the all too human stories of three regular people under extraordinary circumstances trying to do good in the world under the auspices of the United Nations.
