Third World vs. Developing country– Why neither term is right

Whether you use “Third World” or “Developing” to describe a certain country, both terms mean the same thing: poor.

But it didn’t always mean that. During World War I, First World was used to refer to the Allied powers, while Second World described the Axis powers, and Third World was the name assigned to remaining nations who aligned with neither group. The majority of Third World countries happened to be impoverished, so the term came to mean poor world.

The classifications are insulting and outdated. The first, second, and third place rankings usually used in competition being applied to countries reinforce the idea of superiority between them. The richest countries are the very best while the poorer countries are losing the race to utopia. Furthermore, World War I ended a long time ago, so the alignment terms are obsolete.

So a solution was posed when the terms “Developed” and “Developing” countries were introduced. The meanings of these terms also boil down to “rich” and “poor.” Developed countries already have a stable educational and health care systems, and easy access to electricity, the internet, and water. Developing countries don’t.

People prefer to use “developing countries” because it opens a door to the hope that these impoverished countries will one day achieve the success of their developed counter parts. However, this term also comes with a few negative implications.

A few developing countries are the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. Theses countries, along with the majority of developing countries, are considered eastern civilizations. Likewise, developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada are pegged as Western civilizations.  By continuing to refer to Western civilization as developed and therefore superior, Western society counties to be idealized. It presents the idea that developed western countries are fully evolved and civilized, while developing countries are backwards and uncivilized.

It doesn’t seem like either term is exactly correct. One is too outdated and the other is too Western-centric. So what should we call our impoverished countries? Exactly that. Impoverished, low-income, and underprivileged are better terms to use when referring to poorer countries. None of these words refer back to other countries as a standard or to allude to superiority as directly as the terms “Third World” or “Developing”. Until someone comes up with a better phrase, using any of these will get your point across.