Forty-two million Americans are at risk of going hungry because of Trump’s government shutdown and his refusal to release SNAP funds that are specifically reserved for funding shortfalls. The man who fancies himself as the best dealmaker ever has chosen to starve his own people rather than to strike a deal with Senate Democrats.
According to international humanity law, the starving a civilian population as a method of warfare is prohibited. If such an act is prohibited for use against a countries enemies, then what does it say about a leader who willingly puts his own population at risk as part of routine political negotiations?
The tragic irony is that Donald Trump decision to cut off food aid to vulnerable populations – including children – comes at the same time American farmers are seeking bailouts because his trade policies have ruined their export markets. But you know what they say:
Who Said It?
Yes, I’m aware that the quote “let them eat cake” is misattributed to Marie Antoinette. Still, she serves as a fitting metaphor for this situation. In actuality the phrase came from Jean-Jacques Rousseau who was a symbol of resistance during the French Revolution. As Stanford University notes:
Rousseau believes the co-existence of human beings in relations of equality and freedom is possible, he is consistently and overwhelmingly pessimistic that humanity will escape from a dystopia of alienation, oppression, and unfreedom. – Stanford Encyclopedia
Despot after despot, Rousseau’s fears have come true many times in the centuries. Sadly humanity seems incapable of recognizing tyranny and keeps making the same mistakes again and again.
When sanity finally returns to this country and the reckoning comes, the wanton disregard for the health of America’s vulnerable populations will be yet another sin Republicans must atone for—if they’re even capable of it.
