Leaders Turn Lives Into The Hunger Games

Guest article by Michael Cohen. Remember to follow him on Substack for more by clicking here. Michael is also racing to 500K followers on YouTube! Subscribe today for free here.

Today, millions go hungry as SNAP benefits vanish, children and seniors bear the cost, and political leaders boast false triumphs, leaving America’s most vulnerable without food or dignity.

Today is the day the defunding of the SNAP program begins. Millions of Americans will wake up without the safety net that allows them to put food on the table, and the consequences will be immediate and devastating. Hunger isn’t a distant problem; it is here, now, in kitchens and pantries across the country. I have told my story of being deprived of food for the first three days following my unconstitutional remand back to prison. I understand hunger. I know it. I’ve felt it. That is why the thought of millions going without food because of political games feels not just wrong—it feels unconscionable.

The administration’s decision to withhold SNAP funding during the shutdown exposes a deep moral failure. More than 40 million Americans depend on these benefits, including 17 million children and over 10 million elderly citizens. For them, hunger is not hypothetical; it is immediate and devastating, a reality shaped by choices made in Washington that prioritize politics over human life.

Let that sink in: the richest country in the history of the earth has allowed its people to go hungry. Not by accident. Not by misfortune. But by conscious decisions driven by ego and ideology.

Trump brags about trillions of dollars supposedly flowing into the United States—$17 trillion, $18 trillion, $19 trillion, now $21 trillion in “foreign investment.” The number changes with every speech. In Japan, he declared, “We did more than $17 trillion in eight months, and I think by the time we finish up our first year, we’re gonna be over $20 trillion or $21 trillion.”

Yet these figures are wildly inflated. CNN fact-checked his claims and found that even the White House website lists just $8.8 trillion in “major investments,” and The New York Times noted that more than half of that comes from informal pledges that may never materialize. The contrast is stark: a country capable of enormous wealth still leaves millions of its citizens hungry while its leader celebrates illusions of financial dominance.

The question is unavoidable: if there were really $21 trillion pouring into this country, why can’t Americans afford food? Why can’t the government remain open? Why are families forced to make impossible choices at grocery stores? Either the numbers are false, or there is a deliberate decision to allow suffering to persist.

This approach to messaging is consistent with a longstanding pattern. Trump has used numbers and claims of achievement to shape perception rather than convey reality. Denying the severity of hunger, deflecting responsibility, and framing crises as political leverage have become hallmarks of the administration’s response to real-world needs.

Across the country, families are paying the price. Parents skip meals so their children can eat. Seniors ration limited groceries. These are not statistics; they are lives disrupted and dignity undermined, made worse by a government indifferent to the urgent human needs of its own citizens.

Federal judges have intervened in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, ordering the continuation of SNAP funding or at least reduced benefits for November. Yet even these rulings may arrive too late to prevent millions from going hungry. Emergency funds are reportedly being withheld under the pretense that they are “only for true emergencies,” leaving families caught in a political standoff.

Millions of Americans could go without SNAP benefits this month. Children, seniors, and veterans are already facing empty pantries and shrinking options. Every delayed payment adds hours of fear, uncertainty, and compromise to their daily lives.

Consider the single mother trying to feed three children on $29 a day, or the Vietnam veteran in Mississippi stretching a fixed income to cover the month. Millions of Americans who have done nothing wrong are now collateral damage in a political power struggle.

And if that weren’t cruel enough, Trump’s new “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”—OBBA, as he calls it—raises work requirements for SNAP recipients from age 55 to 65. Veterans, formerly homeless individuals, and former foster children are now required to prove they are “deserving” of food, adding bureaucratic barriers to essential sustenance.

This is not policy; it is punishment. Hunger is being weaponized as a tool of control. The hollow boasts of economic triumph cannot erase the fact that millions of Americans are being left without basic nourishment.

The administration’s moral calculus prioritizes political gain over human need. Choices that leave citizens hungry are informed by a mindset that views suffering as leverage—a method to manipulate perception and assert authority.

America’s greatness is measured not by stock market indices but by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Right now, that measure is failing—and failing miserably. Children, seniors, and hardworking families are going without food while leadership claims victory in imaginary figures.

Hunger is about more than food; it is about dignity. Allowing citizens to go hungry erodes the very humanity a government is supposed to protect.

The suffering of millions is treated by this administration as a political tool—a way to advance its priorities, deflect criticism, and reinforce control. Decisions about funding and policy are made with little regard for the human cost, leaving vulnerable Americans without consistent access to food, safety, or basic dignity.

So here we are again. Trump’s America: a nation of abundance, ruled by greed. A president who claims we’re richer than ever while millions cannot afford bread.

Hunger isn’t just about food; it’s about dignity. And the moment we allow our leaders to strip that away, we lose something far greater than our next meal. We lose our soul.

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