Causing unnecessary death and suffering
If your reasons for voting for Donald Trump for president included that you wanted to cause unnecessary death and suffering and reduce to the standing and trustworthiness of the United States with the rest of the world then congratulations, you've been given what you wanted. If not, maybe you should engage in some reflection on what you've helped to bring about.
On Bluesky, doctor Atul Gawande, author of the excellent book Being Mortal (which I read in 2019) and The Checklist Manifesto (which was well-reviewed but I have not read), who was USAID Assistant Administrator for Public Health from 2022 to 2025, wrote the following posts:
I ran @USAID health programs for the last 3 years. Trump’s 90 day Stop Work Order on foreign assistance does serious damage to the world and the US. Examples:🧵January 26, 2025 at 8:56 AM1. Stops work battling a deadly Marburg outbreak in Tanzania and a wide outbreak of a mpox variant killing children in west Africa before it spreads further.
2. Stops monitoring of bird flu in 49 countries, a disease which already killed an American on home soil.
3. Stops critical work on polio eradication.
4. Stops >$1B in corporate drug donations and coordination eradicating tropical diseases like river blindness, elephantiasis, and others on the verge of elimination in whole regions. https://www.neglecteddiseases.gov/about/results-and-impact/
5. Stops medicines, supplies, systems building, staff support aiding >90 million women and children to get low cost vaccinations, prenatal care, safe childbirth, contraception, and other basic lifesaving health needs. https://www.usaid.gov/PreventingChildandMaternalDeaths
6. Stops direct services for 6.5 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers affected by HIV in 23 countries.
7. Stops donated drug supplies keeping 20 million people living with HIV alive.
8. Would furlough all USAID contract staff — which includes half of its global health bureau—unless exempted.
Make no mistake — these essential, lifesaving activities are being halted right now. Clinics are shuttering. Workers sent home. Partners including US small businesses face being unable to meet payroll. All despite clear requirements from Congress to do this work.
This Administration is already trashing US standing, alliances with scores of countries built over half a century, world-leading capacity and expertise, and American security.
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