this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2025
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Trump administration cuts million dollars donation for Nepal.

top 32 comments
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[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 35 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Tripping over pennies to lose dollars. These turds do not understand soft power and international trade.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 15 points 3 weeks ago

Yup. And by the end of the week China will step in and replace all of that funding.

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 33 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Funding all of these things cost every American a grand total of $2.14 each per year (assuming these costs are annual). (729M total cost, 340.1M US population as of July 2024.) He uses these big numbers to make the whole thing seem scary, but the cost is completely insignificant. The average person has no concept of just how much money the government brings in, and how completely meaningless dollar amounts of this magnitude are, and all of these sort of reports take advantage of that to make people angry.

Another way to look at it: The total cost of all of these initiatives is less than 0.1% of the US's annual military budget.

[–] Makeitstop@lemmy.world 16 points 3 weeks ago

And far less than the amount of money that either Trump or Musk will have funneled to themselves and their businesses over the next few years.

[–] Photuris@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

But Musk’s companies are getting more lucrative government contracts, paid for by the taxpayer, so that’s cool I guess.

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Hypocrisy is an expression of power.

We've got to start treating this for what it is. Every time they do something hypocritical it's on fucking purpose. It's to show us that they can do it, and we cannot. That is very, very purposeful.

Let's dispel with this fiction that Elon Musk doesn't know what he is doing. He knows exactly what he is doing.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 3 points 3 weeks ago

That's a really good point. And very true. You can see it in practice at any job a manager tells someone not to do something, and then does that same thing carefree. All that is, is an expression of power.

[–] randoot@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

They're also completely ignoring the return on investment of these funds. China is busy investing around the globe to sow pro Chinese sentiment everywhere. If you want democracy to thrive these are the types of investment that can buy your side long term alliances. But we already know they don't want democracy to survive.

[–] Blade9732@lemmy.world 20 points 3 weeks ago

This whole list amounts to $729 million. That is 20% of the $3.5 billion in additional money we sent in one month to Israel to buy bombs and missiles. You can see what kind of goodwill our government is really interested in "spreading". Maybe the USAID money was well spent and we could do something about the money that is going to death, misery and creating more hate against us? Crazy talk, I know.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Its insane that these guys don’t realise that USAID and all these programs are all about soft power. So many of these countries are going to turn on the US and they’re going to shocked pikachu face when a bunch of new wars and terror attacks spring up.

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They do, they just don't care.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't think they're aware that they're actively dismantling US empire by doing shit like this. They just think "this is charity. charity bad"

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I think they are absolutely aware. Musk has business in China. This is a gift to them so they scratch his back in return.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

I don’t agree. A quid pro quo with China and this admin would involve removing tariffs, not something so indirect like this.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

They do, they are just removing the soft power “carrot” and are going to rely on military force instead. They rely on forcing people to conform because that’s all they know how to do as corporate dictators. Just view their actions as that of CEOs. The little people don’t matter and will do what they’re told. Manipulate investors and PR for more money and control. Take your golden parachute when everything falls apart.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago

They are deliberately not giving the time scale on these things, and this is all from inception of these programs. This is a cumulative total of spending over decades in most cases, and definitely over many years for others.

Fuck these assholes for trying to justify their existence.

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

What in all of that list am I supposed to be upset about? All i see are good causes to better medical and Democratic outcomes in other countries.

[–] Photuris@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I’d rather my tax dollars be spent on these things, than more cyber trucks or whatever.

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Any sane semi-intelligent human would agree but we don't live in that world.

Kinda curious what the reaction are but not enough to give that Nazi traffic.

[–] blakenong@lemmings.world 9 points 3 weeks ago

Look how they snuck empowering women (in the USA) in the middle

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 7 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Why highlight Nepal specifically? You could highlight any country in the list and say funds were cut

[–] arunshah240@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago

Because I'm Nepali citizen

[–] INHALE_VEGETABLES@aussie.zone 20 points 3 weeks ago

Op is a shill for Big Nepal

[–] Bonus@lemm.ee 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Leave it to the trump regime to fuck around and revive things like the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

[–] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Which America pretty much let happen. We were happy to fuck around in Vietnam, where we lost, and Korea but Cambodia? Nothing to see there folks.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Korea but Cambodia

completely agree about cambodia, nixon's hideous bullshit there is still killing kids through unexploded ord. Korea?

I mean maybe I don't get your gist but we fought a long war there then pretty much occupied the place for the remainder.

[–] Bonus@lemm.ee 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Americans really don't know anything about Cambodia.

[–] TachyonTele@lemm.ee 1 points 3 weeks ago

I once went on a Holiday in Cambodia.

[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 5 points 3 weeks ago

Well done to DOGE for absolutely tearing up the place scrounging up the US Government's metaphorical pennies, whilst ignoring actual budget inefficiencies, such as the infamously overzealous military budget

[–] Artyom@lemm.ee 4 points 3 weeks ago

Foreign aid has hilariously good ROI. When I went to Africa, locals told me that the Bush admin introduced the concept of bug nets to prevent mosquito bites and malaria. A one-time program that probably cost Americans at most $10 drove a major cultural shift that has saved possibly millions of lives and has affected everyone. We'll literally buying goodwill.

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

There's also a chance that many of these are employing Americans carrying out this work. So it may not even be the most extreme thought that "all this money is leaving America". He could be cutting American jobs, that pay American taxes (so a portion of that comes right back to the tax fund).

[–] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 weeks ago

Damn $19M for a biodiversity conversation?!?! What are they conversing about?! \s