The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon has proclaimed that "No one should live below a certain income level." How nice of him. He, as head of the UN, is calling for a new era in which all the people of the world have access to basic services and "decently" paying jobs. How thoughtful. He was speaking about the annual "World Day of Social Justice," and promoted a "social protection floor" which would guarantee food security, health services and old age pensions for all.
Does he propose that UN dignitaries give up their first-class travel and accommodations for the for the sake of the poor? No, coach fares are for the subservient little people, not for important celebrities like themselves. Does he propose that all UN employees give up their high salaries and accept a more moderate wage closer to the world average so there will be more left over for the poor? No, people of their position expect pay that is commensurate with their high level of self-importance. Does he propose cutting off support for corrupt dictators who are the primary cause of poverty and misery? Certainly not. They are the source of votes for extension of the United Nation?s tentacles and the base of every kind of support except financial. Does he think that billionaire socialists like George Soros and Maurice Strong should give up their vast fortunes to prove their sincerity toward the ideals of economic equality? No, of course not. Equality is only for the common man. In George Orwell's penetrating words from "Animal Farm," "All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
From where do the decently paying jobs and the prosperity to support basic services come? They come from, and have always come from, the positive incentives embodied in economic freedom and property rights. Throughout history, people have escaped the cruelty of nature and have arisen from destitution only when the masses of people have been free to trade their labor and goods and to prosper from their trading. There is no other way. Countries which are only partly socialized, including America, are limiting their progress and slowly falling into stagnation, postponing the violent collapse, the day of reckoning unavoidable with socialism.
A 2006 UN report entitled "Social Justice in an Open World," serves as a backdrop for Ban Ki-moon's proposals and their implications. It highlights the inherent contradictions of socialism, which is the very heart of the United Nations organization and its agenda for the world. It explains in one chapter that social justice is the equivalent of distributive justice. "Issues relating to the distributive and redistributive effects of social and economic policies - issues of justice - have therefore been addressed separately from issues of rights." It must necessarily be that way because there can be no coherent discussion of the rights of individuals when redistribution is, by its very nature, the violation of property rights. Redistribution is undeniably the use or threat of coercion and violence to steal from one person to give to another. But what is the real nature of justice?
Justice means not taking things which don't belong to you. It means not using force or coercion to get what you want. It means voluntary interaction between people who are free to choose. It means not injuring or killing another person. In short, it means honoring the rights of every person, from millionaires to street sweepers, to their own life, liberty and property.
The United Nations is the face of international socialism and, as such, is the greatest threat to the security and prosperity of all nations. If it wishes to remain a free and sovereign country, protecting the rights of its citizens, which is its primary function, the United States must extract itself from that organization and expel it from American soil. Socialism and freedom are absolutely and entirely antagonistic. Socialism is, in its essence and in its practical application, a violation of every principle upon which the United States was founded.
Our politicians and intellectuals who support the United Nations are supporting the end of American sovereignty and subjection to an unelected, unaccountable foreign power. They are supporting the dismantling of the rights of individuals and substituting the will of powerful, self-serving, global politicians who fancy themselves as kings or presidents of the world. We need politicians who will stand up for the people of America and face down the organization which has taken over where the Soviet Union left off.
Dan McLaughlin is a columnist for The Post-Journal.Contact him at danmcl999@roadrunner.com. Visit www.aboutfreedom.org for more columns and information on freedom and limited government.