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The United States withdraws from UNESCO

state.gov

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Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#211

Post by ivell »

monero-xmr wrote: post #175
glitchc wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The online space (Reddit, HN, others) is so deeply embedded with groupthink that people have lost the ability to see other points of view or debate topics of interest. To me it's very clear why the government is leaving UNESCO (and over time the UN at large). The UN is dysfunctional and does not work. It used to be a source of soft power for the States, but hasn't been so for the better part of this century. Meanwhil…

[flagged]

It is also the place where world opinion is shaped. West has majority of veto powers which it used to its advantage. West had also condemned other nations in the same forums in the past.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#213

Post by Atreiden »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #94

> UNESCO’s decision to admit the “State of Palestine” as a Member State is highly problematic, contrary to U.S. policy, and contributed to the proliferation of anti-Israel rhetoric within the organization. I asked this when the administration decided to attack funding for research at Harvard University over wild claims, and I ask again, why are we willing to shoot ourselves in the knees for Israel?

Because Israel is both a critical component of our global surveillance and information warfare programs, and a convenient shield against criticism and investigation.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#214

Post by CGMthrowaway »

fuzzylightbulb wrote: post #9

This administration has zero ability to build or bring people together, able only to destroy what others have made. On the bright side, it isn't effective until December 31, 2026 so there is plenty of time to chicken out.

Some history is called for here. The UNESCO issue extends far beyond Trump.

Under the Obama administration, the US stopped financing UNESCO in 2011(!) after it voted to include Palestine as a member state that year.

The Trump administration decided to withdraw fully from the agency in 2017.

The Biden administration rejoined UNESCO in 2023 and agreed to pay it $600 million(!) in back dues.

Now, the Trump administration is quitting it again.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#215

Post by tombert »

dantillberg wrote: post #161
lvl155 wrote: post #40

And it’s wild to think that more than 1/3 of the devs I’ve met in my life support this admin. These are seemingly smart people. The past 10 years or so made me realize I don’t know anything about human nature or intellect. Edit: I am in no way saying conservatism is bad and liberalism is good. I have my values in both.

> These are seemingly smart people. They _are_ smart people. There's more to the differences in perspective than "lib smart, maga stupid".

There is more to life but I do have to question the intelligence of anyone who believed that Trump was going to somehow lower grocery prices by implementing tariffs.

It almost doesn’t even make grammatical sense to say “raising prices will lower prices”, let alone any kind of rational sense.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#216

Post by isleyaardvark »

mathgeek wrote: post #54
lvl155 wrote: post #40

And it’s wild to think that more than 1/3 of the devs I’ve met in my life support this admin. These are seemingly smart people. The past 10 years or so made me realize I don’t know anything about human nature or intellect. Edit: I am in no way saying conservatism is bad and liberalism is good. I have my values in both.

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Even then it's still dumb since they're unlikely to be rich enough to benefit. Nor did they figure out that the main economic policy Trump campaigned on was idiotic and would make things worse for everyone.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#217

Post by brendoelfrendo »

Loughla wrote: post #162
mathgeek wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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It's different perspectives, I've come to learn. The people I know who support this regime do so because they feel completely left out (they're low income so I'm not sure that applies to software developers). When there's nothing for you why wouldn't you want to just burn it all down? Then you can build a more "fair" system. Please note that I do not agree with literally anything current admin does, this is just the…

Left out by what? Left out by whom? Are these people actually satisfied that what the administration is doing will improve their lives, or did the administration just tap into their anger and prejudice for votes?

You'll have to forgive me for being suspicious, but I hear these arguments, too, and the people I see who feel "left out" are largely left out because they hold fringe beliefs or because they are told they are left out despite actually being part of highly influential groups.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#218

Post by watwut »

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #129
lvl155 wrote: post #40

And it’s wild to think that more than 1/3 of the devs I’ve met in my life support this admin. These are seemingly smart people. The past 10 years or so made me realize I don’t know anything about human nature or intellect. Edit: I am in no way saying conservatism is bad and liberalism is good. I have my values in both.

I think it’s a symptom of how bad the democrats are. They can’t create a compelling message that people really care about. “I am a little better” just doesn’t cut it anymore

Nothing is ever fault of conservatives and libertarians. No matter what, someone else has to be blamed.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#219

Post by nerdjon »

aprilthird2021 wrote: post #141
duesabati wrote: post #6

> America First > anti-Israel American Government became the parody of itself, so sad

You have to sign a document saying you won't boycott Israel, academic journals cancel editions which talk about Palestine, you can't be part of UNESCO for Israel. You can't write a college article critical of Israel or we'll kidnap you off the streets into an unmarked van. You can't be a business and not give a contract to Israel or your employee will tip off the Anti Boycott Office against you. Your Congressmen wear…

The thing about this that bothers me the most (ok maybe not the most... but its troubling), we have gotten to a point that we are more free to criticize our own government than a foreign government (unless it is about this topic).

Like, how that ever became OK is insane to me.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#220

Post by runako »

Loughla wrote: post #162
mathgeek wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

It's different perspectives, I've come to learn. The people I know who support this regime do so because they feel completely left out (they're low income so I'm not sure that applies to software developers). When there's nothing for you why wouldn't you want to just burn it all down? Then you can build a more "fair" system. Please note that I do not agree with literally anything current admin does, this is just the…

> When there's nothing for you why wouldn't you want to just burn it all down? Then you can build a more "fair" system.

Notably, the people who lived under legal oppression for centuries in this country did not take this approach. Instead, they worked inside the system and were able to affect change. The "burn it down" side ended up having its cities literally burned down.

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