I was sickened to read the other day, that Musk/Trump (Mump) is considering stopping USAID – started in 1961 by JFK. The article I read went on to say that “foreign aid doesn’t poll well in the US”.
Well guess what… foreign aid doesn’t ‘poll well’ anywhere. Most governments don’t ask the voters for their opinions on foreign aid. Imagine the response if you ask young families needing two incomes just to meet the mortgage payments, or pensioners wondering if they can afford a Sunday joint, or shop assistants on minimum wage… “do you mind if we send some of your hard-earned tax £/$/€ to help some orphanage in Burundi?”
Foreign aid is just something that enlightened governments do. It’s a form of charity, which is a Christian virtue, and I wonder if the irony of Mump’s tactics is lost on the millions of evangelicals who voted for both of them. Like most charities, the benefits of foreign aid are not always immediately apparent.
But foreign aid isn’t even pure altruism… it doesn’t take much imagination to see how things like poverty, famine, water rights, disease, etc. could cause civil wars, displaced populations and other humanitarian crises. All of which can destabilise whole regions, often with global consequences.
Foreign aid is also something advocated by the UN. I can’t remember the wording but I think there’s a guideline of 1% of the country’s GDP… richer countries should pay more than poorer countries. Well as the richest country on the planet, to the USA’s shame, they’ve been dragging their feet on foreign aid for some years. The last time I looked, America was placed bottom of the top 20 industrialized nations, with 0.17% of its gross national product… Sweden by the way tops the list with 1.40%, and Britain is 6th with 0.71%.
Anyway, the point is that Mump thinks that 0.17% is too much. Musk was on the TV calling USAID “a criminal organisation”, and lying through his teeth that USAID recently paid for some Hollywood stars to go to the Ukraine. Trump had said that it “…had been run by a bunch of radical lunatics”. Well, I guess he would know…
But here’s a thought… We were on Mediterranean cruise when the US election happened in November, and based a straw poll on board, and supported by my own experiences, there are an awful lot of people who will NOT be holidaying in the States while this MAGA crowd are in control. The US currently spends $68 billion p/a on foreign aid (2023, the last year reported), and the USA’s annual income from international tourism is $210 billion.
So… if Mump sacks all the MAGA Republicans and reins-in his fascist agenda, tourism would be safe and they can afford their foreign aid bills. Everyone wins.
