Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on February 18, 2004 07:34 AM
America is what it is, don't expect it to be another western Eurpoean country. We're not a democracy, we're a representative republic. The president is picked by the electoral college to moderate the effect a single state can have on the election. A debate of the merits of the American political system is so far off the topic as to be laughable in this context.
The real issue is that any member of the UN should hold the best interests of its citizens above those of the world at large. If the interests of a country are contrary to the desires of the UN, it would be irresponsible of that country to endorse the UN's plans. Microsoft, and several other companies, make a lot of money from proprietary software and they employ many people. American politicians would be foolish to ignore the pleadings of these multi-billion dollar companies, whether they're true or not. If this all adds up to sinking a UN project because the US doesn't support it, then so be it. There's nothing stopping other member nations from doing what needs to be done outside of the UN. I'd hate to see people in war-torn, poverty-stricken, AIDS-infested, disease-ridden, subsaharan Africa having to face another day without Internet access.
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Re:so proud
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on February 18, 2004 07:34 AMThe real issue is that any member of the UN should hold the best interests of its citizens above those of the world at large. If the interests of a country are contrary to the desires of the UN, it would be irresponsible of that country to endorse the UN's plans. Microsoft, and several other companies, make a lot of money from proprietary software and they employ many people. American politicians would be foolish to ignore the pleadings of these multi-billion dollar companies, whether they're true or not. If this all adds up to sinking a UN project because the US doesn't support it, then so be it. There's nothing stopping other member nations from doing what needs to be done outside of the UN. I'd hate to see people in war-torn, poverty-stricken, AIDS-infested, disease-ridden, subsaharan Africa having to face another day without Internet access.
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