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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 5, 2026

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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 don’t think it’s as simple as either side says. I don’t think USA was specifically trying to prop of Leftist governments in Latin America. But having said that, avoiding the problems that come from leftist policies does prop up leftist governments. It’s like anything else, removing the consequences of bad ideas simply enables people to continue making those bad decisions. So in that sense, because those leftist governments could rely on Americans and (American tax dollars) to bail them out, they suddenly face the political consequences of the results of leftist policies. They can’t hide from it, because if the government owned power plants can’t keep the lights on, they can’t hide that, and the public will demand better. This is why homeschooling and private schools are popular in the USA, the failures of public schools are too obvious to hide and changes are demanded.