The International Credit Crisis

The pundits have weighed in, Henry Paulson has become a household name, and our President Elect faces one of the most challenging situations in recent years... undoubtedly, we are in the middle of an international credit crisis. It may be hard to believe but the first cracks in the foundation weren't on Wall Street, Wasilla Main Street, or the some international cyber-market but rather right here in small town Costa Rica, the fishing village of Cuajiniquil. But what blew the lid off, burst the bubble, tipped the scales, caused this crisis to erupt (insert here other colorful examples)?

The experts claim a loose policy toward regulation and I agree with this, there needs to be stricter policies on regulating international credit. Or maybe we need to redefine how we allocate credit and define the responsible parties. Here in Cuajiniquil, as stated earlier- the epicenter for the current crisis, we have been dealing with the problem of loose credit regulations for years and the impact of long term irresponsibility has had devastating repercussions for the community. I can only accurately analyze the information from the past 6 months, my time with pure, unfiltered access to the source of the credit calamity, but given the chronology of events, as I’m sure many of you are questioning and apportioning culpability, I must apologize because I, your friendly PCV, am liable for the collapse of the international credit system (or that of Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica por lo menos).

I in no way intended to spark a of crisis of such epic proportions but what can you expect when you expose a population to a dynamic change agent, or more accurately stated, release a potent catalyst into an already unstable situation (okay, maybe a little heavy handed). This problem of credit irresponsibility presented itself early on; I noticed during my interviews with community members that there existed no reliable accounting system with which to acknowledged the parties responsible for projects, communal works, and socially productive activities. This, in turn, lent itself to a credit free-for-all that makes the greed on Wall Street seem like the maladroit workings of a child.

The most potent example of the credit endemic involves a student group from the United States, an environmental project, and a few conspicuous smudges in the records of the community. The project, that of the U.S. student group, included the installation of 16 trashcans throughout the community with the goal of promoting better practices in the disposal of waste products. It turned out to be very successful and has continued to see community support, but the credit contagion emerged almost immediately.

The first event surfaced in the form of names, written with magic markers, on some of the trashcans claiming recognition for a community student group with little involvement in the project. A small and although irritable action, it was tolerable for the U.S. students, myself, and the greater population. However, two months later came the coup de grace, the same marker wielding banditos attempted to submit the project to a Regional Environmental Contest, complete with group photos in front of the trashcans, for a prize of $600. This proved too much for a humble, struggling Peace Corps volunteer; I made all the necessary calls, put an end to this attempted credit derivative swap, and effectively tipped the first domino in a series that has yet to come to a halt.

Although there are other small credit miscalculations none, as in the former example, are able to clearly illustrate their long term effect and why we have to fight against these types of actions. It isn't that someone receives acclaim for an action that wasn't theirs; the problem is that we've created an environment that is de-motivating, polarizing, and harmful to a community that needs more unity and less division. The real result of years of credit misappropriation is a divided population that doesn't have the desire to collaborate, unite, or work selflessly for the greater good. This lack of interest doesn't stem from the communal law that glory and prestige will always be usurped but rather from the compounded frustration that generations of seemingly innocuous greed for recognition has produced. I don’t propose that we put an end to the acknowledgement and appreciation of public service, I only ask that we demand more fairness in the system and, hopefully, as a result we come to understand the true nature of public service- the advancement and progress of the community and not that of the individual. Any small advancement that we make towards this goal during my time in the Peace Corps will be empirically more effective and beneficial to the community than any bridge, building, or business.