Imagine that the United States were to leave the UN tomorrow...

[Viking]

Effective immediately. What do you think would happen? Short term? Long term?

[griz]

Short term:  little change, all parties will say the same things they've been saying for decades.
Long term:  lacking financial backing they will dissolve.

[HankB]

The world would become a better place.

[Jamisjockey]

Short term:  little change, all parties will say the same things they've been saying for decades.
Long term:  lacking financial backing they will dissolve.

This.  The UN is pretty much nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme and debate society.  Backed by the US dollar.

[Hawkmoon]

Effective immediately. What do you think would happen? Short term? Long term?

I saw this last night but I wanted to think about it. Having done so, my response this morning is the same as it would have been last night.

Short term ==> No change.

Long term ==> No change.

[Fly320s]

Who has the authority to get the U.S. out of the U.N? President or congress?

[Viking]

Who has the authority to get the U.S. out of the U.N? President or congress?

I'm guessing Congress. Ron Paul introduced legislation that would've ended US membership and participation in the UN.

[HankB]

This.  The UN is pretty much nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme and debate society.  Backed by the US dollar.

With apologies to columnist Nicholas von Hoffman:

To its committed members (the Democratic Party) The United Nations was still the party organization of heart, humanity, and justice, but to those removed a few paces it looked like Captain Hook’s crew – ambulance-chasing lawyers, rapacious public policy grants persons, civil rights gamesmen, ditzy-brained movie stars, fat-assed civil servant desk squatters, recovering alcoholics, recovering wife-beaters, recovering child-buggers, and so forth and so on, a grotesque line-up of ill-mannered self-pitying, caterwauling freeloaders banging their tin cups on the pavement demanding handouts.

[vaskidmark]

Could we at least get the UN out of the United States?

As for leaving the organization

- short term there would be all sorts of resolutions calling for us to be horsewhipped, pilloried, have our crops and bank accounts confiscated, and for folks to stop trading with us.  Either the quality of merchansise at WalMart would improve (along with price increases) or China would tell the rest of the UN to go pound sand.

- long term it all depends on if we make them pay their parking/traffic tickets before they spend any more money.  Just that ought to bankrupt most of the member nations.  Seriously, long term effects would be gradual and incremental global collapse when the US is no longer paying for other nations to send thiefs, rapists, and murders to a country other than the one they come from.  Tin-pot dictators would flee to wherever they thought they could  when tere is no more money to be made from selling emergency aid stuffs.  Civil wars and the (re-)creation of robber baron states.  The XL pipeline would be completed from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, but petroleum products would not be exported (except maybe to (f)GB).  Russia becomes the Evil Empire again until it collapses economically - again.

Most impotantly, satellite TV would not be interrupted by that Russian exercise lady.

Latino illegal immigration would continue but be overwhelmed by folks from the rest of the world floating across the oceans on leaky inner tubes, fleeing economic and political turmoil at home.

Yes, I am an optimist.

stay safe.

[lee n. field]

Could we at least get the UN out of the United States?

As for leaving the organization

- short term there would be all sorts of resolutions calling for us to be horsewhipped, pilloried, have our crops and bank accounts confiscated, and for folks to stop trading with us.  Either the quality of merchansise at WalMart would improve (along with price increases) or China would tell the rest of the UN to go pound sand.

- long term it all depends on if we make them pay their parking/traffic tickets before they spend any more money.  Just that ought to bankrupt most of the member nations.  Seriously, long term effects would be gradual and incremental global collapse when the US is no longer paying for other nations to send thiefs, rapists, and murders to a country other than the one they come from.  Tin-pot dictators would flee to wherever they thought they could  when tere is no more money to be made from selling emergency aid stuffs.  Civil wars and the (re-)creation of robber baron states.  The XL pipeline would be completed from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, but petroleum products would not be exported (except maybe to (f)GB).  Russia becomes the Evil Empire again until it collapses economically - again.

Most impotantly, satellite TV would not be interrupted by that Russian exercise lady.

Latino illegal immigration would continue but be overwhelmed by folks from the rest of the world floating across the oceans on leaky inner tubes, fleeing economic and political turmoil at home.

Yes, I am an optimist.

stay safe.

A rosy optimist

[vaskidmark]

A rosy optimist

Are you saying that Global Armageddon/TEOTWAWKI is a bad thing?  (I've been stocking up on TP and feminine hygiene products that I intend to barter for "stuff".  I've probably got the biggest supply of Big Lots' single-ply in the tri-state area.  )

stay safe.