The ordered freezing of resources used by the United States Agency for International Development is a frightful development. Judge Amir H. Ali ordered a stop to the freeze after several aid recipients with government contracts brought a lawsuit against the White House for terminating contracts with no notice, but the Trump/Musk administration has made no change to its course.
Foreign humanitarian aid has been a part of United States governmental spending since the end of World War II. This was a result of the Marshall Plan, a project to help rebuild war-torn Europe, Japan, and China, but it expanded into a preventative measure against war. The fact is that countries with less to gain from a war are less likely to start a war.
A humanitarian crisis looms alongside the potential national security crisis.
The funding and resource stoppage was all supposed to be as a review of the alleged rampant, irresponsible USAID spending. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt harped on the “insane priorities” of the USAID program, highlighting instances of a few hundred thousand dollars going to culture in countries such as Peru and Ireland, but the reason for that spotlight was to distract from the millions of dollars that are going to vital on-the-ground humanitarian organizations.
While the administration attempted to emphasize that they are only cutting the previously mentioned irresponsible spending, their actions seem to indicate otherwise. They are putting countless international staff on leave and outright firing 1600 USAID workers stateside. Workers who would be vital to functions in all parts of the agency.
The agency’s website, USAID.gov, has also been shut down, only displaying a message detailing how all personnel, except for “mission-critical” staff, will be placed on administrative leave.
I work at a nonprofit in Richardson called Feed My Starving Children that partners with international organizations to send food out to people around the world. With a 4/4-star rating on Charity Navigator, they don’t receive government funding, but many foreign partners do. The funding freeze has meant that a private nonprofit will have to supply even more food, taking up the slack left by the slashing of support from the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. Volunteers are more than welcomed to give their time and, the generous among them will make donations, but with a declining economy, comes less charitable giving, leading to our next problem.
The America first movement is not only nationalistic, but it falls flat when the sitting president is showing no interest in helping the economy for the average American consumer. So, not only is the slashing of USAID irresponsible and potentially dangerous, but the excuse that it was going to use the funding to help taxpayers has completely fallen through.
The scariest part to me, though, is the thousands upon thousands of people flooding to not only defend the Trump administration’s uncaring slashing of American workers’ agency and international relations, but also its complete disregard for historical precedent and government procedure.
In 1933, the country of the Weimar Republic was tired of feeling completely disrespected by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and when a man told them he had a plan to make everything better, they flocked to him. He established a dictatorship with himself at the center and told the people that they were superior to the world around them, but he first had to convince the people to give him and his party power. The people pressured the president to make him chancellor because they were convinced that he had their best interests at heart. The nations around them, rather than trying to provide aid to people who needed it, doubled down to collect on their war debts. When the now Chancellor established his dictatorship and convinced the people that the outside world was the problem, they began a campaign to show the world they were superior. I think you may know that man’s name.
Whether on the side of the nations refusing to provide aid to desperate people, or the flocks of people desperately clinging to a power that makes them feel good, despite leading to the desolation of their culture, internal trust, and ultimately led to the deaths of tens of millions. History doesn’t often repeat itself, but the writers of the script make sure it rhymes.
