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Can we define third world country first? Aside from the traditional geopolitical definition I'd call a third world country one that is a poor developing nation. A country like the US where the median household income is about 50k doesn't fit, at least from my perspective.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ReturningWest
I've been saying this for a long time, our MFG base has moved overseas,
This is false. You are confusing manufacturing employment with manufacturing output. The latter is the barometer, and it is still quite significant.
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that
remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO (which along with its allies
represented the First World), or communism and the Soviet Union (which along
with its allies represented the Second World).
Hence my attempt at clarifying "Aside from the traditional geopolitical definition" since I believe most people just associate the term with a developing nation, not the cold war one.
I don't think threadstarter was really asking whether the US is becoming unaligned with either the Soviet-bloc or Nato.
The Republicans are doing their best to turn America into a third world country with the rich in gated communities and the proles out there fighting over scraps. The dirtbags seem to think trickle down economics works although it hasn't worked anywhere in the history of the world. Unfortunately this stupidity will continue unabated until those Tea Party losers die off and stop sucking at the taxpayer teat
...
Name a third world country you've spent reasonable amount of time in, with the people (not just vacationing)....
Okey-dokey .... ummmmm, not vacationing? ... ummm ummmm ummmm ... I got one! Vietnam (yeah really) ... and several others in SE Asia ... and they weren't vacations either.
Here folks -- think:
Water supply, sewage treatment, electric grid, police and fire protection, legal and court systems, highway and transportation, public health departments and services, armed forces defensive structure, environmental controls (poor as ours are relative to what we should have), agricultural oversight of food supplies, parklands and recreation,
Should I go on?
There is nothing -- no thing -- similar even among the poverty-striken in America -- that compares this country to the third world.
Are some people -- large numbers even -- experiencing serious declines in income / purchasing power? Sure. Are the rich getting richer here? Sure. Is that aggravating and even disgusting? Sure. Do third world countries have any comparable levels of government infrastructure to my list above? No.
Okey-dokey .... ummmmm, not vacationing? ... ummm ummmm ummmm ... I got one! Vietnam (yeah really) ... and several others in SE Asia ... and they weren't vacations either.
Here folks -- think:
Water supply, sewage treatment, electric grid, police and fire protection, legal and court systems, highway and transportation, public health departments and services, armed forces defensive structure, environmental controls (poor as ours are relative to what we should have), agricultural oversight of food supplies, parklands and recreation,
Should I go on?
There is nothing -- no thing -- similar even among the poverty-striken in America -- that compares this country to the third world.
Are some people -- large numbers even -- experiencing serious declines in income / purchasing power? Sure. Are the rich getting richer here? Sure. Is that aggravating and even disgusting? Sure. Do third world countries have any comparable levels of government infrastructure to my list above? No.
The problem: you're looking for similarity in conditions. Where you should be looking for trends. Let me ask you this: Why is water supply system an issue in Vietnam? Who do you think is responsible for it?
The Republicans are doing their best to turn America into a third world country with the rich in gated communities and the proles out there fighting over scraps. The dirtbags seem to think trickle down economics works although it hasn't worked anywhere in the history of the world. Unfortunately this stupidity will continue unabated until those Tea Party losers die off and stop sucking at the taxpayer teat
Yet we have a Democratic president and Senate.
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