Outdated

When I was younger, I rode a fixed-gear bicycle.

It was a nightmare. You try riding a fixy on Manhattan’s hilly Upper West Side in the 90’s and then come and tell me how awesome it was.

There’s a reason fixed-gear bicycles are a thing of the past, except in Williamsburg. They are outdated. Their structure, including the lack of handbrakes, makes them frankly dangerous in an urban environment.

In many ways, the USA’s policy in the Middle East reminds me of a fixed-gear bicycle. It is outdated, has not adapted to the times, and is dangerous.

But where a fixy these days helps your image, our policy is alienating us from people we may need as friends.

Consider the travesty of a reaction to Palestine’s admission as a member of UNESCO. Though many American officials, including President Obama, didn’t want to cut off funding to that most cerebral of UN bodies, a 15-year-old piece of reactionary legislation meant they had to stop underwriting any UN organ that admitted Palestine as a member.

As a result, UNESCO will find itself $70 million shorter as it seeks to, among other things:

Choose and help protect World Heritage Sites

Research water scarcity and how to respond

Fight for gender equality

Teach Afghan policemen how to read the laws they’re supposed to enforce

Condemn racism during soccer matches…

The list goes on.

This will not reflect well on the USA. Our country was one of only 14 to vote against Palestine’s admission to UNESCO. 

The votes for? 107.

Do some quick math – we’re about 7.6 times less popular than we were. From the director of UNESCO to the President of Bolivia, the American stance on Palestine's UNESCO membership has drawn little but criticism. Israel, however, was so grateful that it once again flouted American demands by hastening the construction of new housing units in occupied East Jerusalem.

A pity the world can't be more like Williamsburg. Our fixed-gear policy would be trendy.