I work a job where I end up taking to a lot of people. When politics come up I usually hear a lot about how workers aren't getting their fair share and are being screwed over by the government (a good start) but then veers off into "the government doesn't pay nurses enough because we're giving it away to other countries!!"
Why is this misguided talking point so common? How do you respond to it without being dismissive and calling them dumb and wrong?
foreign aid is a sleight of hand, its a tiny trickle to make the west look magnanimous to the global south (those poor countries who for some reason just cant get their shit together without the white mans help), and make you not notice the flood of extracted wealth coming in the other direction