Tuesday, March 29, 2011
United Abominations?
Well, since I did some analysis yesterday, it's time to have a bit of fun. But before we do that, a bit of history. In 2007, the heavy metal band Megadeth (one of my personal favorites) released an album titled "United Abominations," in which vocalist/rythym guitarist Dave Mustaine has a very clear message to the UN, as one could easily deduce from the title and album cover, which features the band's amscot Vic Rattlehead blowing up the UN building with oil barrels. There are a lot of tracks from the album that are politically "interesting", to say the least, but since I love the UN so darn much, I'm going to look at the title track. Mustaine talks about how "ambassadors from countries otherwise known as a catastrophe" live in Manhattan while we pay them and "their children are turned into prostitutes." Now, I don't have intimate experience in that particular field, but I somewhat doubt that is a common occurence, and even if it was, how is that an argument against having the United Nations? The effectiveness of an organization has nothing to do with the life decisions its representatives' children make. More importantly, I don't think I have to point out that the UN does not encourage young men and women to become prostitutes. It's a peculiar point, to say the least. To be fair, though, that isn't his main point, and even though it's funny, that isn't really why I wrote this post up. The song goes on to deplore the UN for, among other things, not responding to a terrorist attack on a discotheque, not invading Afghanistan with the US, and not invading Iraq with the US. All of these arguments seem to lack a fundamental knowledge of what the UN actually can or should do. Deploying peacekeepers to Afghanistan or Iraq would be pointless at best, since the whole point of those actions were violent operations. Essentially, Mustaine thinks that the UN messes up the US's foreign policy by not participating in it. Personally, I don't think the UN is supposed to push the US's foreign policy along, and it certainly doesn't need to be wiped off the face of the earth. But what do you guys think? Do you agree with me or Dave Mustaine? At any rate, I recommend listening to the song (which you can find on Youtube; just type in "megadeth united abominations") and leaving a comment about what you think the role of the UN should be.
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3 comments:
Leave it to Brendan to find a connection between heavy metal and world politics. But on a serious note, it's very interesting that you should bring this up for a number of reasons. While I think the lyrics of this particular song tackle a more "pathos" esque approach, I can't really fault them for their qualms with the UN. I think Megadeth and I would agree that the UN ought to have a little more authority when it comes to their "peacekeeping" ability. I think this became pretty obvious during the Rwanda genocide in 1994, where a UN response took too long, and by the time "troops" were deployed, it was too late. If I'm not mistaken,the UN is more like a sophisticated confederacy, isn't it? All countries working together with one key "leader"--Ban Ki Moon. The countries of the world ought to consent to let the UN have a little more sovereignty, although this isn't really practical, is it? It would require those countries to give up power, and that might just not seem worthwhile.
I agree with you, Alex, as odd as it sounds. To explain, I must admit that I probably didn't quite explain the song well enough. While Megadeth is criticizing the UN for not doing enough, most of Mustaine's complaints relate to it not supporting US actions that might not have the full support of the community, and is a bit about it getting in the way of American power.
I actually fully agree with you about allowing countries to give the UN more sovereignty and that the peacekeeping ability should have more authority. I don't think that's quite what Megadeth meant, however. I think that their qualms are partially legitimate, like you said. I just don't think that Dave Mustaine would really agree with your solution.
although i do believe the UN should take a much larger role in the grand scheme of international relations, i think the singer of megadeth may be a bit ignorant on the part of the UN. the UN isnt the most efficient organization, but i think they are under-appreciated, as they hold an important spot in world affairs, and at least attempt to solve some of the world's conflicts. i believe they should garner more respect than they usually get
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