First world countries, and third world countries.
For those of you who have moderate to extremely good counting skills, and maybe even those
of you who are below average in the area of study, you may have noticed that it goes from
one to three, and there’s one number missing.
Anyways, are there second world countries?
And probably more importantly, why are digits assigned to different areas of the world?
A long time ago, if you count the 1950’s a long time ago, in a France far, far away,
depending on the scale you're using and the assumption that you're not watching this video
from France.
Back to that in a bit.
So, what was one of the most notable scenarios of the latter half of the 20th century?
Nothing other than the Cold War of course.
Back to the French; a French demographer and anthropologist Alfred Sauvy coined the term
“Third World”.
He based it on the Third Estate of pre-revolutionary France, who were the commoners, and were not
involved with the nobility or clergy, and generally had no say in what went on with
anything important in the country.
The same could be said for Third world countries.
They were not involved in the massive war of ideologies concerning the superpowers who
pretty much ran the show.
As you can guess, first and second world countries were made from Sauvy’s coinage of the term
“Third World”, referencing the clergy and the nobility, the first and second estates
of pre-revolutionary France; although, which one is which hardly matters.
As you passed that counting exam from earlier (well hopefully), you might be able to deduce
that the first world is referencing the capitalist superpowers, while the second world refers
to the communist nations opposing the west.
So, in the simplest terms possible.
First World = US, UK, Canada, and their allies a.k.a.
the Western Bloc.
Second World = the communist nations, such as China, the Soviet Union, and their allies,
a.k.a.
the Eastern Bloc.
Third World = nations not aligned with either.
Simple right?
Not really.
What’s the point of me making a video if there isn’t going to be some confusion?
Usually, things tend to change once a team loses its star player.
Not this type of star, but that type of star.
Once the Soviet Union was taken off life support, the second world lost its power, and has never
come close to reacquiring it.
Once the cold war was over, the term “Second World” became useless, and the system of
terms changed.
The first world still came to mean the capitalist powers of the world, while the third world
came to mean underdeveloped and impoverished nations.
However, these new definitions are considered to be outdated, and their only real use is
in popular culture and everyday usage.
So technically, if you went by the original definitions, which are by far the most sensical
of the two, Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland, among other countries would be third world
countries, as they remained neutral in the cold war.
On the other hand, countries like Namibia and Angola were considered first world countries,
although they are far from economic powers.
So, we have 3 worlds.
Except there’s a fourth.
The fourth world was coined separately from the other three worlds.
The fourth world means nomadic hunters, gatherers, sub-populations, native groups, or groups
living in third-world conditions in a first world country, although, the term is not fully
accepted.
All of these “worlds” that we’ve been talking about are under the “three-world
model”.
The confusion only gets more confusing when you introduce the “three-world theory.”
The three world theory was introduced by Mao Zedong, the Chinese revolutionary.
It describes the first world as superpowers, the second world as lesser powers, and the
third as exploited nations.
If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, then you think that this better
describes the three world model we have today.
And although, that’s kind of right, the two systems have nothing to do with each other.
So, to summarize, the second world is no longer used because the USSR isn’t around anymore,
and the system has been altered to stereotype rich and poor countries, which kind of describes
the three world theory, which is ironically, a theory of the second world of the three
world model.
Thanks for watching.