To See Limited Government, Join Peace Corps
Argus Leader, Tuesday, March 1, 2011
            
            I’m grateful to the Peace Corps, celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this March, for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime to learn and grow. I also found my South Dakota farm boy husband in Mali, north-west Africa, in Peace Corps.

            Today, I believe the value of Peace Corps to educate United States volunteers about the world is greater than ever as I listen to pundits. Many commentators could see their ideas in practice in the Third World.

If educating our youth is too expensive, try getting posted to Belize, a beautiful country in Central America where public schools are open to anyone who can pay tuition and fees. They have no heating, cooling, electricity or utilities, few teachers and struggle to get students through sixth grade. But taxpayers don’t pay for the schools.

            If health care should be an individual choice for families, there are many Peace Corps posts to learn from, most in countries with limited public facilities for farmers. The wealthy can afford to go to hospitals and have well trained physicians, however taxpayers in most of the places US volunteers are sent don’t pay for anyone who isn’t insured or wealthy enough. It’s a really moving experience to see this free choice exercised in rural communities. Children’s funerals are especially moving.

            As for the elderly, families care for them at home. Of course when families are economically struggling to feed their young, and grandparents are sick and in need of medication, many of them just want to die. And do. Peace Corps doesn’t go to countries with an average life span as high as ours. US volunteers can see first hand how the old sacrifice themselves so the young have a chance. It’s a character building system that our Medicare/Medicaid has replaced with longer, healthier lifespans.

            Limited government usually means government for the families and friends of those who already have money and power, the top tier. The second tier survives on extorting bribes from the third tier of society for everything imaginable, including having to pay to pick up mail from home at the post office. The poor just beg on the streets and trade what they can.

            Food safety is another expense of US taxpayers. We have a wonderful system that allows us to go out to eat and not be poisoned. This is not the case where there are no government standards or interference. Restaurants and food handlers have little to no supervision or accountability, but taxpayers aren’t burdened by paying for inspectors or regulations. Tourists to these charming tropical places pay big bucks for the restaurants at resorts that are clean, but everyone else, including Peace Corps volunteers, plays the lottery when eating food.

            We live on a paved road in Hand County, but drive on gravel to our buildings. We know our roads will be open, weather permitting, cared for by county workers. Peace Corps volunteers are often sent to up-country communities to work. Farmers who live in areas that don’t vote for the officials in power don’t get roads opened to markets. Sometimes a year’s crop will sit and rot by a thatched shack because there’re no trucks that can make the trip to gather the produce on the bad roads. It’s a very simple equation and much cheaper than our highway taxes that keep one farmer’s township road open all year at county expense. If cheap is what’s most important, then head south and see what cutting back on rural needs does to a country’s food supply.

            I was inspired by President J. F. Kennedy when in school to think about serving my country and helping the world towards democracy and equality. My husband and I returned to our host country of Mali after thirty years, where the Pro-Democracy movement is huge, health care and clean water have improved, roads are better and education has grown. We learned so much from the Malians about long term goals and priorities in life. We wish people who want to cut our commitment to education, health, the elderly and community services would look at what life is like for so many. Join Peace Corps and experience limited government.