The time I thought about joining Peace Corps

The longest time I spend unemployed was the fall of 2012 to the spring of 2013. I spent 7 months scrambling around to find work. I was on each of the major job search engines looking for positions daily and sending my information out there. During that 7 month period, I must have sent out a few hundred applications and went to 16 job interviews.

Rejection after rejection followed and I was slowly getting desperate. I started considering just applying to minimum wage positions in the local area and one of my job interviews was at a grocery store where they pretty much turned me away because of over qualifications.

If jobs were too scarce to come by, I was starting to think about alternative plans. I considered government programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps.

Me being a conservative, I think government programs such as AmeriCorps and Peace Corps are ineffectual and mostly a waste of tax payer money. However, I would have no moral obligations to get into these programs and use them to my own benefit. This is the Ayn Rand perspective. If the government steals from you (in the form of taxation), go ahead and steal your stuff back if you are given the opportunity (in the form of applying for government benefits legally). It is for this reason, I had no shame in collecting unemployment. Sure, the United States would be in a better financial condition without these safety nets but this is the government voted in by my parents.

I remembered hearing that AmeriCorps would pay you a monthly stipend in return for your service if you were a full time member. Sure, you could make more money just working a minimum wage full time but volunteer work would probably be more fun.

I did some research about Peace Corps and I think I found a better deal. By joining Peace Corp, you would travel to some foreign country for 27 months and the Peace Corp would pay for your living expenses to the extent of living like the local population. Upon successful completion of the program, I would be given a $7500 readjustment bonus.

I'd be in a better financial condition just by flipping burgers at Burger King but the opportunity just seemed so tempting. Fly out to some distant country, get free food and board on the government dime, do some interesting volunteer work, and come home with $7500. Sounds pretty awesome.

All of this, not because I actually care about helping people but because it would benefit me. That would be slightly more than 2 years of my life I wouldn't have to worry about living expenses. If America didn't want me to work, then fine, I'll just go over to some third world nation, waste time along with tax payer money, and enjoy myself. A pure government subsidy and wealth transfer I could actually qualify for. Sure it is completely immoral but hey, this is the world we inherited from our parents.

Needless to say, this didn't happen. I got hired as an accountant in 2013 and I put away my romantic aspirations of escaping to a foreign country to dig water wells.

So, to any men in the situation I was in back then, go ahead and consider all different options. I've heard that the military is a great option for the reason of living on base will grant you free room and board and you get opportunities for education advancement paid for by the military. It wasn't for me. I didn't want to risk getting shot or injured but that risk might be worth it for some men.

People in my church told me that if you go out west, you could work on dude ranches and get free room and board. I never really looked into that option.

I've even gotten suggestions to work on cruise liners just for the opportunity to travel around.