Slayer of Paper wrote:
Judging be many of your other posts, you're certainly not the statist you appear to be in this thread. Why you're posting like this I'm not sure, but I'll go ahead and answer as if you were the U.N lover you appear to be.
I'm no lover of the U.N., and I'm certainly no statist, but I realize Americans, particularly the pro-cop Americans, are, and big ones, at that. If we're forced to live under an omnipotent regime, a foreign one is preferable to this brutal state.
I have considered that. Freer? In what dream world? Safer? Safety -or security, being somehow protected from those who would do you harm- is an illusion. There are a few things that can be done that will make it less likely you will be harmed, most of them things you do yourself (such as always being armed, staying in a heightened state of situational awareness, and getting defensive training), but it simply is not possible to be completely safe and secure.
My greatest fear, and the only armed threat I've ever encountered, is the police. Police are the greatest enemy America has ever faced. I'll support whatever reduces their power. If answering to a U.N. field officer mollifies the police, let's try it. We really have nothing to lose, at this point. Our taxes are as high as Europe, and we have the most people in prison of any country in the world. Every time we see a police car, we worry whether we will go home.
How would we be less free? Well, if the blue helmets were contollng the streets, would I be able to walk down them openly armed without being harassed or asked for my "papers"? Who exactly would pay for these "peacekeepers"? Would the confiscation of my wealth (taxes) increase because of them?
You can't walk around freely now. Cops ask people for identification, all the time, and telling them to buzz off will get you electrocuted. I'm willing to see if another power is more polite about it.
Would foreign troops be more tolerant, compassionate, and less violent that the police? What do you base that assessment on? Also, do you think criminals would respect blue helmets more than they do police? Would they respect international law, even though they ignore American laws?
The typical "criminal" is a drug user or traffic violator. If we had drug and traffic laws that more closely matched other countries (sans England), cops could stop this nonsense about being in "law enforcement" and return to keeping the peace. Our police are one of the most savage armies ever seen. How can any other army be any worse?
At this point, I'd be willing to send a case of beer to their local barracks and wish them all the best. I'd make a note of their stations and posts so I could run there for safety from the police.
You can wish for such an experiment all you want. I say it's a good thing that it's not your call. Personally, I think the experiment would end up with a lot of dead foreigners wearing blue helmets.
You really don't have a good bead on the sentiments of the majority of America. If U.N. troops were here, it would be as a result of something so damaging that the country would be on the verge of disintegration. U.N. troops would be welcome and would keep order in some regions, while letting other regions, such as Dixie, the Plains and the Mountain West, go bankrupt out of economic isolation.
I wonder whether I'd be freer if the American Revolution never happened. Without a Revolution, there is no Louisiana Purchase, and France might still have control over most of America. I'd eagerly vote to rescind the exchange.