i met two peace corps workers yesterday

[laruemtt]

a couple from the u.s. tooling through st. lucia. we got to talking and were debating the pros and cons of going back to the u.s. what with king george's reign and all. we talked about how when we first got here we'd be apologizing to people we met for what the dimwit is doing around the world. after raising their family, they sold everything they had and wanted to do something for the world. it was so wonderful to have that instant bonding and understanding thousands of miles from "home" with these fine people.

just wanted to share. :patriot:

[greyl]

1. The Peace Corps enjoys mythological status that it doesn't deserve.

...it serves as a sort of peaceful and even well-intentioned advance army of invasion. It brings aid intended to enhance "development," to bring its recipients up to our standards--to bring them blessings that will make them just a little bit more like us. Naturally this involves helping them see things the way we do. No one specifically crafted this "underlying agenda." It is rather the underlying agenda of our culture itself: there is one right way for people to live (our way) and everyone must be made (or helped) to live the way we do. This naturally (and by happy accident) serves to provide us with expanded markets for the products we make. The Peace Corps wasn't specifically created to pave the way for the arrival of McDonalds and Coca-Cola, but it does serve this purpose nonetheless.
http://www.ishmael.org/Interaction/QandA/list.cfm

Edit: To be clear, I'm sure that the two workers you spoke with have the very best of intentions. However, they are ignorant.

[greenman3610]

3. I don't think this is a productive line of thought

there are good things that can be done out there
by people who think of the third world as
more than a vacation spot.

Getting clean water to a village is not emperialism.
It's basic humanity. Likewise, offering
vaccinations and basic health care. This is not
spadework for WalMart, its the way we should be
relating to the third world, as opposed
to the Bush method.
In addition, many folks who go into the
Peace Corp come back inspired by the
cultures they have been a part of
and add that humanizing mix to our own.

[skipos]

4. "The Peace Corps wasn't specifically created to pave the way for the"

"arrival of McDonalds and Coca-Cola, but it does serve this purpose nonetheless."

How?

[crispini]

5. What on earth does your link have to do with the topic?

I clicked on the link and couldn't find your snippet anywhere.

And your quote appears to be confusing USAID with Peace Corps. USAID does in fact bring large Western style development projects: dams, roads, so on. Peace Corps has three goals:

1) To encourage Americans to learn about other countries
2) To encourage other countries to learn about Americans
3) To help host country government agencies and NGOs with their needs for qualfied personnell.

I fail to see how placing a forestry volunteer with a host government forest service agency, or a fishery volunteer with a host government extension agency, or, yes, even an English teacher with the local education agency, serves some nefarious purpose. The fact is that Peace Corps is usually working hand in hand with the local government to serve their own agenda for their own company.

Hollywood does far more to pave the path for McDonalds and Coca Cola than the Peace Corps ever did.

[liberalnurse]

2. Thank you for sharing.

You are so inspiring. I sense the world feels our pain too.