UN--to be or not to be isolationist

i walked into my office this morning listening to my boss go off about how the UN should be abolished and the current area should be converted into condos...my argument was that despite the lack of accomplishments, it's the only entity that allows for 191 + countries to get together and have a dialogue...

there's always that argument that the US is the dominant figure in the world and we shouldnt have to engage in such dialogue...while i agree that the US is a dominant figure, i think we need to learn from our foreign counterparts...i learned this especially on of course...my travels...

in europe i have visited the following countries: england, spain, france, switzerland, austria, the czech republic and italy....all of these countries had their time as a superpower and now are part of the european union where there's a fine line between the economic and cultural boundaries....the one thing i think americans can take away from these countries in the european union is to take some time and smell the flowers....the amount of cafes and open gardens in these countries just amazed me...and people do not work as much as americans do. yes we are a superpower because the amount of work we produce, but we do not know how to relax... how many of us leave work and go straight to a cafe and read a book or meet a friend? most of the time, we're running home or running to the next church meeting event/service and we forget that it's okay to just take about an hour out of our day to slow down...we can put down our blackberries, iphones, and other technologies that are supposed to keep us in touch but in fact create a reality where we are really far removed from the face to face contact.

while we are the current superpower, we do not want exhaustion be the reason for our downfall...we can work hard but at the same time IT'S OKAY TO RELAX...

enjoy watching the spectle for the next week with the UN General Assembly where figures like Gaddafi, who gave a very bizarre speech, are entertained in the great nation and the best city on this earth :)