Yes, we are a Third World country. We have been for a while now.

[Plaid Adder]

It's just becoming more obvious.

Look, the difference between the "western" world and the Third World is not how rich the rich are. There are rich people in every Third World country. What makes the difference is: a) how big the gap is between the rich and the poor; b) how difficult that gap is to cross; c) how numerous the poor are, compared to the rich; and d) how wretchedly the poor live.

We've got it all. AND we have an illegitimate, nonresponsive government that has no problem with letting the poor die.

We are not "becoming" a Third World country. We are already there. We shipped all the manufacturing jobs away from here so they could be done at Third World prices, but we couldn't ship the service jobs--so instead, we have created Third World conditions at home, so as to produce cheap, desperate labor for the businesses who absolutely cannot send themselves overseas.

Whee this is fun. And remember, one of the criteria for Third World membership is the lack of a thriving middle class. So all of us who are in the middle class, well, enjoy it while it lasts, cause it's going the way of the well-paid dignity-having blue-collar job.

Sigh,

The Plaid Adder

[jus_the_facts]

1. NO....THIS is what's NOW the third world...MILLIONS HOMELESS......

.....don't assume to feel the reality of this unless you're down there experiencing it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=155&topic_id=2340&mesg_id=2340

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3954289

[Southpaw Bookworm]

2. Sat in on a med school class

This week that really brought this home to a group that mainly consists of overprivileged rich white kids. The lecture is a prelude to a project they'll be doing on health disparities. In one of his slides, the instructing doctor showed where the U.S. ranks in the world in terms of infant mortality rates (we're somewhere around 27). He then compared the rates of the poorest ward in Washington, DC. It was somewhere around 120: Some of its neighbors included Thailand, Angola, and Afghanistan.

Yes, we certainly are a third-world country.

[toymachines]

3. What is the actual definition of a third world country?

For that matter what defines a second world country? I would think we would be at the second world point. Would third world countries have the ability or the infrastructure to rebuild and help people as much as has and will be done? I do agree that simply the gap between the classes, the ongoing elimination of the middle class, and the treatment of the poor is enough to disqualify us from first world. This has all been a long time coming...

[cynatnite]

8. Here's a good definition

At the bottom of the page are links to 1st, 2nd and 4th world countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world_country

[mongo]

4. Being middle class is just a memory for me now

After being downsized, we poured all our assests including our paid off house into this store. I don't think it will be that much longer before we are living in the back room of the store.

[StellaBlue]

11. It seems

a lot of Americans think they are middle class but aren't. Rich white suburbanites think they are middle class, but they are really the white overclass. Poor working people think they are middle class because they share the cultural aspirations. Only the very poor and the very rich realize they aren't middle class.

Take me, right now. I have two degrees, but am currently unemployed (having just returned here from living abroad for four years). I am living with relatives and slowly spending the little savings I have managed to escape Europe with (mostly paying back federal student loans!!!!). I have been an office administrator, an academic, and a waitress. Among many other things. I have lots of clothes (none of them expensive), but no car. I like to watch football, but not NASCAR. I like classical music and honky tonk.

The relatives I am staying with are low income-earners, have no health insurance. I am writing this post from an apartment. None of my parents, grandparents, etc graduated from college. Most were sharecroppers. One ancestor further back did own a tobacco plantation in Tennessee, however. I have ancestors that fought in the American Revolution. I have more recent ancestors who were Cherokee and forced into Oklahoma.

My other relatives are still mostly farmers and factory workers, with a few who 'made it' and have government or high-paying private jobs. But mostly farmers and retail workers and the like. Not a single one of them has ever ventured outside the United States. Oh, except one who went to Eastern Europe to pick up his Internet bride (turned out to be a scam, surprise!).

I hate SUVs, malls, network TV, every movie on at the local theater looks like mindless crap. I am not a nationalist. I do not have a 'Support our Troops' sticker on my nonexistent car. I don't want an Escalade or Kate Spade purse or diamond engagement ring. Ever. I don't eat fast food.

Am I middle class?

What does that really mean anymore?

[earth mom]

5. Agree 100% and I've known it too for a while now! eom

[AlwaysHuman]

6. No, we aren't

And its quite insensitive to those who actually DO live in 3rd world countries for you to say that. Yes, USA has a disgustingly large gap between rich and poor, but how much of the American population dies of starvation? How many regularly have no access to clean water?

[Tyranny_R_US]

7. Since monday hmmm... I'll have to get back with you...

hopefully someone is keeping count of the dead and not just tossing them into large unmarked graves :sarcasm:

[AlwaysHuman]

9. I said "regularly"

In natural disasters, its even worse for third world countries.

[Horse with no Name]

12. We can call it semantics

But according to America's Second Harvest, they feed 23 million hungry Americans a year. That is ONE such entity. What about the rest?
How many hungry people are acceptable to you?
One is too many for me in a nation of great wealth such as ours.
http://www.secondharvest.org/site_content.asp?s=316
8.4 million children are uninsured.
Almost 1 in 3 American children live under the poverty line.
http://covertheuninsuredweek.org/factsheets/display.php?FactSheetID=103
During 1995--2002, the overall IMR in the United States declined from 7.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 1995 to 6.8 in 2001, and then increased to 7.0 in 2002.
A total of 225,534 infant deaths were reported in the United States during 1995--2002. By race/ethnicity of the mother, reported death totals were as follows: non-Hispanic white, 110,982; non-Hispanic black, 65,339; Hispanic, 35,447; Asian/Pacific Islander, 7,315; American Indian/Alaska Native, 2,915. Based on IMRs for 1995--2002 combined, for infants of non-Hispanic white mothers in DC, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, the 2010 target of 4.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births had already been achieved.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5422a1.htm

But would you rather say that all these people live in a third world conditions in a first world country--or can you just admit the obvious?

[Tsiyu]

10. And we haven't saved a dime for a rainy day

Americans are now following the Trickle Down Economic Savings Model that Chimpy consults.

Outspend yourself, indebt yourself.

:shrug: