"It's time to remember that other people live around us"

September 27, 2010 7:50 AM

Winners of the UN Citizen Ambassadors "What would you say...if you had the chance to talk to world leaders?" A video contest held by the UN to encourage "world citizens" to participate in global issues has picked 6 winners: Africa. Asia. Eastern Europe. Latin America & the Caribbean. Western Europe and Other States*. Host Country (United States).

You can follow the UN Citizen Ambassadors here.

* Australia?!?

posted by Deathalicious (9 comments total)

I would probably say "All your base are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time."

This is why I am not a UN Citizen Ambassador.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:03 AM on September 27, 2010

I like that the one comment on the US video is from the African winner.

#
toyetube
1 week ago

This is super-brilliant!

posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:11 AM on September 27, 2010

"What would you say...if you had the chance to talk to world leaders?"

STOP BEING JERKS
posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:16 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was thinking that I might lob some kind of soft-ball feel-good kind of question scenario, then have people more clever than myself come up with something scathing to ask during an assembly. Looks like that wouldn't've worked. Also- That's some good quality videos. I guess I was expecting handycam style.
posted by LD Feral at 8:44 AM on September 27, 2010

Is it just me, or does the Western Europe video read almost like some sort of campaign ad? I like their sentiments, but their logic seems a bit too emotionally charged to convince me.

Also, I'd really love to read a translation of the Latin American one. I couldn't understand them, but I want to know what they're saying.
posted by ralenys at 8:55 AM on September 27, 2010

Amusing try, but a game show does not make for Democracy.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:00 AM on September 27, 2010

Ralenys, the youtube video linked in the post has subtitles.

I'm really surprised at the low numbers of views for these videos. These are great.
posted by KGMoney at 9:57 AM on September 27, 2010

to reply to the comment by EndsOfInvention, if you tell someone to stop being a jerk, what it means is, stop doing things that I don't like. It is not specific enough to mean anything. No world leaders (even Kim Jong Il) consider themselves to be jerks, and they would not even know what it is that you disapprove of, if all you told them was to stop being jerks.

Of course, even if you told them exactly what you wanted in full detail, chances are they still wouldn't comply with your wishes. Your only chance of influencing world leaders is to ask them to do something that they already want to do, but perhaps they hadn't figured it out in as much detail as you did. You can sometimes collaborate with world leaders (if you're lucky), but you almost certainly can't cause them to change course.
posted by grizzled at 11:30 AM on September 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well I was going to say STOP TORTURING, STOP KILLING CIVILIANS, STOP BAILING OUT BANKS WHO GOT THEMSELVES INTO TROUBLE, STOP SUBSIDISING FOSSIL FUEL ENERGY AND UNDERFUNDING RENEWABLES, STOP POLLUTING, STOP IMPRISONING PEOPLE FOR THEIR POLITICAL OR RELIGIOUS VIEWS, STOP SPENDING ALL YOUR MONEY ON YOUR MILITARY AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR COUNTRY'S EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS, STOP DESTROYING IMPORTANT WILDLIFE HABITATS, STOP STARTING UNNECESSARY WARS, STOP DISCRIMINATING AGAINST PEOPLE BASED ON THEIR RACE, SKIN COLOUR OR ETHNICITY, STOP STARVING YOUR OWN POPULACE, AND STOP DOING A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF I HAVEN'T LISTED BUT THAT IS GENERALLY JERKISH STUFF TO DO but you know it doesn't really roll off the tongue so easily.

Of course, even if you told them exactly what you wanted in full detail, chances are they still wouldn't comply with your wishes. Your only chance of influencing world leaders is to ask them to do something that they already want to do, but perhaps they hadn't figured it out in as much detail as you did.

But yeah, so why bother, eh?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:54 AM on September 28, 2010