The Left really wants to have their proverbial cake and eat it, too. Just ask a Lefty, and they'll gladly tell you America is an evil colonizer populated with racist white supremacists and that we harm other nations with our policies and politics.
But they'll also tell us the world cannot function without America acting like the world's piggy bank, and that we have to give money -- billions of dollars -- to other countries to help them out.
Now that Donald Trump is in office and government spending is under a very critical eye, the Left is not happy that America's era of largess is coming to an end.
We completely expect the Left to try the usual arguments: it's racist, it's xenophobic, etc. etc.
But this argument from The Economist is a new one for us:
When so much assistance to so many of the world’s needy disappears overnight, as it did when America’s State Department ordered almost all aid to be cut, the harm was visible everywhere https://t.co/x7RR8w9TBQ 👇
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) January 30, 2025
Since when has The Economist cared about hurting America? That's kind of a feature to them, and not a bug.
But here we are.
Foreign aid is easy to decry. Money is often wasted or stolen. Its benefits are hard to see. And giving money to foreigners means less for voters at home. That makes it an ideal target for the America First president, Donald Trump.
But when so much assistance to so many of the world’s needy disappears overnight, as it did when the State Department ordered almost all aid to be cut on January 24th, the harm was visible everywhere. Clinics closed their doors; antiretroviral drugs to treat those infected with HIV dried up; work on controlling other viruses ceased; the clearing of land-mines stopped; support for refugees evaporated. The American-backed camps holding captured Islamic State fighters in Syria won a two-week waiver to keep receiving funds, which is only somewhat reassuring.
All this was a gift for China as it vies with America for soft-power supremacy. Why would an American president, even one so careless as Mr Trump, so wantonly damage his country’s interests? One reason is public opinion. Americans think that foreign aid gobbles up a massive 25% of the federal budget, polls say. The real figure is closer to 1% ($68bn in 2023, not counting most aid to Ukraine). That’s a very modest 0.25% of GDP.
So if foreign aid is such a small part of the budget, cutting it is also no big deal.
Seems it’s time other countries start to pay “their fair share”.
— Queen Velvet (@TMIWITW) January 30, 2025
The Left is really big on people paying their fair share, after all.
I'm sorry they have grown accustomed to free money with zero accountability. Where is all the other foreign aide? Why don't they have the infrastructure by now, post three decades later of free money?
— Redneck Rogue Elf, 🐿 Whisperer (@TheRogue_Elf) January 30, 2025
Excellent questions, all.
How @TheEconomist conveniently ignores the corruption within aid orgs. https://t.co/qQHlz9MQOA
— Redkesh (@Observer511) January 30, 2025
So convenient, no?
How many more decades of aid are required before these “impoverished” countries can stand on their own two feet? Perhaps it is the aid itself that is preventing them from fixing their problems, beginning with unsustainably high birth rates.
— Fried Eggs on Rice (@div_thought) January 30, 2025
Eventually, it's not about the money.
How about America's needy?
— Redpill OD 💊 (@redpill0D) January 30, 2025
'Forget about them.' - The Economist, probably.
NC, HI and CA all need to be prioritized over foreign aid.
— DG (@dgtimeisup) January 30, 2025
They sure do.
Cry more.
— Clete Torres 🇺🇸 🛦🔫 (@CleteTorres) January 30, 2025
Americans are tired of propping up the world, half of which holds out an open hand for aid, while the other hand holds a knife to stab us in the back. https://t.co/wSrw0mkBmm
Even the former president of Kenya told foreign nations to stop crying about this.
America is $36 trillion in debt and climbing. It's time to stop spending where we don't need to.
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