
I Joined the Peace Corps to Keep From Becoming an Asshole (It Worked, Mostly) - tokenadult
http://thebillfold.com/2012/06/i-joined-the-peace-corps-to-keep-from-becoming-an-asshole-it-worked-mostly/
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steve8918
Normally I prefer short articles, but this one had me particularly interested,
and was disappointed that it was so short. I would have been interested in
learning more about the things the author experienced.

To be honest, there was the article that came out recently, I think it was
posted on HN, that talked about how when Peace Corp volunteers got raped, the
Peace Corp would essentially blame the victim and not help them in any way.
This portrayed the PC in a really bad light, so I was interested in what ways
the Peace Corp appealed to the author.

~~~
bobochan
What? I have not seen the article, and obviously I can't vouch for every
single staff person in a global organization, but that is a very serious
accusation. The PC staff members that I knew put PCV safety as their top
priority. I was involved in evacuating a volunteer from a situation that
involved getting landing permission for a emergency med flight out of South
Africa, a scrambled French military helicopter flight with PC medical staff
and the coordination of dozens of people and three governments. When a
volunteer is in danger then it is an all hands on deck situation.

~~~
steve8918
Sorry, it wasn't HN it was reddit that I saw the article. A woman had an AMA
about it:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/uj3ym/iama_former_peac...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/uj3ym/iama_former_peace_corps_volunteer_that_was_raped/)

The most shocking aspect of this was how the Peace Corps did nothing to help
her afterwards, and even basically blamed her.

There was a more broad news article on this problem, here's one from last
year:

[http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/peace-corps-gang-rape-
voluntee...](http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/peace-corps-gang-rape-volunteer-
jess-smochek-us/story?id=12599341)

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tokenadult
From the submitted blog post: "third, that I understood how ridiculous it was
to say that I had no money. Out-of-state tuition at the University of Virginia
is almost $50,000 per year, and my scholarship alone put me in the world’s top
1% of earners."

I liked the point in the blog post that a United States student at a decent
university with full financial support for studies is, by that fact alone,
basically in the top 1 percent of the world in income. When I went overseas
(to Taiwan in early 1982), it was also to gain perspective on another country
and another level of income, and to get out of my narrow American rut. I would
go back there (or to many other places outside the United States) in a
heartbeat.

~~~
nik_0_0
I'm curious, go back to live or to visit? If the former, why haven't you?

~~~
tokenadult
_why haven't you?_

My wife (originally from Taiwan) and minor children (one of whom was born
overseas) all have plenty to keep them busy and happy here in the United
States at the moment, so we are all here together. As our children grow up, as
our first already has, the whole world is open to them in their minds as
places to live. My wife and I are each well adapted to the OTHER'S native
country, so we frequently have friendly debates about where to live in old
age.

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larrys
"Am I less of an asshole? Who knows. But Peace Corps does put you in your
place. I’ve never met better people and never will."

Would be good if the OP detailed more on this and also defined what is meant
by "better people".

~~~
bobochan
True, so I'll take a shot at it. PC is a small, self-selecting group with a
decent percentage of people that are adventure seeking do-gooders. If you make
it through training there there is a very high probability that you are
adaptable, self-motivated, and able to integrate into a new culture. If you
make it to your post (most likely after a three day ride in a bus slightly
bigger than an ice cream truck with a goat on your lap) you have shown a lot
of courage and perseverance. If you are still at your post two (or three)
years later then you have developed patience and humility. None of these
things may make you "better" than anyone else, but they are traits that
distinguish you for the rest of your life.

~~~
larrys
The problem is that a large percentage of the world isn't that way. So it
might not be the best survival strategy once you are back in the real world
among normals and their problems and back stabbing. Unless you are from a rich
family and lead a life where money isn't as important.

~~~
theorique
Rich family or not, money is not as important as following your passion and
doing something you love.

~~~
larrys
"following your passion and doing something you love"

Unfortunately you simply can't consider that w/o taking into account money as
part of the decision. While some people might be able to live off the grid w/o
normal comforts (and without access to healthcare whereby the rest of us pay
when they go to the ER which has to treat them) not everyone could live like
that.

~~~
theorique
Yeah, it's not always a simple solution. And money is a factor even when
people wish it weren't.

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matthewhughes
Voluntary service is a beautiful thing.

I don't like the idea being tossed around in the US about 'mandatory service'
- hello oxymoron.

~~~
UnFleshedOne
Draft in US will probably slightly reign in its tendency to throw armies
around in one war after another on a whim. I think that is the outcome people
tossing around the idea are hoping for.

~~~
tomjen3
The only thing a draft in the US will do is to get a lot of people really,
really angry and cause the politicians who support it to lose their offices
(despite everything and all the PACS, if you have something 80% of Americans
support, it will be done). If Obama does it, I would not be surprised if
Texas, possibly with some of its neighboring states, leaves the union.

But yeah, it would end the system that the US has today. You can't have
permanent bases overseas staffed with men drafted from their homes.

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GFischer
When I read about this stuff, I wonder if the American's perspective and
insight on the needs of the community they're helping could be used to help
the people in other ways, by creating businesses and commerce (for example,
exports for the potato harvest/getting better technology or practices, better
power generation, etc.. ).

The more you get to see other realities, the better empathy you can get with
them, and the less you can justify acts like import quotas (so far, I believe
globalization is a net positive, but there's a long way to go still).

~~~
Jtsummers
Some Peace Corps roles include helping build up IT infrastructure and
entrepreneurship. I met with a couple once who had gone to Ecuador, she went
as a nutritionist and he helped with business education and worked with
entrepreneurs to get their businesses started. This isn't available in every
country, and as I understand it the countries have to ask for specific roles
to be filled. The other issue, in many countries they prefer (perhaps
rightfully) older (perceived as experienced) individuals to provide fill the
role of business mentor, educator. That creates issues due to the availability
of volunteers with that background and in the age range desired.

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powertower
Start here to get an idea of what it's like to join PC:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/f2tqu/peace...](http://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXChromosomes/comments/f2tqu/peace_corps_gang_rape_volunteer_says_us_agency/)

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jlcx
"the world’s biggest problem—the fact that comfort for the few rests on
exploitation of the many"

Having thrown that into this piece, I wish the author had provided some
observations from her travels to back it up.

~~~
theorique
Yeah, it sounds a little bit socialist.

Snarky political asides do no one any good.

~~~
rayiner
"Socialist" as a pejorative is completely non-sensical when talking about a
species that has succeeded precisely because of our communal nature.

~~~
theorique
Hey, this is America here, no positive talk about socialism allowed. ;)

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jhspaybar
I can assure you that the title alone shows it didn't work.

