August 27, 2004: Headlines: Speaking Out: The Olympian: There are thousands of people around the world who, when the United States is being reviled, will say: "They're not all like that. If not for the Peace Corps, our village wouldn't have water."
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August 27, 2004: Headlines: Speaking Out: The Olympian: There are thousands of people around the world who, when the United States is being reviled, will say: "They're not all like that. If not for the Peace Corps, our village wouldn't have water."
There are thousands of people around the world who, when the United States is being reviled, will say: "They're not all like that. If not for the Peace Corps, our village wouldn't have water."
There are thousands of people around the world who, when the United States is being reviled, will say: "They're not all like that. If not for the Peace Corps, our village wouldn't have water."
United States can't lead by being a global bully
Recently, a dozen Thurston County returned Peace Corps volunteers met for dinner. We mostly talked about where and when we had served, what we had done in our host countries and what we are doing now. At one point, though, someone brought up what a shame it was that so much of the good will toward the United States that all of us had experienced had been squandered during the past three years.
I looked around the table and realized that, because of these people, there are thousands of people around the world who, when the United States is being reviled, will say: "They're not all like that. If not for the Peace Corps, our village wouldn't have water." Or: "I worked with a Peace Corps nurse. She was my friend. She still pays my children's school fees."
After Sept. 11, the airwaves were flooded with "Why do they hate us?" programs. President Bush pronounced, "They hate us because we're free," ignored the real reasons, then amplified the very behaviors and attitudes that got us attacked in the first place, pursuing a path of arrogance and ignorance, Texas barroom diplomacy and the inability to distinguish between fear and respect.
We cannot lead the world, as some would wish, until we recover our good-neighbor status ... getting to know our neighbors, respecting who they are.
Perhaps we can lead as first among equals.
We'll never do it as the bully on the block.
Ken Stallcup, Olympia
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Story Source: The Olympian
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