United States is now classified as a third world country

Question

TikToker claims that according to new European reports, the United States is now a Third World country.

Answer 1

As a media consumer, you should be suspicious of the fact that the TikToker making these claims never provided sources anywhere. There is no proof that these "European reports" exist. I tried searching for them online, and could not find any European report like the one in question. 

As for whether the US is a third-world country or not:

https://www.history.com/news/why-are-countries-classified-as-first-second-or-third-world

This article discusses the origins of the term "Third World." Essentially, the third world "encompassed all the other countries that were not actively aligned with either side in the Cold War. These were often impoverished former European colonies." Post Cold War, the term is still used but now mainly refers to developing countries. You should note that the term is not rigidly defined, so there is no universally accepted set of metrics to determine whether a country is of the third world. 

That being said, the following opinion article discusses why the US might be considered a developing country. You can read it for some ideas on why people might consider the US a third world country.

https://theconversation.com/us-is-becoming-a-developing-country-on-global-rankings-that-measure-democracy-inequality-190486

However, also consider this report by the United Nations Development Programme, which gives the US a 0.921 Human Development Index rating for 2021. Anything above 0.800 is what they consider, "Very high." The describe this index as follows: "The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone." Evidently there is disagreement on whether the US is becoming a developing country. In the end, none of these metrics are widely agreed upon as the de facto method for determining if a country is third-world, so it would not be objectively factual to claim the US is third-world using any of these metrics.

Because the TikToker in the linked TikTok video has failed to list a source and the "European report" he mentioned doesn't seem to exist, I am going to rate this as misinformation. I will not say it is false, because as mentioned above, there is no real method for classifying a country as part of the third world.

RATING: Misinformation

You should probably avoid this TikToker in the future or be sure to fact-check any claims he makes without sources. He makes another claim that "fentanyl is actually the number one killer of people aged 18 to 45" which is dubious. This fact-check article investigated this claim, which was sourced to a analysis conducted by the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl. "The group analyzed publicly available CDC data." Later in the fact-check, CDC spokesperson Lancashire is quoted, "'It doesn't appear that fentanyl alone is the leading cause of death among 18-45 year olds and definitely is NOT the leading cause of death among all adults.'" 

https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-leading-cause-deaths-fentanyl-154394187670

The TikToker also says that "you have a higher chance of dying from a drug overdose than anything else," which is just straight up misleading wording because you have next to no chance of dying from an overdose if you don't do drugs. He intentionally spins data into words in a way that makes it more alarming to viewers, a practice which he might be doing to exploit the viral nature of social media to get more viewers. 

Comments

Very organized, detailed, and thorough. I liked how you added multiple sources and quotes from each source. Your explanation is very well written and explains your claim excellently. Good job!

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Love how thorough, well-constructed, and organized this response is. The multiple sources also really insightful, thanks!

Answer 2

Not officially. The United States is technically still considered a first-world, developed country (Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/third-world-countries) (https://unctad.org/topic/least-developed-countries/list)

However, unofficially, in many sectors of life, the United States can be compared to a third-world country. This Rolling Stone article outlines 6 different ways (gun violence, healthcare, criminal justice, etc) the US is similar to developing nations: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/six-ways-america-is-like-a-third-world-country-100466/

There are also several linked sources in this article: https://medium.com/illumination/america-is-a-third-world-country-297f62f37d54 that outline how the United States is not worthy of its first world title.

Comments

How would you rate the claim? True, false, misleading, opinion, etc.?

Answer 3

This is a complicated answer. First and foremost, the term "third-world country" is outdated and can be seen as degrading as it makes economy a determinant of superiority vs. inferiority.  Investopedia says, "In general, nations are typically characterized by economic status and key economic metrics like gross domestic product (GDP), GDP growth, GDP per capita, employment growth, and an unemployment rate. In developing countries, low production rates and struggling labor market characteristics are usually paired with relatively low levels of education, poor infrastructure, improper sanitation, limited access to health care, and lower costs of living." 

People are basing the determinate of "third-world" on factors that necessary are not congruent with actual economic status. I think this issue really just boils down to journalist and angry Americans taking their frustrations out because of the current social/political status of the US. 

Third World Countries: Definition, Criteria, and Countries (investopedia.com)

Answer 4

This claim is somewhat an opinion. The term "third-world country" is subjective and there are no set parameters on which a country may be classified as a third-world country.

Here is what Wikipedia says about third-world countries:

"The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War and it was used to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the "First World", while the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam and their allies represented the "Second World". This terminology provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on political divisions." Hence, it is an outdated term. It has evolved to a derogatory term meaning countries with populations with low income and poor quality of life.

This is from an Aljazeera report: "When on August 8 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in search of classified documents, the ex-president of the United States decried the episode as “an assault [that] could only take place in broken, third-world countries”. He continued to lament that America had “now become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before”." Another report by 'The Conversation' says that "US is becoming a ‘developing country’ on global rankings that measure democracy, inequality".

These statements may lead us to believe that in certain spheres, the US is not performing well. But being a third-world country in the modern sense is not something that the US can be definitively classified as.

Sources:

US is becoming a 'developing country' on global rankings that measure democracy, inequality (theconversation.com)

Trump and I can agree: The US is a ‘third-world country’ | Inequality | Al Jazeera

Third World - Wikipedia

Answer 5

The claim "Third world country" is one with little consistency when it comes to definition as it is subjective to society rather than definition. According to the Corporate Finance institute, "The modern definition of “Third World” is used to classify countries that are poor or developing. Countries that are part of the “third world” are generally characterized by (1) high rates of poverty, (2) economic and/or political instability, and (3) high mortality rates."

The United States is a developed country that falls in the lower end of poverty rates, currently has political instability inside of the country and is ranked 56th in crime rate globally. All this information draws little conclusion as to if the United States is a third world country because of there are many factors that play into societies opinion on what is or isn't a third world country.

 

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/economics/third-world/

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/crime-rate-by-country

Answer 6

The statement made in the TikTok video is just someone's opinion and is not based on facts. "Third world" is not an official term used by any reputable organizations to classify countries. The term "third world" is used to describe countries with low economic development and high poverty rates. Some people argue that the U.S. is becoming more like a third-world country because of issues with the U.S., healthcare, infrastructure, and social safety net . They point out that the U.S., has a higher poverty rate compared to other developed countries and that healthcare is not as easy to access or afford. However, according to data on the country's average income (Gross Domestic Product per person), the U.S. is generally seen as a highly developed country. This means that people in the U.S., have a higher standard of living than in most other countries, The U.S., also has the strongest economy, the most liquid financial market, and advanced infrastructure.

https://fee.org/articles/thanks-to-economic-freedom-america-still-outpefrorms-other-nations-in-standard-of-living/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/a-comparison-of-living-standards-across-the-states-of-america-20200528.html

https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/02/state-official-poverty-rates-changed-over-10-years.html

https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/11/how-liquid-has-the-treasury-market-been-in-2022/

Comments

I like how straight forward your answer is and I appreciate that you first identify the term "third world" before further explanation. Also, good job including the opposing side to your argument. That and your utilization of multiple sources builds more credibility.