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temp8830yesterday at 4:49 PM1 replyview on HN

Here's something that might expand your view of the world. One of the agencies that saw major disruption was USAID. They don't just fund clean water for kids in Africa. They also fund regime change efforts worldwide. And these efforts have become social clubs for people who couldn't hack actual politics to meet and talk about how they are going to overthrow $DICTATOR. For years. Funded by the American taxpayer.

Here's an interview with one of the people who used to attend these dinners. He had to get a job as a plumber once the USAID funding dried up, and is happy about not having to lie anymore: https://meduza.io/amp/feature/2025/02/07/ya-ne-mogu-bolshe-y...

Use Google Translate. Meduza is heavily biased in favor of the EU, it is not a pro-US or Putin media outlet.

Now, this is just one guy who had to get a real job. Imagine how many others like him exist in the world. Now that USAID has been given a nice firm shake and a bunch of dead weight fell off - maybe funding can be focused on something new.

Without this kind of major disruption it would be impossible to effect this kind of change. Now think beyond USAID: could other departments have had just as many parasites? And remember: it's not just about saving money. It's also about sending the resources to a different place, and removing entrenched dead weight from power structures.


Replies

epistasisyesterday at 7:03 PM

If this is the best you got, it's a huge fucking indictment of DOGE. I'm supposed to be happy about thousands of children starving to death because I'm only consuming Russian language propaganda and prefer dictators to children living?

If you read your comment with clear eyes I think you will find it as a huge indictment of Doge cutting USAID.

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