“For where your treasure lies, there will your heart be also.” A person’s values are revealed by where they give their treasure, whether that treasure is time, money, or energy. Americans give $2.10 dollars for every $100 in disposable income to charities, showing that most Americans value the welfare of vulnerable strangers.
It’s alarming then how little of our federal budget, our treasure, is used to care for the world’s most vulnerable people. Only 40¢ of each $100 in the federal budget is allocated for humanitarian aid. The USA budget should reflect the heart of the American people, but, right now, it does not.
One goal of the visualization of the 2021 Federal Budget is to show how little of our treasure is used for humanitarian aid. The comment section on any international charity appeal seems to fill up quickly with variations of “Sorry, Americans first”. But at 0.4% of the budget, the humanitarian aid budget is not the reason some Americans are living in poverty. Most of our treasure is with the rich, with the richest 1% of Americans owning 40 percent of the nation’s wealth . There’s no reason the poor should be competing with the poor for the same small fraction of the treasure.
Another goal the visualization is to show how our budget is allocated (via Federal Accounts and Federal Agencies), so that we, as citizens, can bring our voices to every step of the budget allocation process. The USA budget belongs to all of us, and how our treasure is spent should show that our heart is in the right place.
Hover over the circles to see more information and click to zoom in. Enter a tax bill to see the amount that tax payer would have paid to each recipient. Highlight the recipients of humanitarian aid by selecting them from the below list.
If you believe more of the federal budget should go to humanitarian aid, please call your representative. Type in your zip code below to get their number.
If you’re nervous about calling, just call after hours! An aide will still have to listen to your message, and record your views. Below is a script, but using your own words is always the most convincing.
Hello, I’m calling you as a constituent, living in [fill in location]. I believe more of our budget should go to effective charities such as the World Food Program and UNICEF.
I would appreciate if [fill in congress person] would work toward increasing the budget for humanitarian aid.
Thank you for your time.
Credit: forked from https://observablehq.com/@elibenton/who-represents-me
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