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USAID is an instrument of soft power, not a charitable cause. The power, influence and goodwill that the US obtains from USAID isn’t something that individual c
by foldr 2y ago
USAID is an instrument of soft power, not a charitable cause. The power, influence and goodwill that the US obtains from USAID isn’t something that individual charitable donations can achieve. Bribing a country is generally a much better way to get its cooperation than a military threat because (i) it makes the country more friendly rather than pissing it off, and (ii) you don’t have to go to the trouble and expense of starting occasional wars to underline the credibility of your military threats.
- ttyprintk 2y agoCertainly that’s true for at the founding and during Carter. Totally incompatible now: Aid during climate catastrophes connotes some US responsibility for them. There’s no actual room where a formidable billionaire shapes the terms of aid. The bigly of which is: this aid depends on enforcing zero migrants by any means. Sadly, the vaccination component of USAID will work against it, too. The US is dealing with vaccine conspiracy theorists, and the only effective response I’ve heard is: the influence campaign to sew doubt about vaccines is having great success weakening the US and will now move on to depopulating the third world.