{"id":395641,"date":"2025-08-17T13:01:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T11:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395641"},"modified":"2025-08-17T13:01:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T11:01:29","slug":"how-the-end-of-usaid-becomes-a-good-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=395641","title":{"rendered":"How the End of USAID Becomes a Good\u00a0Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"723\" data-attachment-id=\"395661\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395661\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1280,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ (1)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?fit=723%2C723&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=723%2C723&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A gravestone labeled 'R.I.P. USAID' with the years 'born 1961' and 'put out of misery 2025' surrounded by stacks of cash and coins in a grassy cemetery.\" class=\"wp-image-395661\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=800%2C800&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=450%2C450&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=60%2C60&amp;ssl=1 60w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?resize=550%2C550&amp;ssl=1 550w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From <a href=\"https:\/\/rclutz.com\/2025\/08\/15\/how-the-end-of-usaid-becomes-a-good-thing\/\">Science Matters<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rclutz.com\/author\/ronaldrc\/\">Ron Clutz<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"626\" height=\"417\" data-attachment-id=\"395643\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395643\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-291.png?fit=626%2C417&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"626,417\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-291.png?fit=626%2C417&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-291.png?resize=626%2C417&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Military personnel unloading cargo from a large transport aircraft on an airstrip, surrounded by stacks of packages and supplies.\" class=\"wp-image-395643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-291.png?w=626&amp;ssl=1 626w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-291.png?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Zainab Usman describes the opportunity to reconstruct the effort addressing world poverty and social deprivation in his Foreign Affairs article&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.other-news.info\/the-end-of-the-global-aid-industry\/\"><strong>The End of the Global Aid Industry.<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp; Below is a synopsis of his vision in italics with my bolds and added images.&nbsp; Following that is a previous post discussing how benevolence can go astray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>USAID\u2019s Demise Is an Opportunity to Prioritize Industrialization Over Charity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Every decade or so, the global aid industry finds that it must transform to survive<\/strong>. During these periods of change, donor countries restructure their aid agencies, shrink or expand their assistance budgets, and lobby for the creation or dissolution of a UN initiative or two.\u00a0<strong>Typically<\/strong>, once the aid industry conforms to the whims of donor countries, the<strong>\u00a0crisis is averted, and business continues as usual.<\/strong>\u00a0Since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term, the aid industry has found itself at another inflection point.\u00a0<strong>The Trump administration has gutted USAID<\/strong>, the world\u2019s largest development agency, ending 86 percent of its programs, shuttering its headquarters, and terminating nearly all its 10,000 employees. At the same time, the Trump administration has<strong>\u00a0slashed funding for various multilateral initiatives on climate, global health, and education.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"380\" data-attachment-id=\"395645\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395645\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?fit=1200%2C630&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,630\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?fit=723%2C380&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?resize=723%2C380&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A person carrying a large box labeled 'USAID' walks past temporary tents in a relief camp, under a clear blue sky.\" class=\"wp-image-395645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?resize=1024%2C538&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?resize=300%2C158&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?resize=768%2C403&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-292.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Today\u2019s crisis, however, is different from those that came before:<strong>\u00a0this could truly be the end of foreign aid as we know it.<\/strong>\u00a0For decades,<strong>\u00a0global development<\/strong>\u2014that is, the attempt to improve and save lives of the poor\u2014has been<strong>\u00a0driven mostly by foreign assistance provided by wealthy governments.<\/strong>\u00a0Some scholars and analysts deride this process as the \u201caid-industrial complex.\u201d But even advocates of foreign aid have come to\u00a0<strong>see it as an industry,<\/strong>\u00a0including in their efforts to reform it, which approach its defects as matters of business inefficiency. And now that governments in many rich\u00a0<strong>countries have sharply lurched to the right and taken more skeptical stances on aid, this industry is collapsing.<\/strong>\u00a0As a result, many charity workers, researchers, and academics will be out of jobs. More important, millions of poor people around the world will suffer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"453\" data-attachment-id=\"395646\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395646\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?fit=975%2C611&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"975,611\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?fit=723%2C453&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?resize=723%2C453&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Infographic illustrating the factors contributing to the well-being of poor people, highlighting resilience, opportunity, financial resources, human capital, and physical capability.\" class=\"wp-image-395646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?w=975&amp;ssl=1 975w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?resize=300%2C188&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-293.png?resize=768%2C481&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Proponents of global development now face a choice.<\/strong>&nbsp;They can&nbsp;<strong>wait for attitudes in donor countries to shift back<\/strong>&nbsp;toward support for foreign aid at some point in the distant future.<strong>&nbsp;Or<\/strong>&nbsp;they can&nbsp;<strong>reimagine the entire concept of global development, detaching it from aid and rooting it instead in industrial transformation:<\/strong>&nbsp;helping countries shift from subsistence farming, informal employment, and primary commodity production toward manufacturing and services.<strong>&nbsp;In truth, the aid industry was already adrift.<\/strong>&nbsp;Its&nbsp;<strong>interventions<\/strong>&nbsp;had become&nbsp;<strong>spread too thin<\/strong>&nbsp;and often&nbsp;<strong>failed to address the key obstacles&nbsp;<\/strong>that poorer countries faced as they tried to upskill their workers, build energy and transport infrastructure, and access new markets.&nbsp;<strong>Raising people out of poverty<\/strong>&nbsp;in Africa, South Asia, and parts of Latin America will<strong>&nbsp;not only improve their lives but also<\/strong>&nbsp;allow rich countries to maintain their prosperity by&nbsp;<strong>creating new markets,<\/strong>&nbsp;and by now, industrial transformation has a strong track record for improving economies. If proponents of global development do not adjust its methods with the times, it will lose its relevance to rich and poor countries alike.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>AID AND ABET?<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The foreign-aid industry\u2019s<strong>&nbsp;primary commodity is official development assistance (ODA)<\/strong>, or money from donors that flows to governments, individuals, or groups in poorer places, either directly\u2014such as through budget support to struggling governments\u2014or through projects run by organizations such as Save the Children, Oxfam, or FHI 360.&nbsp;<strong>Governments in rich countries are the primary purveyors of ODA.<\/strong>&nbsp;According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in 2023, governments spent $230 billion on development assistance, compared with $11 billion spent by private foundations. Like any industry, foreign aid has middlemen.<strong>&nbsp;But in this business, the middlemen are particularly conspicuous.<\/strong>&nbsp;Third-party entities known as \u201cimplementing partners\u201d include<strong>&nbsp;international nongovernmental organizations, large private contractors, and consulting firms.<\/strong>&nbsp;If the U.S. government wanted, for example, to distribute fertilizers to small-scale farmers in Bangladesh, they might contract&nbsp;<strong>Chemonics, a U.S.-based development contractor<\/strong>, to do it. Indeed, in 2023, Chemonics&nbsp;<strong>received the most USAID funds<\/strong>&nbsp;of any of the organization\u2019s contractors:&nbsp;<strong>over $1 billion.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"481\" data-attachment-id=\"395648\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395648\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?fit=895%2C595&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"895,595\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?fit=723%2C481&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?resize=723%2C481&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Infographic detailing the timeline of coal finance restrictions implemented by over 100 major financial institutions from 2013 to 2018, highlighting key events and policies aimed at reducing investment in coal and promoting clean energy.\" class=\"wp-image-395648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?w=895&amp;ssl=1 895w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?resize=300%2C199&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-294.png?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>To take advantage of network effects and economies of scale,<strong>&nbsp;implementing partners cluster around<\/strong>&nbsp;the main sites of production of foreign aid,&nbsp;<strong>the capitals of the major donor countries<\/strong>: Berlin, Geneva, London, Paris, Rome, and Washington. As a result,&nbsp;<strong>very little aid is distributed by organizations or people in poor countries.<\/strong>&nbsp;In 2020, less than nine percent of U.S. aid was administered by recipient governments or firms based in recipient countries, according to Charles Kenny and Scott Morris, researchers at the Center for Global Development. The visibility of middlemen based in rich countries has long provided fodder to detractors who claim that&nbsp;<strong>the aid industry operates inefficiently or even unjustly.<\/strong>&nbsp;There is some truth to this critique. According to an analysis by Devex, a news organization,&nbsp;<strong>47 of USAID\u2019s top 50 contractors are located in the United States.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In the&nbsp;<strong>United States<\/strong>, successive Democratic and Republican administrations maintained a broad commitment to foreign aid, although&nbsp;<strong>arguments<\/strong>&nbsp;also simmered, even within the industry itself,&nbsp;<strong>about the proper goal of aid<\/strong>. Since&nbsp;<strong>2000<\/strong>, when 189 countries agreed to the UN\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>Millennium Development Goals,<\/strong>&nbsp;the industry\u2019s main objective has been&nbsp;<strong>to reduce poverty<\/strong>; after the<strong>&nbsp;Paris Agreement<\/strong>&nbsp;was signed in&nbsp;<strong>2015,<\/strong>&nbsp;many governments embraced the idea that, in addition, aid should&nbsp;<strong>also<\/strong>&nbsp;be directed toward&nbsp;<strong>fighting climate change.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"456\" data-attachment-id=\"395650\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395650\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-296.png?fit=736%2C464&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"736,464\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-296.png?fit=723%2C456&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-296.png?resize=723%2C456&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A bar graph illustrating the projected costs of tackling climate change, showing figures of $85 trillion for global economic output in 2020, $98 trillion for investment previously estimated by 2050, and $131 trillion for the investment required.\" class=\"wp-image-395650\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-296.png?w=736&amp;ssl=1 736w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-296.png?resize=300%2C189&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>SUPPLY CRISIS<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>But behind these recent debates lurked a massive shift in the politics and public norms that had allowed the industry to survive. If one sees aid as a form of philanthropy, then rich countries appear as donors and poor ones as beneficiaries. But&nbsp;<strong>if one sees aid as an industry, then rich countries appear as sellers and poor ones as buyers.<\/strong>&nbsp;With their development assistance, rich countries are&nbsp;<strong>providing a set of projects and institutional norms to achieve a set of expected outcomes:<\/strong>&nbsp;improvements in material conditions in developing countries that will eventually boost their own economies and security\u2014<strong>or, failing that, at least a sense<\/strong>&nbsp;on the part of rich countries that&nbsp;<strong>they<\/strong>&nbsp;have<strong>&nbsp;tried to make a difference.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The role of poor countries is to consume these development projects<br>in the hope of achieving desired outcomes\u2014or, failing that,<br>at least a sense that they might be possible someday.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"535\" height=\"250\" data-attachment-id=\"395653\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395653\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-298.png?fit=535%2C250&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"535,250\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-298.png?fit=535%2C250&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-298.png?resize=535%2C250&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A group of people, including women in traditional attire, gather around a large solar panel installation in a rural landscape.\" class=\"wp-image-395653\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-298.png?w=535&amp;ssl=1 535w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-298.png?resize=300%2C140&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Now this market is experiencing an unprecedented supply crisis.<\/strong>&nbsp;Around the world,<strong>&nbsp;people and politicians in the rich countries<\/strong>&nbsp;that had long bought into the basic idea that providing aid is valuable&nbsp;<strong>have become skeptical.<\/strong>&nbsp;The aid industry has, for decades, undergone boom and bust cycles resulting from shifts in the domestic politics of donor countries. What is different this time is a&nbsp;<strong>deepening disaffection about the prevailing economic model and the aid paradigm associated with it.<\/strong>&nbsp;Since the global financial crisis of 2008, many&nbsp;<strong>donor countries<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>have experienced economic stagnation<\/strong>, slow productivity growth, declining competitiveness, and widening inequality.&nbsp;<strong>Citizens<\/strong>&nbsp;of rich countries who<strong>&nbsp;no longer feel economically secure<\/strong>&nbsp;are questioning why scarce public funds should be devoted to causes abroad when there are needs at home.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>This doubt goes beyond the Trump administration. The<strong>&nbsp;United States is not the only donor that is cutting foreign aid: in 2024<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>eight of the top ten donors within the OECD<\/strong>\u2019s Development Assistance Committee reduced their foreign aid budgets and announced their intention to align international development programs more squarely with their national interests\u2014such as by ensuring that development projects use goods and services produced in the donor country. In 2024,&nbsp;<strong>Germany<\/strong>, the world\u2019s second-largest bilateral aid donor, announced a $5.3 billion reduction to its foreign-assistance budget. In February, the&nbsp;<strong>United Kingdom<\/strong>&nbsp;announced a 40 percent reduction to its aid budget so that it could focus on defense spending. In March 2025, the&nbsp;<strong>Netherlands<\/strong>&nbsp;said it would cut 37 percent of its bilateral aid over five years and scale down its financial contributions to some UN agencies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Many&nbsp;<strong>right-leaning voters<\/strong>&nbsp;in rich countries now&nbsp;<strong>see foreign aid as wasteful and excessively focused on promoting causes they perceive as linked to the left,<\/strong>&nbsp;such as climate action, gender equality, or democracy promotion. Voters are&nbsp;<strong>more dubious of technocrats, policy wonks, and academics<\/strong>&nbsp;committed to foreign aid. Consequently, even left-leaning politicians, such as the Labour government in the United Kingdom, are slashing aid in response to popular sentiment. According to a February 2025 YouGov poll, 65 percent of Britons are in favor of increasing defense spending at the expense of foreign aid.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>BLEEDING OUT<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The&nbsp;<strong>speed and scale of the policy changes make the crisis<\/strong>&nbsp;facing the aid industry&nbsp;<strong>existential<\/strong>. Donor governments are fast destroying the industry\u2019s marketplace of actors in irreversible ways. In January, Trump issued an&nbsp;<strong>executive order to freeze all U.S. foreign aid<\/strong>, ostensibly so that the secretary of state could review it to make sure that it is aligned with U.S. interests. Within weeks of the order, the world\u2019s largest bilateral development agency,&nbsp;<strong>USAID, functionally ceased to exist<\/strong>, and its destruction unleashed a&nbsp;<strong>domino effect.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"725\" data-attachment-id=\"395654\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395654\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?fit=1359%2C1363&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1359,1363\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?fit=723%2C725&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=723%2C725&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A vintage-style illustration of a smiling woman holding a teacup, alongside the text: 'If cutting government funding shuts down an NGO, it wasn't really a Non-Government Organization.'\" class=\"wp-image-395654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=1021%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1021w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=768%2C770&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=1200%2C1204&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=450%2C450&amp;ssl=1 450w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?resize=60%2C60&amp;ssl=1 60w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-299.png?w=1359&amp;ssl=1 1359w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Dozens of small and midsize nongovernmental organizations are folding.<\/strong>&nbsp;Large organizations that implemented projects for USAID, such as FHI 360, Chemonics, and DAI Global, have terminated some country programs, announced the<strong>&nbsp;closure of field offices<\/strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>laid off hundreds of staffers worldwide.<\/strong>&nbsp;Multilateral organizations are also suffering from U.S. aid cuts.<strong>&nbsp;UN agencies<\/strong>&nbsp;such as the International Organization for Migration, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the&nbsp;<strong>World Health Organization<\/strong>&nbsp;rely on the United States for 20 to 40 percent of their funding and have been&nbsp;<strong>forced to downsize.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><strong>GET RICH QUICK<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Foreign aid has rapidly become a sunset industry.<\/strong>&nbsp;But that does&nbsp;<strong>not<\/strong>&nbsp;mean that rich countries should&nbsp;<strong>give up fighting poverty entirely<\/strong>. It is in the interest of wealthy states<strong>&nbsp;to reduce the pressure of migration by trying to improve the economies and stability of countries<\/strong>&nbsp;in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. Therefore, policy experts, intellectuals, activists, philanthropists, and humanitarians must&nbsp;<strong>save global development by decoupling it from the aid industry and anchoring it in a strategy of industrial transformation<\/strong>. A country becomes industrialized when it adopts&nbsp;<strong>technology that allows it to mechanize and digitize, leading to increases in productivity and the skills of its labor force.<\/strong>&nbsp;Eventually, an industrialized country\u2019s workers shift&nbsp;<strong>from subsistence agriculture toward higher-productivity sectors<\/strong>&nbsp;such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, green technologies, and digital services. And closely associated&nbsp;<strong>with higher incomes and employment<\/strong>&nbsp;in these modern industries are&nbsp;<strong>social changes<\/strong>&nbsp;such as more women working in formal jobs, more girls in schools, and fewer child marriages.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Industrialization has transformed many once poor societies into prosperous ones.<\/strong>&nbsp;Over the course of several hundred years, countries including China, Germany, Japan, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States got rich by industrializing. Today, Thailand and Vietnam are undergoing industrialization thanks to foreign direct investment in manufacturing industries, good connectivity infrastructure, skilled labor, and expanded access to export markets.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Part of the problem with the aid industry<\/strong>&nbsp;is that its benefits have been spread too thinly across a multitude of domains and&nbsp;<strong>not focused enough on productivity-enhancing sectors<\/strong>. To this end, advocates of global development should focus on enabling poorer countries to access cheap development financing for&nbsp;<strong>targeted investments in sectors that connect people<\/strong>, such as electricity, telecommunications, and mass transit. Development financing must include efforts to<strong>&nbsp;stem illicit financial flows<\/strong>. African countries, for example, lose a combined total of about $90 billion every year to elite corruption, illicit capital flight, and tax evasion by multinational corporations. That is more money than the $60 billion of aid that donor governments used to send to the continent annually. Such waste could be reduced if rich countries tightened their regulations on tax havens and offshore financial centers and if the 138 signatories of the global tax treaty\u2014an agreement reached in 2023 that sets a minimum rate of tax for large corporations\u2014accelerated its implementation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Poorer countries also need a stable trading environment to thrive.<\/strong>&nbsp;They need access to export markets in wealthy countries for goods and services they produce. And decades of evidence shows that neither poor nor wealthy countries ultimately prosper from protectionism or autarky. Firms in rich countries, especially those in rapidly changing fields such as artificial intelligence, batteries, drones, and renewable energy hardware, need to be able to sell to growing markets in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Professionals who work in global development will need new codes to guide their efforts to support industrial transformation. These may entail creating<strong>&nbsp;new rules to regulate the scramble for critical resources<\/strong>&nbsp;that wealthy countries need to manufacture electronics, such as cobalt from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or copper from Zambia. Ethicists and social scientists around the world must help craft rules for the limits of artificial intelligence, drone warfare, and other ways that new technologies directly interface with human societies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>If proponents of global development&nbsp;<strong>embrace industrial transformation as their lodestar,<\/strong>&nbsp;they can help lift people out of destitution while avoiding political blowback. If poor countries industrialize, the entire world will benefit.&nbsp;<strong>Global development has the best chance of surviving\u2014and delivering results\u2014if it is seen as more than just charity.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"416\" height=\"339\" data-attachment-id=\"395657\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395657\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-301.png?fit=416%2C339&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"416,339\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-301.png?fit=416%2C339&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-301.png?resize=416%2C339&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A quote stating 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions' accompanied by images of Samuel Johnson, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Karl Marx, and Milton Friedman on a textured background.\" class=\"wp-image-395657\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-301.png?w=416&amp;ssl=1 416w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-301.png?resize=300%2C244&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 416px) 100vw, 416px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Previous Post&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/rclutz.com\/2022\/07\/24\/beware-the-benevolence-bandwagon\/\"><strong>Beware the Benevolence Bandwagon<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Benevolence is a curious mental or characterological attribute. It is, as the philosopher David Stove observed,&nbsp;<strong>less a virtue than an emotion<\/strong>. To be benevolent means\u2014what?&nbsp;<strong>To be disposed to relieve the misery and increase the happiness of others.<\/strong>&nbsp;Whether your benevolent attitude or action actually has that effect is beside the point. Yes, \u201cbenevolence, by the very meaning of the word,\u201d Stove writes, \u201cis a desire for the happiness, rather than the misery, of its object.\u201d But here\u2019s the rub:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>the fact simply is that its&nbsp;<strong>actual effect is often the opposite of the intended one.<\/strong>&nbsp;The adult who had been hopelessly \u2018spoilt\u2019 in childhood is the commonest kind of example; that is,&nbsp;<strong>someone who is unhappy in adult life because his parents<\/strong>&nbsp;were too successful, when he was a child, in&nbsp;<strong>protecting him from every source of unhappiness.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>It\u2019s not that<strong>&nbsp;benevolence<\/strong>&nbsp;is a bad thing per se. It\u2019s just that,&nbsp;<strong>like charity, it works best the more local are its aims<\/strong>. Enlarged, it becomes like that \u201ctelescopic philanthropy\u201d Dickens attributes to Mrs. Jellyby in Bleak House. Her philanthropy is more ardent the more abstract and distant its objects. When it comes to her own family, she is hopeless.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The sad truth is that theoretical benevolence is compatible<br>with any amount of practical indifference or even cruelty.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>You feel kindly towards others. That is what matters: your feelings.&nbsp;<strong>The effects of your benevolent feelings in the real world are secondary, or rather totally irrelevant.<\/strong>&nbsp;Rousseau was a philosopher of benevolence. So was&nbsp;<strong>Karl Marx<\/strong>. Yet everywhere that Marx\u2019s ideas have been put into practice, the result has been universal immiseration. But his<strong>&nbsp;intention was the benevolent one of forging a more equitable society<\/strong>&nbsp;by abolishing private property and, to adopt a famous phrase from Barack Obama,&nbsp;<strong>by spreading the wealth around.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>An absolute commitment to benevolence,&nbsp;<strong>like the road that is paved with good intentions,<\/strong>&nbsp;typically leads to an unprofitable destination.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Just so with the modern welfare state. It doesn\u2019t matter that&nbsp;<strong>the welfare state actually creates more of the poverty and dependence it was instituted to abolish. The intentions behind it are benevolent.<\/strong>&nbsp;Which is one of the reasons it is so seductive. It flatters the vanity of those who espouse it even as it nourishes the egalitarian ambitions that have always been at the center of Enlightened thought. This is why Stove describes&nbsp;<strong>benevolence as \u201cthe heroin of the Enlightened.\u201d It is intoxicating, addictive, expensive, and ultimately ruinous.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The&nbsp;<strong>intoxicating effects of benevolence help to explain the growing appeal of politically correct attitudes<\/strong>&nbsp;about everything from \u201cthe environment\u201d to the fate of the Third World. Why does the consistent&nbsp;<strong>failure of statist policies not disabuse their advocates<\/strong>&nbsp;of the statist agenda? One reason is that statist policies have&nbsp;<strong>the sanction of benevolence.<\/strong>&nbsp;They are \u201cagainst poverty,\u201d \u201cagainst war,\u201d \u201cagainst oppression,\u201d \u201cfor the environment.\u201d And why shouldn\u2019t they be? Where else are the pleasures of smug self-righteousness to be had at so little cost?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The intoxicating effects of benevolence\u2014what Rousseau called the<strong>&nbsp;\u201cindescribably sweet\u201d feeling of virtue<\/strong>\u2014also help to explain why unanchored benevolence&nbsp;<strong>is inherently expansionist. The party of benevolence is always the party of big government.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The imperatives of benevolence are intrinsically opposed to<br>the pragmatism that underlies the allegiance to limited government.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>The modern welfare state is one result of the triumph of abstract benevolence.<\/strong>&nbsp;Its chief effects are to&nbsp;<strong>institutionalize dependence<\/strong>&nbsp;on the state while also assuring&nbsp;<strong>the steady growth of the bureaucracy<\/strong>&nbsp;charged with managing government largess. Both help to explain why the welfare state has proved so difficult to dismantle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Is there an alternative?<\/strong>&nbsp;Stove quotes&nbsp;<strong>Thomas Malthus\u2019 observation<\/strong>, from his famous Essay on the Principle of Population, that<strong>&nbsp;\u201cwe are indebted for all the noblest exertions<\/strong>&nbsp;of human genius, for everything that distinguishes the civilised from the savage state,\u201d<strong>&nbsp;to \u201cthe laws of property and marriage, and to the apparently narrow principle of self-interest<\/strong>&nbsp;which prompts each individual to exert himself in bettering his condition.\u201d The apparently narrow principle of self-interest, mind.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Contrast<\/strong>&nbsp;that robust, realistic observation with Robert Owen\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>blather about replacing the \u201cindividual selfish system\u201d with a \u201cunited social\u201d system that, he promised, would bring forth a \u201cnew man.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Stove observes that Malthus\u2019 arguments for the genuinely beneficent effects of \u201cthe apparently narrow principle of self-interest\u201d \u201ccannot be too often repeated.\u201d Indeed. Even so,&nbsp;<strong>a look around at the childish pretended enthusiasm for socialism<\/strong>&nbsp;makes me think that, for all his emphasis, David Stove understated the case. Jim Carrey and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (and a college student near you)&nbsp;<strong>would profit by having a closer acquaintance with the clear-eyed thinking of Thomas Malthus.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"340\" data-attachment-id=\"395659\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=395659\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?fit=850%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"850,400\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"image\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?fit=723%2C340&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?resize=723%2C340&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"An image of a man with glasses and short curly hair, wearing a light gray suit, white shirt, and patterned tie. He is smiling slightly while looking towards the camera. The background is softly blurred.\" class=\"wp-image-395659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?w=850&amp;ssl=1 850w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?resize=300%2C141&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/image-302.png?resize=768%2C361&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USAID\u2019s Demise Is an Opportunity to Prioritize Industrialization Over Charity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":395661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818056,691837325,691837327,691825730,691837326],"class_list":{"0":"post-395641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-climate-change","9":"tag-global-aid-industry","10":"tag-organization-for-economic-cooperation-and-development-oecd","11":"tag-u-s-agency-for-international-development-usaid","12":"tag-u-s-president-donald-trump","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0AQOOCw6jT3fmeIerzeRP7TfanUPrPsYS3gImLdP9gw1t_Vi9SVKWwaoxPMa4gA0jN9Du_OaQHUtb3YJjXfWZr5iG02S2KNWMuquGCgO6hW2KhuTQEBrY7c2HAAsVmzl_PBRg4hV4Z58FXut3SX45XH1pZceJ-1.jpeg?fit=1280%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1EVj","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":365479,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365479","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":0},"title":"USAID bonfire keeps growing: US government helps terrorist states, and gave $270m to \u201cindependent\u201d media every year","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The newest addition to the grift, graft and fraud list are terrorist organisations.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0USAID sent $310 million US dollars to Hamas\u00a0to build a cement factory in Gaza which would have helped make the tunnels of terror. Senator John Kennedy said Mr Musk discovered the American taxpayer was also giving money to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"skinny-baby photo-ops\"","block_context":{"text":"skinny-baby photo-ops","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=skinny-baby-photo-ops"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0solar-panels-system-funded-usaid.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0solar-panels-system-funded-usaid.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0solar-panels-system-funded-usaid.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0solar-panels-system-funded-usaid.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0solar-panels-system-funded-usaid.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":365278,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=365278","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":1},"title":"NGO\u2019s emerge as The Shadow Government","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Hands up who is still reeling with the news that USAID had 50 thousand million dollars of political and media influence? The annual budget of $50 billion dollars in the hands of unaccountable activist NGOs buys a lot of \u201cjournalists\u201d, editors and teenage protestors. Suddenly a lot of odd repeated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Hunter Biden laptop\"","block_context":{"text":"Hunter Biden laptop","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=hunter-biden-laptop"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0shadow-government-e1663421492149.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0shadow-government-e1663421492149.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0shadow-government-e1663421492149.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0shadow-government-e1663421492149.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/0shadow-government-e1663421492149.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":373598,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=373598","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":2},"title":"Trump\u2019s Climate Policy Shift Could Save American Farmers from Disaster","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/04\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"While news about President Trump\u2019s tariffs and crackdowns on the questionable financial management of federal agencies has dominated media reports in recent weeks, a quiet transformation has been under way in agricultural policy.","rel":"","context":"In \"agricultural policy\"","block_context":{"text":"agricultural policy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=agricultural-policy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0559327.story_x_large.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0559327.story_x_large.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0559327.story_x_large.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0559327.story_x_large.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0559327.story_x_large.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":372303,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=372303","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":3},"title":"Trump to Cut Funding to Gates GAVI Vaccine Partnership","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"27\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"President Donald Trump\u2019s administration is set to end funding to GAVI, the global vaccine partnership co-founded by Bill Gates, as part of the cancellation of more than 5,300 USAID programmes.","rel":"","context":"In \"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation\"","block_context":{"text":"Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0RS28669_gavi_logo_gb_rgb-01_3x2_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0RS28669_gavi_logo_gb_rgb-01_3x2_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0RS28669_gavi_logo_gb_rgb-01_3x2_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0RS28669_gavi_logo_gb_rgb-01_3x2_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0RS28669_gavi_logo_gb_rgb-01_3x2_2.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":367518,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=367518","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":4},"title":"Trump\u2019s Juggernaut Smashes the BBC\u2019s Climate Crystal Ball","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"25\/02\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Six weeks ago, the BBC\u2019s climate soothsayers were gazing into 2025 with their trademark blend of gloom and green idealism. Their January 7 piece, \u201cFrom Trump to a \u2018Game-Changing\u2019 Lawsuit: Seven Big Climate and Nature Moments Coming in 2025,\u201d sketched a year of UN lawsuits, lofty CO2 targets, and global\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/F57CXhiWMAAl-ym.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/F57CXhiWMAAl-ym.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/F57CXhiWMAAl-ym.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/F57CXhiWMAAl-ym.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/F57CXhiWMAAl-ym.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":371508,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371508","url_meta":{"origin":395641,"position":5},"title":"\u201cTens of Thousands of [Foreign Climate Change] jobs\u201d gone Because of President Trump","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"23\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I doubt anyone will die, that\u2019s just alarmism. My guess is the unfunded foreigners will leave, either immediately or when their money runs out.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0climate-career-large-01.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0climate-career-large-01.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0climate-career-large-01.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0climate-career-large-01.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0climate-career-large-01.png?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=395641"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":395662,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395641\/revisions\/395662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/395661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=395641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=395641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=395641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}