Well, I've been out of the office for a few days, so I found all the "first world/third world" conversation at one time. So I'll add my two bits even though everyone else is probably already bored with it! Based on several years of study of 3rd world countries' agriculutural practices, Frances Moore Lappe offers three definitively 3rd world characteristics: 1. a concentration of economic power among a minority of the population; 2. dependency and instability of more and more of the population at large; and 3. the mining of agricultural resources for the economic benifit of the already- wealthy minority. Of course, FML's point is that these conditions are, a little more each day, descriptively accurate of the US, surely the epitome of "first world." Whatever langguage we settle on, what I teach when these issues come up in my classroom is that we need to stop thinking geographically--first world here and third world there, preferably far over there. I live in Houston; I can move, in only a few minutes on my bike, from neighborhoods sporting the most obscene wealth imaginable to neighborhoods of extreme poverty. Frankly, I suspect that there's an odd, probably unconsious, comfort in "first" and "third" world, as it so cleanly divides the speaker from the poverty--assuming that the speaker who uses such terms is a "first" world person. As I watch walled communities springing up around the urban core of Houston and teach the students who survive the inner-city highschool system, I see that wealth and poverty DO exist in isolation from each other, but it's not along national borders; it's across streets and freeways, across walls and fences, protected by armed guards and, these days in Texas, by an increasingly armed populace. Of course, the language we settle on is not just an arbitrary matter. But it seems to me that all the variations I've seen here are just that--variations on the same scheme. And AS variations, I think they maintain the same con- notations: first beats third, North beats South, developed beats developing (developing--now there's one for the euphimism handbook!), wealthy beats poor. The rich/poor lables are especially scary to me. If you've never read it, take a look at Lesli M Silko's short story, "Lullaby," in which the children are taken from their family b/c the social workers look at their perfectly adequate home and see only poverty. The upshot to all of these terms is that the people who get to make the lables are the ones with the power. I wonder what language, for example, the aboriginal people in Australia use to talk about the Euro- descended Australians. What language do they use to categorize global popula- tions? Sara >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue May 23 11:39:07 1995 Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 13:42:51 -0400 (EDT) From: Bertina Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: power communication In-Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> On Mon, 22 May 1995, mary hallock morris wrote: > > I guess my point is -- these days if you get an education, get it because you > want to learn something, not because you want the almightly dollar. > That was what I went to college for but it does not satisfy my father because all I have to show for my 5 years in college are two part-time jobs! Its especially hard since Im still paying back my student loans. It may take me a long time unless I finally obtain a full-time job one of these days. One of the places that Im working at is downsizing as well and the only reason I havent been laid off is because I am much cheaper than fulltimers with all their benefits. Working in todays market is the pits! Bertina >From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue May 23 12:30:36 1995 Date: 23 May 1995 13:32:25 -0600 (CST) Date-warning: Date header was inserted by CAA.MRS.UMN.EDU From: Carol Ford <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: first/third/north/south/rich/poor To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In response to Sara's comments on this conversation, I would like to comment, simply, Well said! Thanks for a simple, direct and very intelligent response to this lengthy rhetorical rumination. Any chance we can move on now, or does the dead horse deserve yet another beating? I'll be looking up Silko's short story you mentioned. Have you also read her excellent book "Ceremony?"
