Matt Knutson is a communications specialist in Rochester.

“I think the new administration likes playing Jenga,” I told with my wife after hearing President Donald Trump’s recent proposed budget. Like many others, I was surprised with how deep some of the cuts were, and the brutal potential ramifications that could come if his budget was enacted. I’m a firm believer that budgets can be trimmed, and it’s always appropriate to consider if an activity of our government is worthwhile. I just think it should be a bit more strategic.

An example would be the Meals on Wheels program. You might have heard that this program would be cut or dramatically lose funding under the new proposal. That’s not entirely accurate, but there are some Meals on Wheels programs that do receive critical funding from community development block grants. It’s those grants that could end up being eliminated. This means other essential community programs like Meals on Wheels could also be impacted. Why does it matter? Should government really be helping out in this space? I’d argue yes.

Taking a look at Meals on Wheels, simply because it has garnered the most attention lately, reveals the important long-term costs saving to our society. The baby boomer generation is reaching retirement age, and many will need assistance to stay in their homes longer. I’ve seen first-hand how this program has ensured seniors can maintain their independence in the comfort of their own home for years longer than they otherwise would because someone is checking in on them with a healthy meal. Oftentimes though, it’s much more than a meal. These volunteers are also sharing additional community resources that seniors could benefit from. They’re connections to the community. Without them, many of these seniors would be, by necessity, placed in assisted living that they cannot afford in order to receive a menu of care that they don’t necessarily need. Who do you think ends up paying for that care in the long run? Likely taxpayers. It’s far cheaper to support a program like Meals on Wheels today rather than paying down the road. Some would argue that we should just let individuals donate to support such a program, but when you can’t see an immediate return on your investment, it’s easy for services like this to fall through the cracks. We unfortunately aren’t a society that voluntarily gives frequently to support our seniors when there are plenty of other opportunities to give to help our young people.

Another potential cut was also surprising to me. U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid would lose 28 percent of funding, which could have catastrophic consequences. There’s a few ways to look at our country’s work overseas. Many take the opinion that we’re too involved in other nations’ affairs. It’s an easy argument to make, especially when you see people in our communities struggling to make ends meet. I fear it’s a bit short-sided though. If we can invest in other countries to provide stability, it could save us dramatically down the road. When a country is stable, it is more likely to have the quality education and adequate health care in addition to citizens being financially secure overall. These basic tenets can prevent famine, uprisings, dictators from taking over, and the need for U.S. military intervention reduces. Lives are saved, and America’s reputation increases. This of course needs to be strategic, but it seems like a far superior action than heading to war when another country slips into instability. In conjunction with this cut is a goal to increase military spending by billions of dollars. I can’t help but wonder what it would look like if we flipped those investments. Our military deserves the best, but our dramatic increase in spending sends a message that we’re preparing for future conflicts rather than relying on diplomacy to ensure the safety of our citizens. I’m sure we’re all hoping there won’t be a need to step into further military action around the world unless necessary.

It’s important for people to realize the value of investing our dollars in these efforts that have cascading benefits. To succeed as Americans, we need to make sure a support system exists for when people encounter bumps in the road. Not everyone has a personal network that can save them during a hard time. In order to succeed as a country, we need to understand what goes on outside our borders and see how that impacts us. You could abandon the challenges we’re encountering in the Middle East because we’d rather not focus on what’s happening in the world, but I think we all know that it’s important for our safety to keep a pulse on potential threats. Success for all of us relies on thinking broader than who we are, our neighbors, our cities, states and the borders of this country. It’s all so connected, and it requires considerable analysis when you start moving Jenga blocks to ensure the tower doesn’t topple. I applaud our nation’s leaders for attempting to tackle our nation’s debt, but our country’s success relies on thoughtful leadership focused on more than slashing and burning.