but the amazing fact about that is that it no longer surprises anyone. We have come to expect tent cities, millions of homeless, abandoned towns, collapsing inner cities, food banks, as de riguer.

If you drop a frog in hot water, it jumps out.

But if you raise the temp of the water slow, the frog stays in and boils to death.

#1 | Posted by Tosser at 2009-10-02 10:56 AM | Reply | Flag: Cooks frogs with the guts in; Caveman

parts of America do resemble a third world country

A State that got taken in by a Sesame Street poseur called Bobby Jindal, comes to mind.

Good Luck America.

come to accept it

On second thought; scream back NO - WE WILL NOT ACCEPT THIRD-WORLDISATION.

Anyone claiming parts of America look like a 3rd world country are either dumber than a sack of shit, or have never been to a 3rd world country.
That's a fact.

We are not there yet, but with the driving agenda of the current administration, I can see the possibility in the future.

Reading about the Depression and FDR. He said the one thing that amazed him the most was just how passively the working poor in America accept their plight and even blame themselves for the jobless economy. They are much more likely to attack other poor unemployed people for having "poor character, being lazy, etc." than to look at the situation and identify those who were making huge amounts while Americans starved. I don't think anything has changed.

Anyone claiming parts of America look like a 3rd world country are either dumber than a sack of shit, or have never been to a 3rd world country.

#5 | Posted by 101Chairborne

For once, I have to agree with you. (Damn-it!!!)

Even the poorest of the poor in the US have it better than the 100s of millions across sub-Saharan Africa, India, Pakistan, China, the shanty/shack towns outside Rio, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and on and on.

Even the poorest of the poor in the US have it better than the 100s of millions..

Water temperature risinggggg.... froggie slowly boilinggggg.....

Water temperature risinggggg.... froggie slowly boilinggggg.....

I've been warning the frogs for years, but they insist the water temperature is perfect.

IS?

Water temperature risinggggg.... froggie slowly boilinggggg.....

#9 | Posted by Tosser

More Wanker Wisdom. You're so cuuuuute!

Of course, in the case of the third world, can't fall from the bottom of the hole. How is the air down there anyways, Wanker? Pretty fetid I would imagine.

I am sure that the DR is anxiously awaiting more of your inevitable infantile big-butt blah-blah-blah anti-American diatribe.

yawn...

You're so cuuuuute!

That's what all the wemin say.. Zit.

anti-American diatribe.

No need. The writing is on the wall for you.... read the topic again at the intro to this thread. If you are too blind to see it....

Things are bad in some areas, but third world bad? I'd take an inner city slum over Sudan any day of the week.

Besides, strictly speaking we can NEVER be third world since the term originally came about to describe the countries that were not directly involved in the Cold War conflict. If I remember correctly the West and NATO were the first world, the USSR and Communist Bloc countries the second, and everyone else the third.

ONe reason why they are not "third world poor" is that the poor in America have a support system and freedoms that cannot be taken away from them. We don't have debtor's prisons or local warlords ruling neighborhoods with terror and death....and no, street gangs do not compare to warlords.

I live in connecticut.

Long time b4 ct becomes 3rd world.

Hahaha

Is the USA Becoming a Third World Country ?

Have you ever visited the South?

I would say that the South is already there.

If you drop a frog in hot water, it jumps out.

But if you raise the temp of the water slow, the frog stays in and boils to death.

#1 | Posted by Tosser

Yes, but it tastes like chicken.

I would say that the South is already there.

#17 | Posted by Manypaths at 2009-10-02 05:32 PM | Reply | Flag:

Oh, all those Third World people in Mississippi and Alabama, with cars, LCD televisions with cable, air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and access to doctors and medicine.

Why, it's just like rural Angola!

Yeah, the US & NATO were 1st world, The Soviets, China and a couple of east block countries were 2nd world - a lot of 3rd world and the really poor, like ethopia were 4th world.

What they are really saying, when they say we are becoming a "3rd World Country" is that we are becoming a nation of brown people.

They should just open a cigar store and come out of the closet.

"But if you raise the temp of the water slow, the frog stays in and boils to death" ~ Tosser

That is just one of many false-hoods which causes me to cringe every-time that it is re-peated.

" . . . the older I get, the more it seems to me that there are relentless forces attempting to turn the USA into a thirld world country."

The "reasonable reader" has already stopped reading, but I'll summarize the rest: he's seen a TV show or two, and pretends that he's seen third world countries, and "dark forces" control the ideology of the side he, happily, isn't on. Throwaway references to oligopolies and the religious right, and it could have easily been written by Moder8, Buffalo Bob, or any of the other retards with too much time on their hands.

Funny thing is, libbie posters never look at a tribal gang beating in Chicago and come to the same conclusion. A group of Obama voters beat to death a child with two-by-fours, and we only get a litany of needing to better understand the American underclass. But when Americans ask whether or not Obamacare is what we really want, it is THEN we're compared to Ghana and Zaire.

I would say parts of Appalachia rival shanty towns of Mexico. Dirt floors in homes. Extension cords to bootleg electricity. So yes we do have 3rd world pockets in this country. Skizziks is correct in that the middle class is eroding. The gap between rich and poor widen year after year. Things may not be like Africa in our lifetime but I can see us being similar to Mexico in our lifetimes. Mexico has modern conveniences but not everyone can afford them.

Blanket statements such as the one made by Chairborne above ("Anyone claiming parts of America look like a 3rd world country are either dumber than a sack of shit, or have never been to a 3rd world country") are misguided. There are many parts of what formerly was the third world where the typical inhabitant enjoys a higher standard of living than the poorest areas of the U.S. (Obviously, comparing the poorest areas of the U.S. with the middle class areas of other countries may not be a fair comparison outside the context of a blanket assertion that any part of the U.S. is preferable to the third world.)
I realize that as patriotic Americans we like to believe our superiority and higher standard of living to all others. But, while understandable, such blind rah rah patriotism does not correlate with facts. Many developed parts of the world have caught up to us and are surpassing us. (But if it makes anyone feel better, Pakistan is still a lowly shithole when compared with any of the dankest regions of the U.S.)
I personally lived in Paraguay for four years. It is third world by any standard. So are the neighboring countries of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. But honestly, and not looking to pick a fight, there are many areas of Brazil and Argentina and Chile where the standard of living simply is better and far more relaxed/enjoyable than in areas of the U.S.