Episode Details

Today on Based Camp, we discuss the purpose, history, and utility of the UN and NATO. Do they make sense in the modern geopolitical landscape? Do they make sense in the face of demographic collapse?

As people who constantly rail on bureaucratic bloat and mission creep, you might be able to guess where we fall… but what do you think? We’re keen to read your opinions in the comments.

Show Notes

A typical middle-income American household is paying $337.50 annually on the European theatre and NATO-related missions via their taxes

* Per household, middle of the income distribution: USAFacts reports that in 2021, families in the middle 20% of the income distribution paid about 10,391 dollars per year in federal income tax alone.

* So for a middle‑income household paying 10,391 dollars in federal income tax, a good ballpark is about 1,500 dollars of that going to national defense in a recent‑years sense.

* And one mainstream estimate is that roughly 20–25 percent of total U.S. military spending is devoted to the European theater and NATO‑related missions (forces, bases, exercises, enablers, nuclear posture)

* With U.S. military spending around 850–900 billion dollars per year in the mid‑2020s, that implies on the order of 170–225 billion dollars annually that can reasonably be tied to European and NATO deterrence, broadly defined

* 1500*.225= $337.50

Meanwhile, what is NATO doing for us?

I vote we not only leave NATO but also leave the UN (roughly $90-100 per year is paid to the UN per tax return / tax paying household—this includes lower-income households).

Why NATO Was Created

Basically to fight commies during the cold war

* It emerged in the early Cold War as a direct response to the Soviet Union’s expansionist actions, including the domination of Central and Eastern Europe behind the “Iron Curtain.”

* Western European nations were still recovering from World War II, and the U.S. and Canada sought to deter further Soviet aggression through collective strength rather than unilateral action.

It operates within the UN Charter framework (explicitly referencing Article 51 on self-defense) but focuses on military readiness

What Nato Does

* Coordinate on defense, crisis management, and cooperative security

* Like a neighborhood watch group

* Participants voluntarily join

* They coordinate on security and defensive action

* They sometimes partner with non-members to promote stability beyond their own borders

* They meet occasionally to strategize and troubleshoot

Key functions:

* Regular consultations in the North Atlantic Council (NATO’s main decision-making body).

* Joint military planning, exercises, standardization of equipment/procedures, and integrated command structures.

* Deployment of standing forces, rapid-reaction units, and multinational battlegroups (e.g., on the eastern flank).

* Common-funded activities like infrastructure, command structures, and some operations (though the vast majority of capabilities come from national forces contributed by members).

Article 5 (Collective Defence): An armed attack against one member in Europe or North America is considered an attack against all. Each member must assist the attacked party “forthwith… such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force,” in line with UN Charter Article 51 (individual/collective self-defence). The response is decided individually by each member but coordinated through NATO. It applies only to armed attacks (traditionally state-on-state, but clarified to potentially include significant cyber or hybrid attacks) in the defined North Atlantic area.

* IMPORTANT: The Article 5 commitment (“attack on one is an attack on all”)