I saw a letter in the Express today, where a guy said he was asked how come a country so rich as Trinidad can be considered a Third World Country, this is some of the reasons he gave, feel free to add your own:
In order to be considered to be Third World country or lesser-developed or developing counties there has to be criteria related to socio-economic and the human development index scale thereby displaying weakness in income, nutrition, education and literacy as wells as economic vulnerability and political corruption which is characterized by authoritarian regimes that are steeped in kleptocracy. The only thing that I could find, that hints of the developing world is the alarming rate high rate of HIV cases in relation to the overall population.
Upon reading the many posts in this forum there are concerns regarding public education, public sanitation, infrastructure, urban planning and in the political realm where politicians seek to attract people along racial lines and not the issues. The arguement can be made that the aforementioned place could be a host of countries that describe themselves as the first world. At the end of the day, Trinidad does not fit the bill. Please help me to understand why people see themselves as being inhabitants of a third world country.
Edited: Charles R on 31st Dec, 2006 - 7:31pm
I find the list in the first Post not reasons of significance, and although I could make a very long list I will just add one for now:
Their inability to have Constructive Discussion without becoming emotionally innvolved is a Third World trait. I would also add that they generally cannot Discuss a popular issue other than what the news gives them - in other words - lack of research.
If you want to show intelligence then understand that people are NOT always going to agree with you or even like you, but that is their position and your prerogative is to show that you understand that each person has agency to THINK as they please. This is why some countries have great diplomacy and reach far, because they understand this.
Because we are seriously indebted.
https://www.iadb.org/countries/home.cfm?id_...anguage=English
Please say they lie. One BILLION US DOLLARS? We owe one billion US dollars!
I hope Manning's plane crashes.
Message Edited... Persephone: Please use uppercase letters as appropriate. |
Obviously in some respects, we ARE first world. You can anything in the shops here that one could buy in Europe or North America.
But in economics, first world and third world are defined by GDP per capita or the UN Human Development Index. On both measures, Trinidad is not that high. And I suppose the average Trinbagonian is not as wealthy as the average American, British, Germann or Japanese.
QUOTE (ca1979 @ 29-Aug 08, 9:23 AM) |
Obviously in some respects, we ARE first world. You can anything in the shops here that one could buy in Europe or North America. |
QUOTE |
. And I suppose the average Trinbagonian is not as wealthy as the average American, British, Germann or Japanese. |
Well Trinidad is not first world because our standard of living is not that high in the grand scheme. And in economics, standard of living is generally defined by GDP per capita which I think for Trinidad is about 35 - 40th in the world.
The biggest thing keeping us back is a lack of social services, health and basic utilities. People don't have water in certain areas, that's ridiculous.