The above subject matter is one that i will never get closure to in my time, and if you were anything like me when I was a youngster then you did go through the baffling experience of trying to find out the FIRST and SECOND World Countries on your World Atlas, badgered your Geography teacher with umpteen questions till he stuck you at the back of the class, whiles your dad lit a cigarette and poured himself a gin as soon as he saw you approaching with a pencil and exercise book eager to drive him nuts with your findings that got you nowhere of course. If like me you are still searching, then you know how frustrating, uncalled for and insulting the World has turned out in the way it brands itself.
As I got older, the use of this terminology got even more personal and sometimes very offensive from my point of view on various matters because its implications were veering towards the derogatory and belittling aspect of identifying countries and their citizens.

FOREIGN MEDIA, OFFICIALS AND AID AGENCIES THE WORST CULPRITS
Switch on your Television or grab a daily broadsheet or periodical and God forbid if the news or article is anything to do with Africa (as an example) and the tone of the subject quickly switches to the Third World Accolade. Sometimes names of the particular Countries are conveniently passed over to drive the Third World Country labelling home. I have lost count of the times I have smirked at some intelligent looking reporter on screen reporting on some local issues that went wrong in Europe and then going on to quip that things like that are only expected in Third World Countries. Say What?
Government officials use the phrase freely, heads of organisations have no qualms about it and even the current President of the U.S.A was not spared his Third World Patrimonial lineage. Such was the harping that anyone would have thought he was just plucked from a field in Kenya straight into the White House.

Aid Agencies or shall I say Charitable Organisations are very averse to putting any emphasis on the good terrain of the Countries where their missions are centred all in the name of ‘chariddy’ you see, because the worse the accolade and the accompanying harrowing pictures of depravity the more the cash donations flow. All these going on, without a simple qualification that the work is only centred in probably a remote hamlet somewhere and that 99% of that population in that country have never and will never get into contact with them, don’t need them because they are simply not as deprived as depicted. The ‘Third World’ chant goes on so much so it gets ever so tiresome and where it doesn’t get tiresome it gets so disheartening you can’t look people in the eye with pride about your origins any longer.

ROLL ON THE ‘FAIR TRADE’ MISSIONARIES AND DO GOODERS
The latest craze is ‘fair trade this and fair trade that’ all in a bid to save the wretched souls of…yep you got that right Third World Countries from a distasteful existence. The focus is not on trade amongst equals in a demand and supply sort of way but rather on the minimum wage of the Country where the raw material or finished product originated from in contrast to wherever these fair traders originated and how it has been topped up for these farmers and producers which in effect means that these Individuals and Companies (buyers) have gone and done the most amazing job of saving lives. Honestly speaking, most of us from the Third World Countries think it would be nice if these people went and did their business in peace and raised Country profile a bit in the process rather than the sorry excuses of reports that they bring back all in a bid to heighten their sales. I bet they forget that they arrived at the nice airports, drove through the nice cities, saw the nice detached houses and nice roads and places… some of which are akin to any spot in Europe before arriving in the remote villages and farming communities where they operate. Unfortunately, after reading their accounts which are mostly peppered and salted for readers flavour and impact people are going to take it as a given.

In a world where ones skin colour has ceased to be geographically connected but rather colour coded into the superior and inferior modes of hues, one wonders what the big idea is with all these silly classifications?
In a single global village that mankind chooses to split into Worlds and upgrade the one and down grade the other, one is tempted to ask the pertinent question about how it is in the slums and ghettoes on the supposedly better side of the World and sunny side of the street? What of the social challenges of disrespect, disregard, crime and indiscipline to name but a few that ravage them as well? Would that be cause for name calling as well and how would it feel to have the boot on the other foot? Or shall we refer to them as the better and posh aspects of human suffering and injustices?

HOW DOES IT AFFECT COUNTRIES?
The terminology has definitely got no advantages to it, save for the right to a begging bowl perhaps. What it does instead is degrade Countries and make them look under developed no matter their progressive strides, and their citizens under privileged and needy. The impression goes further to brain wash people who are less enlightened that what they see or read about is what they get and corresponds to the broader picture and it leads to lack of Investment and Tourism to mention but a few bad Karma that it brings along in its wake.

We also find that our Leaders are not taken seriously and when it comes to global issues and its deliberations they get talked down at as opposed to being seen as equals.
In Commerce and in Business these people cannot talk the big currency language to their business associates from the other side because psychologically they are seen and have been made to feel inferior so that drives the terms and conditions of agreements in favour of the other side.

WHERE IS THE PRIDE AND WHERE IS THE LOVE?
Ever the realist, I always like to think that Pride and Dignity no matter how little wealth you have can make you hold your head high and stand tall. But the longer we are prepared to stand by for others to feed and clothe our own people, provide them with good drinking water and patronise the fruits of their cooperative ventures and pick up after us after the mess of unnecessary wars and greedy power play and lifestyles, then perhaps we do deserve the scorn and pity that is directed at us.
The longer we are prepared to go about… begging bowls in hand seeking succour from our neighbours all the time and getting testy and tiresome by the minute, the more inadequate they are going to think we are.

A TIME FOR REFLECTION
In an ideal World, one would expect that perhaps inequality is vital for balance. Unfortunately modern man prefers Seperatist tendencies and Classification of the highest and lowest orders. It is always about the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor, the great and the small and the Super Superiors versus the Weaklings. Imagine what life would be like if every Country was a Super Power and Industrialised to the core? Who would make way for the other’s ego and who would patronise whose wares and who would care about the well being of the other? Indeed it is for the essence of balance we all feed off each other somehow whether seen as great or small. Moreover every Country started from something and from some place and perhaps people are best served remembering their history first, in a bid to understand that of others better. And so, I shall leave you to ponder as I resume my quest for the FIRST and SECOND Worlds, and if you find them before I do please let me know.