February 3, 2025, Manila- Over the weekend, people without security clearances gained access to sensitive information. So is the news coming our way from North America. People here in Manila have been, understandably, not overwhelmingly feeling bad about the internecine battles in Washington. This was, to them, and to many in struggling countries around the world, the mother of all First World problems-until the USAID closure.

It will take time for the President of the United States to sift through the programs of USAID and figure out which programs, if any, are “corrupt, and worthy of dismantling”. In the meantime, thousands, if not millions, of lives in countries across the world, will be at risk. This is not a simple matter of rooting out “crazy, ultraleft, socialist, wingnut policies”,as someone back in Prescott once characterized USAID. This is rule by swarming, done by individuals with little or not knowledge of the larger effects of their actions. It evokes the scene in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, where Randle McMurphy leads the gang in party night, getting even a hydro-cephalic patient intoxicated. We will see where the present state of affairs leads, in short order. It will not be as easily resolved as the scene in the movie.

To anyone, anywhere, who is being affected by the turmoil in Washington, DC, and elsewhere: Be brave, stay focused and live your truth. Some may lose much, if not all, of their nest eggs, but judging from the slow recoveries that those before us have seen, in crises past, the losses will not be permanent. Be watchful, be vocal and do not let yourselves get distracted by multiple crises seeming to occur at once. Be discerning, and do not let less than savoury actors rule the day. Above all, follow the law, even if it looks like those in the driver’s seat are not.

Justice will prevail.