I'm going to Costa Rica

[Walsingham]

Monte (and you for that matter) didn't even bother enquiring as to what type of community building I would be doing

 

Maybe because we read the OP?

I'm going to be helping out a group of doctors there for a few weeks

 

Being a medical assistant is precisely the kind of skill which locals should be learning and could be learning. $1000 would go a long way to training someone local who could do that for life, not just a few weeks.

[Orogun01]

Monte might sound all angry and cynical, but I should point out that I heard an almost identical argument from one of the original founders of Oxfam a few years ago.

 

To my mind, the simplest analogy is antibiotics. A short course will save your life, a long course will endanger it in all sorts of interesting new ways.

I perfectly understand what you mean by your analogy, although I think the burden of action falls on their government not the people. It's their government who should plan on self reliance not the people suffering.

 

I often think that the best choice for some of these places its for a throwback to neocolonialism.

[Walsingham]

Well, no because again colonialism is like life support. A temporary measure at best.

 

LOVING the metaphors today.

 

The problem is that many hippies don't feel any appreciation for the State. The State is evil and wrong as is corporate enterprise. But you need a basic trust and faith and investment by individuals in the State - generated by the Stae doing nice stuff - to prevent civil unrest, banditry, and ensure civic duties are performed. While corporations are a good (if far from perfect) way to organise people and perform functions.

 

Long term aid, that isn't oriented on enabling these two qualities of civic loyalty and corporate venture, actually undermines them. Because it relegates government to simply raising taxes and pushing people around, and private industry to doing things people don't reallly need, and probably don't know how to do.

 

And before anyone attacks me I've probably done more volunteer work than you have, so you should probably shut up.

 

EDIT: I should have said "Attacks me as a miserly old grump." You are of course still free to attack me as a fat pompous windbag.

Edited June 7, 2011 by Walsingham

[Drowsy Emperor]

Beware of poisonous insects, snakes etc.

 

There is some pretty nasty stuff in CR if I recall.

 

Ask to be briefed on the issue.

Edited June 7, 2011 by Drowsy Emperor