When I was a kid, I thought the American flag meant something simple: we help people.
It flew over flood zones. It was stitched into the jackets of doctors and nurses flying halfway across the world to stop a pandemic or deliver a baby in a war zone. It sat on desks at food banks, libraries, and voting booths. It showed up when no one else did.
That’s the America I believed in — and still do.
But over the past few years, that idea has been under attack. Not from the outside, but from within.
Somewhere along the way, a faction of our politics decided that cruelty was strength, and that helping people was weakness. That feeding hungry families overseas wasn’t our business. That working with allies made us soft. That showing up — with medicine, with food, with hope — made us “suckers.”
And now we’re watching the fallout.
This week, the Guardian reported that after the U.S. cut back critical foreign aid, our European partners are struggling to pick up the pieces. They’re trying — but they can’t do it alone. Aid organizations are laying off staff. Programs that fed children, housed refugees, and supported basic healthcare are vanishing. All over the world, lights are going out — not because of a storm or a bomb, but because America didn’t show up.
And into that vacuum, others are stepping in. But they don’t come with open hands. They come with strings.
The truth is: when we pull back, others move in. And they don’t believe in democracy, human rights, or dignity the way we say we do.
That’s what’s really at stake. Not just lives — though there are many — but leadership. Credibility. Identity.
If we want to be the country we claim to be, we have to show up again. Not with bombs. Not with bluster. But with courage. With care. With commitment.
Programs like USAID are not acts of charity — they are acts of statecraft. They’re how we earn trust, how we build coalitions, how we lead with values. Walking away from that isn’t “toughness.” It’s cowardice dressed up as strategy.
And we’ve seen where that cowardice leads.
We deport our neighbors and call it order. We slash aid and call it savings. We wave the flag while gutting everything it’s supposed to stand for.
But here’s the truth: the flag doesn’t belong to politicians who only use it for applause. It belongs to the nurses in refugee camps. The engineers rebuilding levees. The families in every corner of the world who once looked to us and saw possibility.
That’s still possible. We can still be that country — if we choose to be.
Take action:
Call your congressman and tell them to fully fund USAID:
Tell them global leadership is more than military budgets — it’s moral clarity.
Tell them we can’t afford to be absent in a world that needs us.
Let’s talk:
What makes you feel proud of America? When have you seen us lead with integrity — and how do we bring that back?
Share your thoughts below. I’ll be in the comments all day tomorrow
