“Ideally these people define their roles as service. Actually, they frequently wind up alleviating the damages done by money and weapons, or ‘”seducing” the “underdeveloped” to the benefits of the world of affluence and achievement.”

This quote appears on the third page of Ivan Illich’s “To Hell With Good Intentions” (P316). The quote is referring to the numerous do-gooders and idealists America exports to supposed third world countries. The use of the word “seducing” implies the sexual connotations of the fourth definition of the word service, as well as the balance of power within that definition. The definition, “also of a man, to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)”, places the seducer (which I feel could be either the man or the woman in the relationship- gender being particularly irrelevant in this context) in a position of power. In this case, the American idealist is placed in a position of power over the residents of “underdeveloped” nations, seducing them with the promises of her money, power and prosperity.

At worst, in your “community development” spirit you might create just enough problems to get someone shot after your vacation ends and you rush back to your middleclass neighborhoods where your friends make jokes about “spics” and “wetbacks.”

This quote is found in Illich on the third page of the document page 318 at the top. The way that it is functioning here is that it speaks to a group of people going down to do “community development” or service to the community to build or perform maintenance to the village or thing. This ties in with our definition of “to perform routine maintenance or repair, work on, particularly a motor vehicle or thing”

“Actually, they frequently wind up alleviating the damage done by money and weapons, or ‘seducing’ the ‘underdeveloped’ to the benefits of the world of affluence and achievement.” – Ivan Illich

This quote was introduced after stating that the export of the U.S idealist is the third largest export after money and guns. The paragraph has already identified the volunteer as an idealist who believes he is providing a service. This quote positions this supposed service as a means to compensate for damages, such as a payment of interest on a debt. The quote also highlights the debt a volunteer feels they must pay to the “underdeveloped”; the former believes that they possess and can give something that is worth having. Illich has already clarified that the quality that the American volunteers value in themselves and wish to share is merely a byproduct of their American “American society of achievers and consumers”, and infers that the volunteer is promoting this way of life, through volunteering, across the globe; the volunteer is pretentions for thinking that their ideals, manners, systems are needed by other societies – permeating a mentaling of manifest destiny among the volunteers.

5.) To supply a person with something:

“Next to money and guns, the third largest North American export is the U.S. idealist, who turns up in every theater of the world: the teacher, the volunteer, the missionary, the community organizer, the economic developer, and the vacationing ‘do-gooders.'”(page 316, beginning of 6th paragraph, Illich)  This quote is explaining Illich’s argument that he is against any and all North American “do-gooders” in Latin America.

“Or even that the best way of understsning that your help in teh ghetto is neither needed nor wanted is to try, and fail. I do not agree with this argument. The damage which volunteers do willy-nilly is too high a price for the belated insight that they shouldn’t have volunteered in the first place…I am here to suggest that you voluntarily renounce excercising the power which being an American gives you.”

Toward the end of Ivan Illich’s “To Hell With Good Intentions,” Illich makes an interesting arguement that enhances the of the meaning of to pay interest on, one of the many definitions of service. He makes a point to show that by not understanding the consequences of volunteering without understanding the context of the situation, we ultimately worsen the lives of those we are helping. We ultimately pay an interest for the damage we do- our price is realizing that our help was neither wanted nor good. Illich claims that the price we pay for gaining this “insight” is too high for his people and his country. The damage we do cannot even be compenstated by the little interest we pay, which is gaining this insight. Illich implies that the greatest interest we can pay on the debt of the damage we’ve already done is to “voluntarily renounce excercising the power which being an American gives [us].” By doing this, we can hopefully start undoing the damage caused by the “good intentions” of volunteers before us. 

The quote I chose is from Illich’s “To Hell With Good Intentions.” It appears on page 318 as Illich is talking about how middle-class volunteers can do little to help a Mexican village. Illich says, “At worst, in your “community development” spirit you might create just enough problems to get someone shot.” This reference to community development evokes ideas of building homes and digging wells, the kind of physical labor that our definition of service (to perform routine maintenance or repair) embodies…

“…for some gifts one cannot even say ‘thank you.'”

This quote comes from the beginning of Ivan Illich’s article. It comes immediately before his actual prepared statement, but at the end of his preface. He is referring to his frustration with CIASP programs in this quote. He does not want the North Americans coming down to Mexico thinking they are doing service when they are in reality sometimes harming their way of life. Illich wants people to be aware of his argument so that they will stop doing what they are doing. The definition of service given was: serve, also of a man to have sexual intercourse with (a woman). This quote shows that service is a gift which one cannot say or needs to say “thank you,” even if it is service of a man to have sexual intercourse.

To pay interest on (a debt).

“A group like this could not have developed unless a mood in the United States had supported it – the belief that any true American must share God’s blessings with his poorer fellow men. The idea that every American has something to give, and at all times may, can and should give it, explains why it occurred to students that they could help Mexican peasants ‘develop’ by spending a few months in their village” -Ivan Illich, To Hell with Good Intentions

This quote appears near the beginning of Ivan Illich’s To Hell with Good Intentions address to the Conference on Inter-American Student Projects in Cuernavaca, Mexico (1968). Illich uses this quote to initiate his oposal of international service work. Illich believes that because of the “American way of life,” Americans feel the need to do volunteer in poorer international countries. Almost as if providing service to these countries was their “manifest destiny”; because they are superior, they must help those below them…

The following quote is from a speach by Ivan Illich titled “To Hell With Good Intentions”:

“There exists the argument that some returned volunteers have gained insight into the damage they have done to others–and thus become more mature people…Perhaps there is also something to the argument that young men should be promiscuous for awhile in order to find out that sexual love is most beautiful in a monogamous relationship.”

This quote is one of the few times when Illich proposes a positive side to service, and it occurs towards the end of the article.  Although he fires back with reasons why he disagrees with the principal in this quote, he still offers the reader another side to ponder for themselves which I believe is a very important piece in this speech.  It relates to my definition, (Serve- also of a man-to have sexual intercourse with a [woman]) in respects of the association with man having to be with several partners before they realize what is good for them.  This is a metaphor to describe how service in this article is being used.  He is saying that some people go into service with the wrong intentions, simply do ‘sacrafice’ their time to make themselves feel better about the world.  Then, when its all said and done they realize that what they have done is nothing compared to how they have affected the people they are servicing.  The overall picture shows them the beauty or the disaster of it…it could go either way. 

Service: to supply a person with something.

“I want us to talk about why, in the context of conflicting interests and the historical dominance of one racial or gender group over another, it is possible that ‘service,’ in and of itself, can have racist or sexist outcomes despite good intentions.  For example, I resist the notion of service learning for U.S. students in the Philippines, my country of origin, because I think it perpetuates a ‘colonial mentality’ among Filipinos and a kind of ‘manifest destiny’ amoung U.S. students.  To my way of thinking, the results of the history of U.S. dominance in the Philippines is so overwhelming that it is almost impossible for a U.S. student doing what is regarded on both sides as ‘service’ not to deliver a message of superiority.”

This quote is taken out of A Challenge to the Notion of Service by Nadinne Cruz.  It occurs in the middle of her three page article.  It funtions her to show how one persons thought of service and doing good can really have a negative effect then the intended one.  One may go into service with the thought of having a positive influence or doing something that makes them feel good and as if they’ve done something for someone.  Yet through the ripple effect their so called good intentions can create a bad and negative effect on the people or service they have done.  Is service really that benefical in this case?  Can someone service someone without any negative effects?