Third World?

[Vijay.Sharma]

Do you know the meaning of the term "Third World" (or for that matter First World and Second World)...which countries does the term refer to, etc? Edit - The poll question should read - Does the term "Third World" have any frame of reference - does it mean anything, today?

[Mariyam]

Doesn't mean anything today. Its continual usage is an unwanted legacy of the cold war era.

[punjabi_khota]

It can mostly be replaced by 'brown'.

[Guest Gunner]

I thought it refers to the **** countries

[Guest Gunner]

It can mostly be replaced by 'brown'.

And it would be apt.

[Yoda-esque]

Theres also a 4th world..Any takers on the color ?

[Holysmoke]

^ red?

[Clarke]

I thought its used in an economic sense for countries that don't inspire hope for the future. Above the failed states but not in the developing category, although each of these could somewhat overlap on a Venn diagram.

[Vijay.Sharma]

Theres also a 4th world..Any takers on the color ?

Yellow. Holysmoke, Red is as good as Brown? lol The 4 root races: Black - Negroid Red/Brown - Australoid Yellow - Mongoloid White - Caucasian

[Yoda-esque]

Yellow. Holysmoke, Red is as good as Brown? lol The 4 root races: Black - Negroid Red/Brown - Australoid Yellow - Mongoloid White - Caucasian

4th world refers to people without country..the Romanis,Basques,Kurds...So color independent

[Vijay.Sharma]

I thought its used in an economic sense for countries that don't inspire hope for the future. Above the failed states but not in the developing category' date=' although each of these could somewhat overlap on a Venn diagram.[/quote']The term went out of business in 1990 when USSR broke up. It was originally created to refer to the aliiances (from a US perspective) during the Cold War. First World - US and its allies Second World - USSR and its allies Third World - The neutrals...countries that signed up for Non Alignment Movement (NAM), India being one of the founding members of NAM, or remained neutral. It just so happened that the countries outside of Europe and USA (as has been the case in european cultural history thru out) were treated by both the "Worlds" as Third World - Africa, South America, Asia (except China, North Korea, South Vietnam(?) since they were red nations like USSR). Most of the countries that were not aligned to either "world" were developing (like South America and many Asian and North African nations) or under developed (like many Central, East, West, and Southern African) nations, the term "third world" stayed erroneously in public consciousness as some kinda economic indicator of the status of the country. As such economy-wise the classification made by UN was Developed Countries, Developing Countries, and Under-developed Countries. South Asia and East Asia except total far east were in the 'under developed' category till as late as the early 80s. Some countries like India, Pakistan, China, Philippines, Malaysia, etc moved into the Developing Countries category. Pakistan, I think, has now slipped back into under developed nations category whereas SL has risen to the Developing Countries category. Also, the term survived to be used as a derogatory reference to the poorer nations of the world. Many people in the west do not realize but "third world" is actually a derogatory reference and must not be used in formal communications. It is like using the word 'negro' to refer to a black man. There is nothing technically wrong in it's use (only nigg** is the slur word) but it is avoided because it is deemed derogatory. In case you come across someone using the term 'third world' just let them know that it has a derogatory connotation to it and to avoid using it.

[Vijay.Sharma]

4th world refers to people without country..the Romanis' date='Basques,Kurds...So color independent[/quote']Ah ok...thanks! That reminds me of the Fourth Estate - Press (or Media basically). Forgot what the first three were though. IIRC, they were Government/Administration, Judiciary, and Defense