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PaperclipPerfector  11hr ago (text post)   1544 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026

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Back in 2025, DOGE axed USAID and, according to partisans on the left and right, the results have been monumental.

To the left, USAID was somehow singlehandedly keeping millions of Africans alive. The loss of USAID resulted in their deaths. Wikipedia, the fallen one, reports this:

The impact of the actions taken by the USAID on global health is wide-reaching.[34] A study published in June 2025 estimated that funding cuts and the abolition of the agency could result in more than 14 million preventable deaths by 2030, including 4.5 million children under 5 years old.[9] Another estimate (by epidemiologist and health economist Brooke Nichols) is that over a period of one year from when they began, the cuts will result in the deaths of as many as 262,915 adults and 518,428 children.[35]

Obviously this is farcical on its face. And nearly 18 months later, there is no evidence of the massive death wave that was predicted.

Not to be outdone, the right has its own version of a USAID conspiracy theory: that closing USAID somehow killed leftism in South America.

Since USAID was shut down, seven countries in Latin America have held Presidential elections (Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, and Colombia). All seven have elected a President who is right of center. Brazil now remains as the strongest center of leftism in Latin America. But it looks like they might flip as well. In the first round of voting, Flávio Bolsonaro beat Lula by nearly 2 points. They now advance to the runoff.

Conservatives on X are crowing about how this shows that USAID was propping up leftist governments in Latin America. But... I just don't see the mechanism. The money spent was too small. The programs too ineffectual.

The likelier truth about USAID is, like most government programs, it was essentially useless. The biggest political effect is that it allowed leftists a sinecure with good pay and benefits. And cutting it was worth it for that reason alone. But did cutting USAID kill people in Africa or bring down communists in Latin America? Press D to doubt.

I think this one is more fun: Joe Rogan Claims Rap Has ‘Fallen Off the Charts’ Because the ‘USAID Got Defunded’

Drake delivered hip-hop's only No. 1 hit atop the Billboard Hot 100 in 2026

Also allegedly why Nike (and hoodwear generally) is in decline

NKE has been in free fall since 2021.

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