UN Agenda 2030

US Sovereignty and the UN's Pathetic Agenda 2030

By E. Jeffrey Ludwig

The UN has morphed from being an organization for greater world cooperation to a body strategizing for world governance. And shockingly, too many Americans are unwittingly embracing those strategies. There is a fifth column in our country that is committed to subverting our sovereignty.  However, President Donald Trump came out foursquare in defense of American sovereignty when he withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords. His announcement of that withdrawal was made in the Rose Garden almost two years ago. 

Recently, our President has also withdrawn the U.S. signature on the UN Arms Trade Treaty, and he has sent a letter to the U.S. Senate recommending that this pact not be considered for a vote by the Senate.  Again, the premise for formal withdrawal is the threat perceived by the President to U.S. sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Trump’s political opposition has bitterly and unconscionably turned against his emphasis on sovereignty by characterizing it first as “nationalism,” and then as “white nationalism,” and ultimately as “Hiterlian” or “Nazi-style nationalism.”  For any reasonable person who studied history in high school and in college, it is obvious that there are good nationalisms and bad nationalisms. Our Judeo-Christian ethical values, legal system, spiritual foundation, prosperity, emphasis upon rights, respect for the individual, private ownership of property, belief in autonomy and personal responsibility, and commitment to “liberty and justice for all” (always a work in progress) make for a unique and successful nation-state worthy of upholding and defending.

However, “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” was adopted by the United Nations during the Obama Presidency (2015), and thus far has not met with any unusual objections from the Trump administration even though it poses a threat to our sovereignty. 

Although the original U.N. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” (1948) placed its greatest emphasis upon rights, that document is now supplemented and superseded by Agenda 2030 which only mentions “rights” one time in Article 19.  In the other 90 articles of this latest document, the word “rights” does not appear.  Instead, in its stream-of-consciousness, mellifluous writing style, it repeatedly refers to “needs” and “sustainable development” as the buzz words around which to justify governance on a global scale, interference with local laws and institutions, and the ideals of a world economy that is anything but free. 

For example, consider Article 9, which states: “We envisage a world in which every country enjoys sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work for all. A world in which consumption and production patterns and use of all natural resources -- from air to land, from rivers, lakes and aquifers to oceans and seas -- are sustainable.”  Agenda 2030 is driven by the fear that in our race for productivity, “decent work,” and growth we will destroy our planet.  This “vision” is of a planet that cannot sustain itself because of the contamination of the planet occasioned by the intense productivity of major developed countries. 

But is there not a kind of schizophrenia built into the above conception?  On the one hand, the most developed countries have an obligation not to use up the planet’s resources and not to use resources in a way that they destroy the planet; but on the other hand, the poorer and poorest of countries will need to become more productive and need to get even more cash and more resources from the wealthier countries at the same time as those countries are presumably downsizing to “protect” the world. 

How can richer countries successfully help poorer countries unless they increase their productivity and thus their wealth?  And how can poor countries without flush toilets, regular brushing of teeth, a consistent, disciplined work ethic, viable banking and governmental institutions, and leadership with integrity, hope to increase their wealth?