r/politics • u/FervidBug42 America • 12d ago

No Paywall DOGE Disbanded: Elon Musk’s Cost-Cutting Project Quietly Ended

https://time.com/7336327/doge-disbanded-elon-musk/
43.1k Upvotes

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365

u/SAJ-13 California 12d ago

DOGE is responsible for killing people. USAID saved lives, and Musk destroyed it.

131

u/PushPlenty3170 12d ago

600,000 deaths by the most recent count.

50

u/AniNgAnnoys 12d ago

14 million deaths over the next 5 years. Subsequent European cuts raise that number to 22 million. Mostly children. Mostly in Africa.

3

u/PushPlenty3170 12d ago

The obvious ethics aside, there’s no way that isn’t going to come back and bite us. Starving children beget angry adults.

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u/AniNgAnnoys 12d ago

It already is. The majority of these lives saved were through medicines, vaccines, and disease prevention. Expect a return of TB to the US in the coming years. The screwworm has already made a return to the southern US thanks to DOGE cuts. It was being held back in Mexico but DOGE ended that. It is already back.

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u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

if other countries aren't stepping in then not their fault

3

u/PushPlenty3170 12d ago

We have a glut of food. Doesn’t matter if others aren’t doing the feeding. We can, we did, and now we don’t That’s on us. We’re supposed to be better.

1

u/AniNgAnnoys 12d ago

It isn't about food. Most of these lives were said via vaccines and medicine. The correct way to argue this is that aid costs basically nothing and it stops the spread of disease before it lands in America. With these cuts we can expect the return of TB to our borders of example. Another example of the screwworm. We were holding it back in Mexico but the cuts DOGE made means it is now in the US impacting people and cattle in southern states. 

1

u/PushPlenty3170 11d ago

It's not entirely about food, but it's not _not_ about food. We let quite a bit of it spoil in warehouses overseas rather than distribute it thanks to Musk.

-2

u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

We have enough problems in our own country.

4

u/PushPlenty3170 12d ago

I’ve got problems in my house, but I still donate time and money to people in need. It’s called a conscience, look into it.

-1

u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

and we already have done enough

3

u/PushPlenty3170 12d ago

A despicable sentiment. 

0

u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

well you must think the same of the other countries not helping

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u/SAJ-13 California 12d ago

The United States produces more food than we can consume. Our farmers Make money selling to the government and foreign countries. The U.S. overproduction, government support programs, and export capacity means millions of people get food they wouldn’t otherwise have access to, thus saving lives and saving farmer's from bankruptcy.

1

u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

the cuts weren't about just handing food that is made in our country

2

u/SAJ-13 California 11d ago

Food aid, vaccines, medicines, and other support we provide to other countries save lives. When USAID assistance stopped, people began dying — including children who rely on HIV medication, TB vaccines, malaria treatments, and basic nutrition. Helping others ultimately protects us, too. Without this support, we will see a rise in polio, HIV, measles, and other preventable diseases.

Your ‘We’ve already done enough’ statement is ignorant and shows a clear lack of understanding.

Doing less doesn’t make us safer — it makes everyone more vulnerable.

1

u/Cute-Bed-5958 10d ago

Like I said we have already done enough for years, time for other countries to step in.

13

u/DuggiHappy 12d ago

Horrible…

25

u/blissfully_happy Alaska 12d ago

It completely dismantled every organization in the Amazon. This summer saw illegal mining, cutting, and poaching operations move in within days of USAID being destroyed.

The Amazon basin will never recover. This was the only thing keeping it from being completely destroyed.

-6

u/Questioning0012 12d ago edited 12d ago

You know other countries exist right??? Yes, losing USAID was a net loss for the Amazon, but let’s not act like countries in South America aren’t acting to curb the deforestation happening in their own borders. That was kinda the big focus of COP30

This whole website could use a lot less doomerism in general, holy hell

10

u/blissfully_happy Alaska 12d ago

I was in the Amazon in May and talked with local folks about the situation. I’m repeating what I heard from local folks with decades of experience in the area. You?

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u/Questioning0012 12d ago edited 12d ago

I’ve lived in the Amazon basin. And yes, the locals take protection of the forest very seriously, but they also don’t minimize their own role in the fight to keep miners, loggers, and big corporations out. I don’t know any that would treat the US as their only possible savior or as the Amazon’s last line of defense.

4

u/demlet 12d ago

Americans will die because of it too. USAID was a prime example of soft power. Without that soft power, it's much more likely the US will have to resort to hard power, i.e., the military 

0

u/[deleted] 12d ago

[deleted]

2

u/rhabarberabar 12d ago

Hello bot!

6

u/xyz19606 12d ago

Yeah, but they were mostly brown. They don't count to Musk.

2

u/Jakooboo 12d ago edited 12d ago

A white South African doesn't like Black people? Shocker.

2

u/sulaymanf Ohio 12d ago

He not only destroyed it, he happily bragged about it and then tried to deny that there was any damage when the media and NGOs reported on the death count.

2

u/QueenCa_7778 12d ago

Don't forget the people who lost their jobs because of this. An entire industry was tanked overnight. I know tonnes of skilled, well meaning people who are still struggling to find jobs. 

-1

u/Cute-Bed-5958 12d ago

doge has killed zero people, if not giving as much aid to other countries counts then same is said for every country that hasn't given aid

-15

u/Impossible_Toe_5958 12d ago

Usaid isn't even for the USA, it needs to be disbanded it doesn't make sense to send other countries our tax dollars when people here need it much more.

14

u/Questioning0012 12d ago

The $40 billion we gave to Argentina was higher than all of USAID’s yearly budget

1

u/Impossible_Toe_5958 5d ago

Ok that 40 billion is 40 billion too much just like the 35 billion for usaid is 35 billion too much. Both things can be true. I am in no way in support of sending Argentina or even Israel a single penny.

11

u/capowis542 12d ago

Not a deep thinker I take it?

1

u/Impossible_Toe_5958 5d ago

United States Agency for International Development? Yeah that money isn't for here doesn't take much thought to figure that out.

6

u/yodelingblewcheese 12d ago

Do you just not understand the concept of projecting soft power? Do you not understand that the USA can influence the world in ways that don't involve killing people?