Worse, they’ll simply say they don’t care.

Their stance is actually more that saving these lives didn't benefit them and so it's good. Here go look https://old.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/1j2ykmz/its_o...

There's also a lot of smugly intentional misunderstanding of what usaid actually did. But plenty of clear-eyed cold blooded gloating about the money saved by these deaths.

I've tried conceptually (before seeing this) and their response is "why don't these countries take responsibility for their citizens and health". The "poverty is a consequence of poor decision making" mindset and lack of acknowledgment that US wealth was substantially built on our continents natural resources/lack of nearby conflict (and not just exceptionalism) makes it hard to make any productive progress in these discussions. Whatever. What bothers me the most is when the people arguing those points are christian, which is a faith system that's supposed to advocate for people with less resources.

It brings me some consolation that many of these diseases will be roaring back here again one day soon, and people will have to eat the consequences of cutting off these programs with 0 notice (which could have allowed UN/EU to step it up)

Do you agree that one adult dies every 3.3 minutes from HIV due to USAID funding being cut?

America must voluntarily replace anti-intellectualism, kratocratism, and illiberal attitudes with respecting competency, civility, and integrity because the alternatives are too bleak and painful to entertain.

I'm in favor of funding USAID, and definitely don't like what Trump is doing to the federal government.

Having said that, seeing the comments in this submission, your comment and those below yours not only will not convince a conservative, they don't even convince me who is in favor of funding USAID.

Here's what a normal person (not even conservative) will say and want to know:

1. Cuts in funding don't kill people. Malaria kills people. USAID was saving lives that it did not have a moral obligation to save. I can donate to a food bank and help prevent starvation. But if I choose not to donate, no one is going to blame me for people being starved. (I mean, I'm sure someone will try...). Blaming the US for their deaths is like blaming Chile for these deaths, assuming Chile was not putting in much effort to decrease malarial deaths in Africa.

2. Providing aid/charity is good. However, there's always a valid question on how much aid is appropriate. I don't donate all my salary to charity. But I do donate. Every year I do have to ask myself if I think I'm donating enough or too much.

3. How much aid should the US provide vs other developed countries? Which metric would you pick to decide this? Was the US underfunding in the past or overfunding?

I ignore any journalistic piece that doesn't address these 3. This is basic Reasoning 101. Back in my college days, I'd have gotten a poor grade if I didn't address these.

It's easy to focus on the crappy method Trump/Musk did things and ignore the real underlying questions. A typical conservative can easily agree that how Trump is doing things is wrong, but that doesn't negate the need to answer these questions.

Of course, one can bring in imperialism and exploitation by the US (and other countries), but you still need to answer the above.