By Reid Fitzsimons. Note: The weekend of April 5^th and 6^th brought widespread and at times large protests under the banner of “Hands Off!” These were mostly directed at Donald Trump and Elon Musk, expressing opposition to reducing or eliminating a large variety of government expenditures. Though I could find no demographic data regarding the protesters, a review of the many photos available on the internet suggests a very significant portion we’re socioeconomically advantaged white people. In fact, to find a non-white person is almost a Where’s Waldo exercise: there doesn't even seem to be many token non-white people, as is evident in the photos that accompany this article.

Around 20 years ago, as my spouse and I were laying the foundation for our rural children's charity project in Honduras (which opened in May, 2007), we did a few R&R overnights on Utila Island. As we were strolling along the water’s edge we came across a rustic touristy beach bar that had a sign stating something like, “Funded by a grant from USAID.” I wondered aloud why in the world USAID would be involved with a tourist bar on a Caribbean island, but put the memory aside. It recently emerged, however, with the Trump administration shutting down USAID because of spending tax dollars on questionable, and even pernicious, things.