Live data from Hacker News

The United States withdraws from UNESCO

state.gov

861–870 of 989 posts

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#861

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots and lots of states were founded by terrorists. Like, my state (Ireland) was founded by a bunch of them. Our longest standing leader (DeValera) was involved in the 1916 rising and was only not executed because he was a US citizen and the Brits wanted the US to join WW1. Which is to say, that many many states have been founded by terrorists/freedom fighters. That's the norm, not the exception. Like, from the persp…

I’m using the word “terrorism” in exactly the way it should be used. Ireland was founded by people fighting for liberty. South Africa the same. The Israeli founders were terrorists. They used terror to ethnically cleanse the lands of its indigenous population. Anybody that supports this or tries to draw false parallels with genuine liberation movements is disgusting for obvious reasons.

I get that morally it may feel different, but the Irish separatists used identical methods to the Israeli separatists to gain independence (bombs and violence).

In fact, the Jewish separatists explicitly used the same approaches against the British post WW1.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#862
post #300
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they support some policies or everything that this administration proposes? In my experience I have seldom seen people who believe 100% in whatever party/government does. Most of the time it's a few topics that matter - be it immigration, or less taxes, or whatever. However, they are not gonna protest for leaving UNESCO. They might find it stupid, but probably they find topic XYZ more important. So they suck it up…

> But I like to believe and think they are a minority. There's a lot of MAGA hats out there man. Historically, has it ever been a good thing when so many people believe everything one man says is pure truth? I mean, even if I agreed with every policy, the extent and dedication of this cultish behaviour would give me pause.

The nice thing about democracy and politics in general is that everyone can have an opinion and a way to see something.

Many MAGA hats don't all mean the same. I doubt all of his supporters like the tariffs, or how he is dealing with Russia, or Israel, or, or or...

However, I believe that some of the core policies (hard on immigration, etc) somehow find a common agreement. And even in those core policies, some might like different approaches. And yet in total they do feel they support this administration.

The issue is when people let all happen because one of the core problems must be solved at all costs. Meaning the administration solves that one core problem you really wanted fixed, but the price to pay is equally bad, and yet you just look down and let it all happen, because it's convenient and doesn't affect you in the short term.

In my opinion, this has become more and more common with whichever party we elect, except some are more vocal about it than others.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#863
post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s one big club, and we’re not in it. I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply here, but like it or not, most Americans do support Israel.

Just like how Ted Cruz believes that Bible says that they have to defend Israel. Now if you ask him where exactly in Bible? He will deflect because his Bible is the American Evangelicals. So much for separation of state and religion.

[deleted]

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#864

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its very fundamentally different. Palestine is used as a proxy by Iran to essentially wage war on Israel, because or a lack of better term, they are still salty about a different religious group being on "their" land (and to be accurate, was technically taken from them, but it was because they were on the losing side of WW1) But Iran cannot engage in war directly, as they would be seen as aggressors. Israel on the ot…

I call bullshit. If you use your imagination hard enough then just maybe you could explain the military action in Gaza as warfare… but how does that extend to the West Bank? There is no warfare in the West Bank, but there are Israeli settlers murdering Palestinians without consequences while stealing land in illegal settlements. > Israel is forced Again, that’s bullshit. Nobody is forcing Israel to be an asshole to t…

Exactly what I mean about seeing things from one side.

>but how does that extend to the West Bank?

When your country history includes all of your surrounding neighbors going to war to try to exterminate you, and that sentiment hasn't changed, you are going to be probably very expansionist. Not that the west bank settlements are morally right and they certainly don't help the cause, but the actions are somewhat understandable.

>Again, that’s bullshit. Nobody is forcing Israel to be an asshole to their neighbors.

Oct 7th kinda is. Nothing really significant happened much other than minor land grabs in the West Bank and standard counter terrorism stuff with occasional rockets being launched by Hamas. Oct 7th highlighted the clear and present danger that still exists, where Hamas doesn't care about fighting a war and care more about killing non-muslims, civilians and military personnel alike.

> Israel is often seen as the bad guy, because their actions make them the bad guy.

Because most people who consume online media tend to only hear about the bad things Israel does. Goes back to the discussion about other genocides and how those are never talked. Like I said, the media narrative on this is insanely effective to make people polarized.

>Israel annexed the Palestinian people with rights, protections, and citizenship.

Try to be rational about this. The last thing they want is giving potential Hamas members or radical extremists free access to the country + citizenship. Majority of Palestinians are still pro Hamas.

>I really think it’s about tribalism and conquest.

Again, try to be rational. Is it tribalism, or do they just want a future where citizens don't have to worry about terrorist attacks or getting rocketed anymore? Its not like Israel never tried peaceful solutions - most all of them get shot down because Palestinians want "their" land back, or at the least in control of the majority of that region ("from the river to the sea") that puts Israel at a huge disadvantage and greater risks for attacks.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#865

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For whatever reason, the Palestine/Israel conflict causes people to just stop being rational. Like, the facts are there, both parties attack each other as part of the conflict throughout history, but for whatever reason, people really want to pick sides on this one, and Im not sure why. Its not the genocide aspect - there are other genocides that are happening (Myanmar for example) that don't cause this reaction. Don…

> there are other genocides that are happening (Myanmar for example) that don't cause this reaction Because the biggest world superpower that claims to be all about "freedom" is the sponsor of this one, not a rogue, sanctioned state somewhere

Why does that matter though? Is Genocide ONLY bad when capitalism involved?

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#866

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say “the UN doesn’t work” apparently because “working” means it being a source of soft power for the US. It had several remits, but its most important is probably the one to prevent a world war. It’s designed specifically as a talking shop to help countries find other ways of resolving disputes than kill people - and promote international understanding . It’s far from perfect, but in general it does a pretty good…

American dollars shouldn’t go to things that aren’t sources of soft or hard power for us, and they should be clawed back from things that are sources of soft power for china.

[deleted]

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#867

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say “the UN doesn’t work” apparently because “working” means it being a source of soft power for the US. It had several remits, but its most important is probably the one to prevent a world war. It’s designed specifically as a talking shop to help countries find other ways of resolving disputes than kill people - and promote international understanding . It’s far from perfect, but in general it does a pretty good…

> It’s far from perfect, but in general it does a pretty good job. The current state of the world would definitely beg to differ

It really wouldn’t

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#868

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say “the UN doesn’t work” apparently because “working” means it being a source of soft power for the US. It had several remits, but its most important is probably the one to prevent a world war. It’s designed specifically as a talking shop to help countries find other ways of resolving disputes than kill people - and promote international understanding . It’s far from perfect, but in general it does a pretty good…

American dollars shouldn’t go to things that aren’t sources of soft or hard power for us, and they should be clawed back from things that are sources of soft power for china.

And that’s fine, if that’s what you believe. But that has nothing to do with whether the UN has worked or not.

“ This pick-up truck is dreadful as a tool for peeling bananas “

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#869

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US, Ireland and many others were founded by terrorists. History is written by the victors.

False. Americans taught for liberty from oppression. Same for Irish. Calling them terrorists is the slander of colonialists.

> False. Americans taught for liberty from oppression. Same for Irish. Calling them terrorists is the slander of colonialists.

The Americans were the colonialists. They fought to evade taxes and to be free to steal land from its indigenous inhabitants, in pursuit of which they committed a genocide. The latter, in particular, was strongly opposed by the British government. A 1763 Royal Proclamation prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, reserving lands for indigenous peoples. After alleviating themselves of those restrictions, the freedom-loving Americans then practiced a brutal form of chattel slavery for many decades after it had been outlawed by more civilized nations, including the Empire they had fought to be free of.

Re: The United States withdraws from UNESCO

#870

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> American dollars shouldn’t go to things that aren’t sources of soft or hard power for us, and they should be clawed back from things that are sources of soft power for china. Fair enough. It's worth noting though, that China benefits when the US withdraws from stuff like this.

China has already thoroughly captured most of the whole UN. They would benefit if this weren’t already the case, which means stuff like closing VoA is still dumb. But UNESCO is among those they’ve captured. All removing funding does is reduce the power of a chinese agent.

If they managed to capture it, how did they manage to capture it? And what will be the impact of the US surrendering?
Post reply on HN