News Guest Writer
What exactly is a “Third World” country?
There seems to be a common misconception that such countries are filled with poverty, suffering, and underdevelopment. Actually, as long as a person is not part of the uneducated or lower than the lowest classes, so called “third world countries” can be quite charming and entertaining. This is of course if one doesn’t consider the burning feeling one gets inside when one thinks about how much greater one’s country could be if there was just some capable leadership.
Living in a Third World country can be a life changing experience, and in my opinion, anyone who has ever been exposed to this kind of environment has more well-rounded views than people who have lived their whole lives in an ideal society.
Third World countries have many advantages to them. For instance, they forcefully teach a person to be assertive (at least while driving). In underdeveloped, mismanaged countries, there are no driving rules and regulations. Unless, these include: having a conversation through eye-contact with another driver to decide which car will be the next to cross the street; driving as fast as you possibly can late at night in order to save yourself from being high jacked or threatened at gunpoint; or uncontrollably blowing your horn when an inconsiderate driver’s car breaks down right in front of yours (which is very likely to happen because the broken car is probably older and in worse shape than your mom). Once someone has mastered the driving techniques in a Third World country, driving on the highway in the United States is easier than playing Mario Cart.
There is also a general misconception that because there are no quality schools in Third World countries (which is completely false, India has one of the best education systems in the world), the indigenous population is mostly undedicated and incompetent. Actually, years of struggling to be heard in a class of forty students and arguing with one’s English teacher because your accent is “too good” results in complete competence and self-assurance. Of course, there are many who lose themselves in the river of mediocrity and corruption, but those who don’t – those who swim to the shore and assert themselves as valuable, capable individuals – become exceptional contributions to our world.
Another advantage of living in an underdeveloped, disorganized country is that a person has personal experience with living in complete misery. While one person may not come from an poverty-stricken family, living in one of these countries exposes all of its inhabitants absolute poverty. Only a heartless individual can witness the lifestyle of pregnant, dehydrated mothers and undernourished little children who beg on the streets every day and not resolve to make a change in the world.
Take Kofi Annan, for example. Annan is a man who was born in Ghana, Africa and attended a Methodist boarding school, in which he learned “that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere.” He began university studies in Ghana and, as an excellent student, received a Ford Foundation grant, with which he was able to continue his education in the United States. This man, born and raised in Ghana, was enlightened by his exposure to all kinds of social situations: His family was of the elite class in a country filled with poverty. He grew up to become Secretary General of the United Nations and win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for his outstanding contributions towards “a more peaceful world.”
Having only first-hand experience with one Third World country, my depiction of these places might not be absolutely accurate. I can, however, assure my peers that the consequences that result from living anywhere from Ghana to Honduras are very much alike. I am not suggesting that we stop trying to find solutions for universal problems like poverty, illness, and corruption. I am simply stating that being exposed to a little of the disorganization, trickiness, and suffering that exists in Third World countries will make every person a little more conscious.
