The term Third World doesn't really mean anything any more. It originally meant that a country was not-aligned with NATO, and was neutral towards communism and

The term Third World doesn't really mean anything any more. It originally meant that a country was not-aligned with NATO, and was neutral towards communism and capitalism. It just so happened that the countries on that list tended to be economically poor which is where the association came from. Taiwan, for example, was never a third world country. Vietnam and China are technically second world. That being said, I spend about six months out of the year in Vietnam. Three months in NYC, three months in Saigon, etc. Originally, I had employees there, but now I just go because I have a network of friends and really love the place despite all of its warts, of which it has many. I'm not sure it's had much impact on my perspective of anything though. Maybe it's deepened my sense of American nationalism, but that's mostly from dealing with Australian ex-pats there, whom I generally loathe. My experience with Asian cultures in general, has had some impact on how I view family as it's typically been the antithesis to how I grew up in a single parent midwest family of black sheeps.