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Third World?

posted on Sunday, September 23, 2007 10:08 AM

(start rant)

The population expert Alfred Sauvy coined the phrase "Third World". This language was rolled up in what was then referred to as the Cold war. The first world were the NATO aligned countries in North America, Western Europe and Australia. The second world referred to communist or Soviet influenced/controlled countries. Finally the third world related to underveloped countries in South America, Africa and Asia.



The thing is the cold war has long since gone. Many countries are trying to get opportunities to trade their way out poverty rather than rely on aid or the stifling requirements of institutions like the IMF and World Bank.



How can nations ever be seen as self respecting or something more than a poor cousin if the immediate image is one of a third world? Would you want someone feeling sorry for you if you needed to develop and grow? Why can't it be promoted that many of the so called developing countries have something to offer? Could we do ourselves a favour and regardless of the background stop referring to countries in Africa, Asia and South America as third world?



(end rant)



Thank you for listening.

Comments

Tommy Hutchinson

Monday, September 24, 2007 09:53 AM

David - very well argued. You are right, the whole concept of third world is demeaning seems out of date with today's fast changing world.

Timothy Ogene

Monday, September 24, 2007 06:51 PM

I like this!

Francisco Flores

Tuesday, September 25, 2007 06:39 PM

Very interesting, do we have third world countries, cities, neighbourhoods?

Ida Horner

Thursday, October 25, 2007 12:40 PM

Yes the term third world is demeaning. The women i work with simply see themselves as people who are doing their bit to lift themselves out of poverty and are not waiting for handouts from anyone. All they need is access to markets in an equitable way, after all econmies cannot be built on grants.