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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves
@ricksteves.bsky.social
40K followers 57 following 240 posts
Guidebook author, TV & radio host, business owner, Lutheran, and NORML Board Member. Fanatically positive and militantly optimistic.
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
This is just one entry of a 16-part Bluesky series sharing what I learned about smart development aid while filming my 2020 public television special “Hunger & Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala,” which is streaming free and ad-free on the @pbs.org app and at www.ricksteves.com/hunger.
Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala
In his new hour-long special available February 1, 2020, Rick Steves travels through Ethiopia and Guatemala to learn about extreme poverty — the more than 700 million people who struggle to live on le...
www.ricksteves.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
Hope is better than hunger. But now, without this aid, American billionaires will be a little wealthier…and the world will be more desperate, less stable, and burdened with more refugees. (And, ultimately, we will pay a price.)
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
Rather than failed states and desperate people with nothing to lose, setting small farmers up for success is an efficient way to contribute mightily to stability and peace.
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
...and the UN’s @wfp.org (historically supported by USAID) does just that by empowering proven NGOs to help smallholder farmers become business owners, implement exciting advances in agriculture, and take part in a green revolution.
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
Nearly 8% of the people on our planet are farmers who produce more than a third of the world’s food on small plots of land...just an acre or two each. These farmers want to work, produce, feed their families, sell what’s left, and stay on their farms (cont.)
Farmers Embracing Smart Agriculture
YouTube video by Classroom Europe
www.youtube.com
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Reposted by Rick Steves
kimiwei.bsky.social
Kimi Wei @kimiwei.bsky.social · 3d
@ricksteves.bsky.social teaches:

Many don’t realize that the 1st people Hitler sent to concentration camps weren’t Jewish citizens, but political opponents. When Trump rants about retribution, locking up his opponents, giving them “long sentences” – take him seriously.

VOTE against fascism.
2.3M views · 75K reactions | Many don’t realize that the first people Hitler sent to his concentration camps weren’t everyday Jewish citizens, but his political opponents. So, when Trump rants about r...
Many don’t realize that the first people Hitler sent to his concentration camps weren’t everyday Jewish citizens, but his political opponents. So, when Trump rants about retribution, locking up his...
www.facebook.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 2d
That's great to hear! You can find some discussion points and questions to keep the conversation going here: www.ricksteves.com/hunger. Thanks for watching and keep on travelin'
Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala
In his new hour-long special available February 1, 2020, Rick Steves travels through Ethiopia and Guatemala to learn about extreme poverty — the more than 700 million people who struggle to live on le...
www.ricksteves.com
1 1
ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 5d
...that provides an entire thirsty village with convenient access to safe and healthy water — giving all those moms the opportunity to stay home and raise healthy children...and one less reason to attempt a dangerous migration north. Just sayin’.
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 5d
Millions of women in the Global South walk for hours every day to get water for their families. For as little as the cost of a set of braces to give your or my child straight teeth, our nation can (through projects once supported by USAID) drill a well...
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 5d
In this next short clip, we learn that water is fundamental to hygiene, health, and nutrition. But, for much of the world, access is a daily struggle: classroom.ricksteves.com/videos/water...
Water is Critical for Development
Water is fundamental to hygiene, health, and nutrition. But, for much of the world, access is a daily struggle, and women and children often have to walk for water.
classroom.ricksteves.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 6d
Sure, old-fashioned foreign aid may have been inefficient, and maybe even a little corrupt. But today’s aid (with proven strategies such as empowering women, helping small farmers join the global market & climate-smart agriculture) gives people reasons to work hard, produce & stay where they live.
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 6d
In this next short clip, concrete examples — smart agriculture, modern tech, and efficient stoves — illustrate how modern development aid (which, until recently, USAID helped fund) produces not dependence, but independence.

Seeing the impact of this aid first-hand is an inspiration.
Reason to Hope in the Fight Against Hunger
Concrete examples of development — like smart agriculture, modern tech, and efficient stoves — show how smart development aid produces not dependence, but independence.
classroom.ricksteves.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
That's wonderful to hear. Keep on travelin'!
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
Even if you don’t believe in the ethic of “love thy neighbor,” it’s important to remember that the core goal of USAID is to use soft power (foreign aid) to complement our nation’s hard power (the U.S. military) in a shared effort to make America safer.

🧵 8/8
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
However, after traveling to Ethiopia and Guatemala and hearing from many experts in the field, it’s clear to me that an extremely practical way to make our world a more stable and peaceful place is to invest in modern development aid, in concert with the family of nations.

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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
The DOGE initiative then eliminated about $8 billion more in foreign aid, and now, the White House is fighting to withhold about $5 billion more in foreign aid funding — all in the name of making our country stronger and safer.

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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
Earlier this year, the Trump State Department announced that nearly 5,800 USAID contracts worth $54 billion were being eliminated (representing a 92% reduction of what had already been awarded to the agency) because “they were not aligned with the administration's priorities.”

🧵 5/8
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
I’m sharing these posts in response to President Trump’s argument — which he has used to justify dismantling USAID — that leading the fight against extreme poverty on our planet doesn’t advance an “America First” agenda.

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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
This is the first entry of a 16-part Bluesky series sharing what I learned about smart development aid while filming my 2020 public television special “Hunger & Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala,” which is streaming free and ad-free on the @pbs.org app and at www.ricksteves.com/hunger

🧵 3/8
Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala
In his new hour-long special available February 1, 2020, Rick Steves travels through Ethiopia and Guatemala to learn about extreme poverty — the more than 700 million people who struggle to live on le...
www.ricksteves.com
1 13 140
ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
If, like me, you embrace the universal moral tenet referred to by Christians as “love thy neighbor,” I hope that each time you vote, you remember that election results can, especially for privileged Americans, have a far greater impact on those in extreme poverty than they will ever have on you 🧵2/8
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 7d
Nearly 10% of humanity (~800M people in 2025) struggles to live on less than $3 a day. It’s important for Americans to appreciate that reality — and the growing gap between the extremely poor & the extremely privileged — because, as USAID demonstrated, our nation has the power to change it.

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What Extreme Poverty Looks Like
Ten percent of humanity struggles to live on under $2 a day. That, and the gap between the extremely poor and the more privileged, is important to see.
classroom.ricksteves.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 15d
That's great to hear. Keep on travelin'!
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 15d
At @ricksteveseurope.bsky.social, we invest over a million dollars a year in a portfolio of carefully selected nonprofits that fight climate change through government advocacy and on-the-ground work, including climate-smart agriculture.

Learn more here: www.ricksteves.com/climate.

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Our Climate Smart Commitment
www.ricksteves.com
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ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 15d
To find out how you can help, go to www.ricksteves.com/hunger — and while you’re there, check out my one-hour public television special “Hunger & Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala,” streaming completely free and ad-free.

🧵 4/5
Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala
In his new hour-long special available February 1, 2020, Rick Steves travels through Ethiopia and Guatemala to learn about extreme poverty — the more than 700 million people who struggle to live on le...
www.ricksteves.com
3 15 200
ricksteves.bsky.social
Rick Steves @ricksteves.bsky.social · 15d
As you’ll learn in this clip, there’s no denying that climate change is here — and by causing more hunger, more conflict, and more destabilization in the poorest countries, it actually drives migration. The solution? Climate-smart agriculture.

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Climate Change Impacts Development
Climate change is here, and it hits the poorest people in the poorest countries hardest. It causes more hunger, more conflict, and destabilizes the poor world, driving migration.
classroom.ricksteves.com
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