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>This is a good thing. True international law requires a world government which would be an unbearable restriction of freedom. The UN is a proto World Governme

by s_dev 5y ago

>This is a good thing. True international law requires a world government which would be an unbearable restriction of freedom. The UN is a proto World Government. Einstein, Churchill, Gandhi etc. said was needed in the Nuclear age. The League of Nations was largely useless in preventing WWII. What ultimatley emerged is the UN Security Council which starts to aspire to what you're talking about -- it's not a pipe dream nor a tyranical organisation that restricts freedom.

slibhb 5y ago
Of course the UN is a proto world government. And the history of the UN is a history of impotence. The UN couldn't stop a genocide in Rwanda committed with fucking machetes. Is the UN a good thing? It's good that states talk to each other. But as a government, as a law-making and law-keeping entity, the UN is a joke.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
tengbretson 5y ago
Why would anyone care what Einstein had to say about governance?
- gonational 5y ago
  Especially now that we know Einstein was responsible for the discovery of basically nothing. Not only did he stand on the shoulders of giants, but he essentially lifted much of his special theory of relativity from the thoughts and musings of Ernst Mach, amongst other earlier actual geniuses. Once you learn to appreciate these facts, the lore of Einstein fades, and Einstein becomes something the charlatan who traveled from here to there talking with important people, and playing science politics. Pertaining the "atom bomb", Oppenheimer was instrumental in managing the Manhattan project... Einstein was sent a letter that described, at a high-level, what was going to be worked on, asking whether it seemed legit; he replied, essentially saying, "yeah that should work". Einstein's only contribution to science was the photoelectric effect, which also leaned on the prior efforts of Alexandre Becquerel, et al.
  - ben_w 5y ago
    As someone currently working though the entirety of brilliant.org, I can say that even merely being able to comprehend the Einstein field equations well enough to produce coherent results is impressive — inventing it, even with help, more so. Everyone leans on the shoulders of giants; it is neither secret nor shameful. This is not to deny there are embellishments in his life story. Personally, I suspect his “Miracle year” was him publishing his wife’s work as his own [0]. Given systematic sexism of the era, there is at minimum reason to at least suspect she would’ve had difficulty publishing herself, so even this isn’t as harsh a claim against Einstein as it would be if it happened today, yet it would still be embellishment even at the time. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mileva_Marić https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mileva_Marić
refurb 5y ago
The UN is a proto-world government but there is no “UN force”, only member states who agree to provide forces (and are free to withdrawal at any time as we saw in Rwanda when the genocide kicked off). So in essence it’s not World government but rather a collection of member states who sometimes collaborate under the UN banner (with enhanced legitimacy) to do what states do anyways - use force against other states to get their way. And if you notice, the superpowers often use it that way - vetoing things they disagree with (usually in a self-serving way), abstaining for things they are neutral about and wholehearted backing strategically advantageous UN missions. It’s a big reason why the UN just isn’t that effective.

by s_dev 5y ago

slibhb 5y ago

Of course the UN is a proto world government. And the history of the UN is a history of impotence. The UN couldn't stop a genocide in Rwanda committed with fucking machetes. Is the UN a good thing? It's good that states talk to each other. But as a government, as a law-making and law-keeping entity, the UN is a joke.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

tengbretson 5y ago

Why would anyone care what Einstein had to say about governance?

gonational 5y ago
Especially now that we know Einstein was responsible for the discovery of basically nothing. Not only did he stand on the shoulders of giants, but he essentially lifted much of his special theory of relativity from the thoughts and musings of Ernst Mach, amongst other earlier actual geniuses. Once you learn to appreciate these facts, the lore of Einstein fades, and Einstein becomes something the charlatan who traveled from here to there talking with important people, and playing science politics. Pertaining the "atom bomb", Oppenheimer was instrumental in managing the Manhattan project... Einstein was sent a letter that described, at a high-level, what was going to be worked on, asking whether it seemed legit; he replied, essentially saying, "yeah that should work". Einstein's only contribution to science was the photoelectric effect, which also leaned on the prior efforts of Alexandre Becquerel, et al.
- ben_w 5y ago
  As someone currently working though the entirety of brilliant.org, I can say that even merely being able to comprehend the Einstein field equations well enough to produce coherent results is impressive — inventing it, even with help, more so. Everyone leans on the shoulders of giants; it is neither secret nor shameful. This is not to deny there are embellishments in his life story. Personally, I suspect his “Miracle year” was him publishing his wife’s work as his own [0]. Given systematic sexism of the era, there is at minimum reason to at least suspect she would’ve had difficulty publishing herself, so even this isn’t as harsh a claim against Einstein as it would be if it happened today, yet it would still be embellishment even at the time. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mileva_Marić https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mileva_Marić

refurb 5y ago

The UN is a proto-world government but there is no “UN force”, only member states who agree to provide forces (and are free to withdrawal at any time as we saw in Rwanda when the genocide kicked off). So in essence it’s not World government but rather a collection of member states who sometimes collaborate under the UN banner (with enhanced legitimacy) to do what states do anyways - use force against other states to get their way. And if you notice, the superpowers often use it that way - vetoing things they disagree with (usually in a self-serving way), abstaining for things they are neutral about and wholehearted backing strategically advantageous UN missions. It’s a big reason why the UN just isn’t that effective.