Third World?

[ejman]

I often hear (read) references to how much cheaper it is to retire in the third world which I guess generally refers to Latin America or certain parts of Asia. Then there is the First world which I guess generally refers to North America ( Meaning USA / Canada and Western Europe). So where is this mythical Second World that nobody ever talks about?

 

[Indigo Mule]

India?

 

[timo2]

when I was in high school, according to history or civics class, the industrial democracies were the first, the communist countries were the second, and everyone else was third world. Since the end of the cold war, the only one of those terms I hear regularly is 'third world' as that apparently has become synonymous with abject poverty. I suppose one could recast the 'developing' countries like india, china and brazil as second world, but this was originally a cold war phrase.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

I remember when I studied this stuff in the 90's in college, and having similar questions. I argued then, and still would today, that the inner cities of places like Detroit are worse off than most countries that are considered third world.

 

[Letj]

India?

India and China are still largely third world by almost any measure - per capita income, healthcare, infant mortality, urbanization, etc even though some like to think of them as 2nd world. Second world countries are probably most of the countries of the former soviet union.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

The second world referred to the Communist block countries (Soviet Union and China and their client states) as opposed to the Capitalist countries. There really isn't any Communist block (or 2nd world) anymore, since even though many have retained the name Communist, they have actually abandoned it in favor of capitalism.

 

[timo2]

The second world referred to the Communist block countries (Soviet Union and China and their client states) as opposed to the Capitalist countries. There really isn't any Communist block (or 2nd world) anymore, since even though many have retained the name Communist, they have actually abandoned it in favor of capitalism.

+1

the entire paradigm of 1st, 2nd, 3rd is obsolete.