4 ms·

"third-world country conditions" No. Even a porta potty cleaned infrequently is more sanitary than the conditions in the third world. There won't be a choler

by jf22 13y ago

"third-world country conditions" No. Even a porta potty cleaned infrequently is more sanitary than the conditions in the third world. There won't be a cholera outbreak. Food is available and nobody is going to starve to death. Heck, a simple clean water fountain in some third world countries can improve the lives of an entire village. Even in the most horrible cities in america there are dozens of sources of free water.

king_jester 13y ago
> There won't be a cholera outbreak. Food is available and nobody is going to starve to death. None of these really reflect how poor communities in the US are. Food insecurity is a real thing that affects a good number of households and individuals. Access to adequate medical care, including vaccinations, is difficult. Health and water conditions can vary greatly and may be unsanitary. I agree that saying the US is like a third world is overblown, but we aren't exactly a shining beacon of care for all of the people that exist in our society.
ricardobeat 13y ago
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO, or the Communist Bloc. That's more than half of the world, while what you're describing applies mostly to sub-saharan Africa.
- greghinch 13y ago
  > while what you're describing applies mostly to sub-saharan Africa And many parts of China, India, Western Asia, Southeast Asia, Central America, and parts of South America...
alexberghage 13y ago
There certainly is a very real cholera risk in the poorest communities in the US. Take, for example, the colonias in southwestern Texas, where ~400k people live in informal housing without access to basic infrastructure or services, and where diseases like cholera and dengue fever have far higher rates of incidence. These aren't all illegal immigrants or anything, either -- the Texas secretary of state reports 64.4% of Texan colonias residents are US citizens[1]. It's easy to assume there's no poverty that deep in this country when, by and large, our standard of living is better than most of the world, but unfortunately there really are places in the US to which the descriptor "third world" is applicable. NYT has some good coverage of the conditions in the colonias, if you want to read more. Here's a start: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/10tthealth.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/10tthealth.html?_r=0 [1] http://www.sos.state.tx.us/border/colonias/faqs.shtml http://www.sos.state.tx.us/border/colonias/faqs.shtml

by jf22 13y ago

king_jester 13y ago

> There won't be a cholera outbreak. Food is available and nobody is going to starve to death. None of these really reflect how poor communities in the US are. Food insecurity is a real thing that affects a good number of households and individuals. Access to adequate medical care, including vaccinations, is difficult. Health and water conditions can vary greatly and may be unsanitary. I agree that saying the US is like a third world is overblown, but we aren't exactly a shining beacon of care for all of the people that exist in our society.

ricardobeat 13y ago

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO, or the Communist Bloc. That's more than half of the world, while what you're describing applies mostly to sub-saharan Africa.

greghinch 13y ago
> while what you're describing applies mostly to sub-saharan Africa And many parts of China, India, Western Asia, Southeast Asia, Central America, and parts of South America...

alexberghage 13y ago

There certainly is a very real cholera risk in the poorest communities in the US. Take, for example, the colonias in southwestern Texas, where ~400k people live in informal housing without access to basic infrastructure or services, and where diseases like cholera and dengue fever have far higher rates of incidence. These aren't all illegal immigrants or anything, either -- the Texas secretary of state reports 64.4% of Texan colonias residents are US citizens[1]. It's easy to assume there's no poverty that deep in this country when, by and large, our standard of living is better than most of the world, but unfortunately there really are places in the US to which the descriptor "third world" is applicable. NYT has some good coverage of the conditions in the colonias, if you want to read more. Here's a start: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/10tthealth.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/us/10tthealth.html?_r=0 [1] http://www.sos.state.tx.us/border/colonias/faqs.shtml http://www.sos.state.tx.us/border/colonias/faqs.shtml