@PeterFreem1972@KonstantinKisin While that is an unsubstantiated claim, let’s assume it to be true. If so, it would be fair to call that a moral failure too. But that does not make the way in which USAID and other programs were terminated - without any concern for the lives affected - any less of one.
@BestEzraOfAll@KonstantinKisin The US built the system that created these dependencies, with Europe & others. If you want to change that, great. Perhaps it will even make the world a better place if you do. But if you smash it to pieces like Elon & co did, the immediate cost - as in people dying - will be huge
@KonstantinKisin Even if you believe that the cuts were necessary or right: the speed & carelessness with which they were done is a colossal moral failure. If they had happened gradually, say over 2 years, other actors would have had the opportunity to step in & offer alternatives.
@KonstantinKisin This is a bad faith argument. There can absolutely be a debate on aid, if and how it should be done, etc. It's a sector that needs new ideas, including radical ones. But if you tear down an entire system that millions depend on overnight, people will die as a direct consequence.
I know this place is a cesspool, but still... it's depressing and revealing that most responses to @NickKristof providing the evidence that Elon claims does not exist are either "you made these names up" or "fine, so what, why should US taxpayers pay for people to survive".
.@elonmusk says that no one can name a person who died from his aid cuts. In fact, I've met the kids who are dying, and I've talked to the families who lost children. In my columns, I've cited many, many names of people who have died because of Musk's aid cuts. A few examples:
*Yamah Freeman was a 23-year-old woman who died in childbirth because Musk cut funding for the diesel for ambulances in her part of Liberia. She couldn't get to a hospital and died as people were carrying her there. I talked to her parents and sister in their village.
*Gbessey Kiadu, age 1, died of malaria because of his cuts to malaria medication in Liberia. I talked to his mom in her village.
*Ibrahim Koroma, an infant, died of AIDS in Sierra Leone after he interrupted HIV supplies. I talked to health workers who cared for him.
*Achol Deng was an 8-year-old girl with HIV in South Sudan who died when Musk cut funding for the health care worker who provided her medicines. I talked to the healthcare workers.
I could go on and on. In almost every village you go to in South Sudan, Uganda, Liberia, Sierra Leone or other countries I reported in, you find people dying because of aid cuts. I challenge Musk: Come with me on a reporting trip, and we'll talk to these moms and dads, and you'll see the dying children themselves. I think if you see the kids whose lives are at stake, maybe you'll change your mind.
The science on wealth taxes is settled.
People opposing it are either protecting their own wealth or letting ideology override evidence.
Here is what the research actually says. 🧵👇
I'm really excited about this piece published today in @ForeignPolicy that I edited. Journalist Ben Buckland retraces the ruins of the Berlin-Baghdad railway. It includes stories from people he met along the way and beautiful photos. Give it a read!
https://t.co/O2ja0jGqTt
VIDEO: A helicopter successfully herded 16 critically endangered banteng onto a truck in Cambodia for the first time, conservationists said, marking a "significant achievement" in a country with high rates of deforestation.
➡️https://t.co/pWRPPYyi39