In past decades, there was a lot of talk about different types of development assistance (or just aid). To simplify: it’s better to teach a man how to fish, than to keep giving him fish.

I’m pretty sure there’s MAGAts (or worse) saying right now that Zimbabwe plunging right back into the dark ages* is a sign that the aid was useless anyhow. But I’m also pretty sure that esp. the USA have long indulged in the “wrong” kind of aid. It’s a bit like what they do with social institutions: mismanage them for long enough, then claim that they “don’t work” anyhow and shut them down completely.

* the article isn’t so negative at all. Yes, there’s a correlation between cutting of USAID and a rise in malaria cases, but they’re fairly confident they have the know-how to get back on track.