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Which world are you from?







Which World  are you from?   Third, Second or First?  And are you sure there is no fourth, fifth or sixth worlds?   And are you from the Developed World, where presumably, from the title, development is now a thing of the past?

I cringe every time I hear the term Third World or Developing World  in spite of the fact that I currently live in what many might think of as the First World or the Developed World. (Don't get me wrong - I'd rather live here than anywhere else.)

I find the terms very derogatory and arrogant.  If I were to be living instead in this so-called third world, I would be very upset at such a reference.  Third on what count?  GDP?  Military might? Family Values? Per capita murder rate?

Terms like these stem from long-held sub-conscious feelings of supremacy - feelings that reduce one's openness to understanding others, and get in the way of everyone respecting one another and living in peace.   These are feelings that nobody is born with - they are typically programmed in there by the media and by society.  A nation can move economically from a third class state to a first class state in a matter of a few decades - a mere blink of eye in the history of humankind - but they may have to still fight such a stigma - and resentment would be the natural consequence.

Another similar set of terms - developed world and undeveloped/under-developed world.   Imagine a line representing the scale of development, such as the one in the above picture.  There would be plenty of unfilled positions at both ends of that scale that existing nations can move into over the course of time.  Thus no current position can be considered fully developed or fully underdeveloped.  Today's so called developed level most likely will be tomorrow's underdeveloped level.  Every part of the world is, and will always be, part of the developing world.

Think this is much ado about nothing?  Think back and see how many terms we have erased from our vocabulary over the last few decades as we chose to be more sensitive to others.  Terminology matters.  Can one use insensitive terminology and still ask the question Why don't they like us?  The sooner we all move away from bipolar (or tripolar) views of the world, the quicker we can achieve global peace.

If you agree with me, share this with others now.  If you do not, that is perfectly fine - all I ask is that you think about it over the next few years.  Whenever you agree, come back and share this article at that time  (to me it is not a question of if but of when).


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