Trump uses 'Third World' in a social media post. What's up with that term?

""Third World" is often the first term that pops into Westerners' minds when they try to characterize less well-off, troubled countries. Everyone knows what they mean countries that are low in resources, where many people live in poverty, where health care and education systems are weak, where democracy may not be exactly flourishing. Where did this term come from? How is it regarded in the 21st century? And are there any better alternatives?"

"The idea of a world divided into three domains dates back to the 1950s when the Cold War was just starting. It was Western capitalism versus Soviet socialism. But there was another group of countries. Many were former colonies. None of them were squarely in either the Western or the Soviet camp. Thinking of these three factions, French demographer Alfred Sauvy came up with the classification "Third World" in his article "Three Worlds, One Planet," published in the French newspaper L'Observateur in 1952."

""Although the phrase was widely used, it was never clear whether it was a clear category of analysis, or simply a convenient and rather vague label for an imprecise collection of states in the second half of the 20th century and some of the common problems that they faced," historian B.R. Tomlinson wrote"

The designation "Third World" originated in 1952 to describe countries not aligned with either the Western capitalist bloc or the Soviet communist bloc. The category emerged from Cold War geopolitics and included many former colonies that did not fit neatly into either camp. The label has always been imprecise, conflating diverse nations facing common challenges such as poverty, weak healthcare and education, and fragile democratic institutions. The term continues to carry pejorative connotations and ambiguous boundaries, prompting questions about its continued usefulness and calls for more accurate, less stigmatizing alternatives.

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