Last year, at the start of the pandemic, we watched with dismay as Congress voted to spend taxpayer dollars on 96 F-35 warplanes—17 more than the president had requested. At the same time, legislators argued over the cost of COVID-19 relief packages to provide stimulus payments, unemployment benefits, food assistance, and more to pandemic-affected communities across the U.S. 

Josseline Acuña is regional officer of monitoring, evaluation and learning for AFSC in Latin America and the Caribbean. She is passionate about social justice work, especially with a youth focus that is her field of research.