Western Courier

Issue date: 10/5/09 Section: Opinion

Skylar Patridge/cartoonist

There are some seriously crazy people in the world of politics today, and I don't mean just your everyday wack jobs who push endless agendas of military installations and fear. I'm talking about the kind of people who would seek to further damage the credibility of the United States on the world stage and ultimately affect the world at large through their insane propaganda-driven movements.

Take former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who was one of the candidates vying for the Republican presidential bid last fall. According to an article on ThinkProgress.org, during a speech at Phyllis Schlafly's "How to Take Back America" conference, he called the United Nations the international equivalent of recent scandal darling ACORN. He also stated that America should withdraw from the organization, saying, "It's time to get a jackhammer and to simply chip that part of New York City. Let it float into the East River never to be seen again."

Sure thing, Huck. Let's all just put our fingers in our ears and do the political equivalent of screaming "I can't hear you! I can't hear you!" over and over again. Avoidance works so well in our private lives that surely it is an excellent solution to effective international policy. Hey France, you don't like us? Well then, we quit the club! Iran, you think America is pure evil? We stick our tongue out at you before running off to tell our mommy. Certainly the United Nations may not be perfect, but it provides a forum to create a dialogue between the world's diverse countries.

One thing I hear from so many different voices is that they want America "to be the best," that it's "awesome to be an American," and hey, I can't complain too much. I'm free to pursue my dreams, to voice my opinions, to worship at the altar of a bag of cheese doodles if I see divinity within its plastic packaging. However, just like Uncle Ben told Peter Parker, great power comes with great responsibility, and acting like a petulant child is not the way to go about maintaining our position as a leading world power or keeping the world intact in the long run.

If we want respect, we have to earn it. That's a fundamental lesson we have been taught from day one, and it applies to larger realms than our own lives. If we want to sustain our existence as we know it and make the world a happier, brighter place for future generations, dropping out of the United Nations would be the last thing we should do.

I am not na've enough to believe in world peace - as long as humans remain creatures ruled by emotions and passions, peace is entirely too idealistic. However, I do believe that cooperation and coexistence is possible and that the United Nations and other international diplomatic organizations and movements are the foundation for that future.

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