One Practical Action Today

Edit: The rumors didn’t turn out to be true. There was no divisive Super Bowl ad, and I’m super glad. However, what remains true is that Musk continues to post misleading and untrue information about foreign aid publicly, including calling USAID a “criminal organization.” The information below is still relevant for other conversations and challenges to misinformation however!

This morning, rumors started to spread that Elon Musk spent $40 million dollars on a Super Bowl ad or ads demonizing USAID. The irony that the world's richest man is actively preventing aid to a billion of the world's poorest is something.

So far, previews of the ad haven't leaked, but my best guess is that "at best," this ad or ads will inaccurately describe USAID's work. At worst, its going to blast bald-faced lies all over the network.

USAID and other State Department funding, like the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migrants, are under attack. Musk and the Trump Administration are dead set on cutting all of this funding, even through it represents less than 1% of the federal budget. (By way of comparison, Germany spends 3% of its federal budget on foreign aid). 

They are going to use this ad to try to sway the hearts and minds of the American population to their way of thinking - of "othering" poor people, of misrepresenting crucial humanitarian and development work around the world as "woke" and "wasteful," and of advancing a cruel and uncaring approach to vulnerable people as "America First."

But we can fight back, right from our couches. We can do something - today.

If you see these ads - and likely you will - challenge what is said. Don't get into a fight with your friends, because fighting isn't going to solve anything. However, you can say things like:

"That doesn't seem accurate. Let's look it up."

"I've heard that foreign aid actually saves lives with less than 1% of the federal budget." 

"I don't think that ad is quite right, take a look at this..."

Share truth with your friends around your nachos and wings, links to reputable sites and talking points below. Do it not because we are Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, but because we care about the lives of vulnerable people around the world. Because...

• 770 million people in the world live on less than $2.15 a day; 3.5 billion people live on less than $6.85 a day according to 2024 World Bank figures (Poverty, Prosperity and Planet Report, 2024) Could you live on that little without assistance? 

• As of June 2024, 122.6 million people around the world were forced to flee their homes due to violence and conflict according to the United Nation's High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). Could you flee on a moment's notice and survive somewhere else without assistance? 

So what is foreign aid spent on? Despite what the ad will likely say ("woke" policies, LGBTQIA "agendas," etc.) in fiscal 2023 (per the Pew Research Foundation):

• 27% went to economic development, including $14.4 billion dollars for monetary support to the Ukraine in its war with Russia.
• 21.7% for disaster relief and other humanitarian aid ($15.6 billion) - think hurricane, flood and earthquake response as well as responding to people fleeing conflict, like the ongoing war in Sudan or the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is food, shelter and medical or people in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, as well as mental health care and survivors of gender based violence, protections for unaccompanied children, etc.
• 14.7% to combat HIV/AIDS ($10.6 billion) - including to prevent transmission of HIV to babies and ensure that medical facilities don't reuse medical supplies (because they don't have enough) that could transmit the virus between patients.
• 2% ($1.5 billion) to combat global health issues, including potential COVID, flu, Ebola and other potential pandemic-inducing viruses that could end up in the US. Trust me, you don't want Ebola.
• 2% for education and social services. I ha personally seen this money used for things like building elementary schools in places like Northern Uganda where there are no schools, so children can read and have a basic level of education. 
• 3.2% on democracy, human rights and governance - to do things like help people ensure they have a voice and vote around the world, preventing dictatorships and massive human rights violations. We do better when the world is a peaceful place.

For further reading, check out the nonpartisan Brookings Institute's Article "What Every American Should Know about Foreign Aid." 

We are going to win hearts and minds one at at time. We have to present calm, reasonable and caring counter-arguments to the inaccuracies we will see on TV in a couple of hours. We have to create a groundswell of people who are willing to stand up for others. The stakes are too high not to help others care. Why?

Without foreign aid, people will die. 

Children will die. Children who didn't ask to be born where they were born, who have no say in politics and who don't understand the world economy. Children who should have a right to learn, to play, to grow up with their families - just like the children in our own homes and communities. 

Women will die. Women who fled violence, many of whom were sexually assaulted in the flight. Women who were living their lives, who were on neither side of a conflict that ran over their lives. Without medical care, wounds will fester. Without mental health and gender based violence support, women will be on their own to suffer. Without maternity care, women will die during unassisted childbirth. For the record, foreign aid does not pay for abortions and has not since the Helms Amendment passed in 1973. Organizations accepting foreign aid can't even talk about abortion or refer patients to a non-foreign aid funded organization that offers abortion as an option. We haven't been able to since the Mexico City rule (also known as the global gag rule) in 1984.

Men and boys will die. 

All people of all races, genders, creeds, religions, denominations and ethnic backgrounds will die in terrible ways that could be prevented from the assistance of foreign aid.

Where you live shouldn't determine if you live.

Take two minutes to win the hearts and minds of your friends today. Other people's lives depend on it.

(and if the ad ends up being rumor and isn’t aired... still have the conversation with your friends and neighbors. Compassion is not limited to 60 seconds of national television).