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You seem to think first world means everyone is happy, content, and without struggle. No country such as that has ever existed. The common concept of first wor

You seem to think first world means everyone is happy, content, and without struggle. No country such as that has ever existed. The common concept of first world is so misconstrued by people who live in it that those from second and third world countries would ridicule you for your comment. Perspective, don't forget it.

sanbor 9y ago
It would bebizarre If you would be billionaire and your brother don't have enough money for diapers. A month of diapers would cost the same than Whole Foods fancy meal. That's how bizarre this things looks. I live in Argentina, not first world by any means, and we have a lots welfare programs.
Cthulhu_ 9y ago
No, but there's a lot that the US (which, remember, is THE RICHEST AND MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (caps for the people in the back)) can do as a country to improve the basic standards of living. Basic things like affordable health care for everyone (and free health care for those that can't afford it), education and equal opportunities for everyone (so that kids whose parents are poor can still go to university if they have that drive / intelligence - I'm saying that because I had that opportunity), etc. The cost of disposable nappies is not the issue here. Neither is happiness or contentness. It's being the richest country in the world while 13.5% of its population is living below the poverty line, while people are literally dying on the streets due to being neglected by both the government, their neighbours, and a lack of acceptable health care. With the poor staying poor due to no social mobility, access to education, or normal jobs that don't involve having to scrounge the bottom of the barrel looking for e.g. passengers to drive around.
- ComputerGuru 9y ago
  “It's being the richest country in the world while 13.5% of its population is living below the poverty line,“ I don’t want to get into the political or moral issues, but I just want to point out that this is almost a non sequitur. The USA’s dominance is relative to other countries, but the poverty line is intra-USA. The single poorest person in the USA could be richer than everyone outside it and there could still very well be a poverty line - and people below it - in the USA.
  - rusk 9y ago
    There is such a thing as "absolute poverty" - rather than relative poverty [0] "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services" I don't know, if the statistic for the USA is as high as the 13.5% cited by GP, but based on what I read about, and some small amount of personal experience, it is unusually high for such a wealthy, proud nation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty
c22 9y ago
Switzerland is a third world country (look it up [0]). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

sanbor 9y ago

It would bebizarre If you would be billionaire and your brother don't have enough money for diapers. A month of diapers would cost the same than Whole Foods fancy meal. That's how bizarre this things looks. I live in Argentina, not first world by any means, and we have a lots welfare programs.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

No, but there's a lot that the US (which, remember, is THE RICHEST AND MOST POWERFUL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (caps for the people in the back)) can do as a country to improve the basic standards of living. Basic things like affordable health care for everyone (and free health care for those that can't afford it), education and equal opportunities for everyone (so that kids whose parents are poor can still go to university if they have that drive / intelligence - I'm saying that because I had that opportunity), etc. The cost of disposable nappies is not the issue here. Neither is happiness or contentness. It's being the richest country in the world while 13.5% of its population is living below the poverty line, while people are literally dying on the streets due to being neglected by both the government, their neighbours, and a lack of acceptable health care. With the poor staying poor due to no social mobility, access to education, or normal jobs that don't involve having to scrounge the bottom of the barrel looking for e.g. passengers to drive around.

ComputerGuru 9y ago
“It's being the richest country in the world while 13.5% of its population is living below the poverty line,“ I don’t want to get into the political or moral issues, but I just want to point out that this is almost a non sequitur. The USA’s dominance is relative to other countries, but the poverty line is intra-USA. The single poorest person in the USA could be richer than everyone outside it and there could still very well be a poverty line - and people below it - in the USA.
- rusk 9y ago
  There is such a thing as "absolute poverty" - rather than relative poverty [0] "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services" I don't know, if the statistic for the USA is as high as the 13.5% cited by GP, but based on what I read about, and some small amount of personal experience, it is unusually high for such a wealthy, proud nation. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty

c22 9y ago

Switzerland is a third world country (look it up [0]). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World