How Musk's war on USAID became a death sentence for millions

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* 

Elon Musk is a wealthy person and an influential figure in global right-wing politics, known for spreading controversial rhetoric. As a supporter of U.S. President Trump, he led the federal initiative called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which operated from January 20, 2025, until July 4, 2026. Under Musk's leadership, the department worked toward shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and eliminating its $40 billion budget in the name of efficiency and austerity. Critics argue that while substantial funds are allocated for military spending, humanitarian aid is deprioritized under American capitalism.

A dashboard created by Boston University Professor Brooke Nichols indicates the human toll of this shutdown, estimating that more than 262,915 adults and 518,428 children have died due to the discontinuation of USAID funding. It is further estimated that 14 million people might ultimately die as a result of this halt to U.S. foreign aid. These deaths and widespread destitution stem from preventable diseases such as diarrhea, HIV, malaria, malnutrition, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other tropical illnesses. This tracking of deaths and disease reflects significantly on American governing elites and their model of development.

​The impact of the USAID funding shutdown highlights the approach of figures like Musk, as well as the actions of wealthy nations enacting economic policies affecting poor and marginalized populations worldwide. The combination of wealth and systemic alienation has altered the priorities of leadership figures, driven by the core mechanisms of American capitalism. This economic framework impacts individuals abroad through international policies and affects American citizens at home, where hunger, homelessness, poverty, and healthcare insecurity rise due to federal budget cuts to domestic welfare programs. Cuts to programs like Medicaid lead to preventable illnesses and deaths among Americans who lack access to healthcare, as private healthcare and insurance industries focus heavily on profitability.

​Disdain for vulnerable populations can become integrated into the everyday lifestyle of wealthy individuals and affluent nations. The dismantling of USAID and its humanitarian programs exposes the ideological campaigns that ruling elites wage against working people. Historically, USAID served primarily as a tool for foreign policy. However, the aid agency still played a crucial role in life-saving humanitarian programs in vulnerable regions across the globe. Some argue that capitalist pursuits treat human lives as disposable.

​This systemic culture helps normalize international conflicts led by U.S. leadership across various political affiliations. From this perspective, capitalism orchestrates foreign interventions to secure the establishment, while the hardships of people in distant lands often fail to impact domestic public opinion. Bombing campaigns waged under the banner of democracy and human rights have become standard features of foreign policy. The individualistic ideology underpinning American capitalism serves as a governing norm, producing approaches to governance where humanitarian crises can be leveraged for dominance rather than resolved for progressive transformation.

​Even in minimal forms, such as providing welfare budgets to meet basic human needs, the redistribution of wealth remains a challenge under capitalism. For this economic system, crisis can become a more utilized tool than stability or human health. Some theories suggest that policies undermining social security are promoted to maintain a compliant populace preoccupied with physical survival, as stable and prosperous conditions tend to foster systemic critiques. Therefore, continuous economic struggle serves the framework of capitalism more effectively than peace and stability.

​This economic conflict reveals that capitalism may not offer a sustainable solution for global welfare, as crisis, exploitation, and inequality are deeply embedded in its survival and expansion. Consequently, seeking systemic alternatives within capitalism is often viewed as futile. Democratic socialism, emphasizing shared peace, prosperity, solidarity, and collective security, presents a distinct alternative. The choice remains between a capitalist system that treats life as a commodity and a socialist framework that prioritizes human well-being. The collective survival of life and the planet depends on these global structural choices.

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*Academic based in UK