Abu Juwairiya
Junior Member
"The term "Third World" was coined in 1952, in the wake of the Second World War, to refer to the ex-colonies that were not part of the two newly emerged geopolitical blocs of associated interests.
The "Third" then meant the third way. But, the world order setup by the "First World" in the post-colonial period was even more exploitative than the one that immediately preceded it. It engineered a net transfer of wealth, at an increasing rate, from the poor countries to the rich, making the former poorer and the latter richer.
While in 1820 the estimates of disparity of wealth between the richest and the poorest countries in the world were about 3:1, by 1950 the ratio had changed to 35:1, and by 1992 it had reached 72:1.
Today it is even higher. Ironically the exploits have earned the exploiters a 'respectability' and the exploited a disdain. The term "Third World"has come to signify a rank, as in third class.
Then there are armies of "experts" who have been convincing everyone that the real problem of the exploited countries is that they are too "traditional" and their salvation lies in aping the progressive ways of the West.
This is the essence of the modernization theory that seeks to move societies from the "traditional" to the "modern." (Source: 'Islam is the Solution' By Khalid Baig, 21st October 2001)
The "Third" then meant the third way. But, the world order setup by the "First World" in the post-colonial period was even more exploitative than the one that immediately preceded it. It engineered a net transfer of wealth, at an increasing rate, from the poor countries to the rich, making the former poorer and the latter richer.
While in 1820 the estimates of disparity of wealth between the richest and the poorest countries in the world were about 3:1, by 1950 the ratio had changed to 35:1, and by 1992 it had reached 72:1.
Today it is even higher. Ironically the exploits have earned the exploiters a 'respectability' and the exploited a disdain. The term "Third World"has come to signify a rank, as in third class.
Then there are armies of "experts" who have been convincing everyone that the real problem of the exploited countries is that they are too "traditional" and their salvation lies in aping the progressive ways of the West.
This is the essence of the modernization theory that seeks to move societies from the "traditional" to the "modern." (Source: 'Islam is the Solution' By Khalid Baig, 21st October 2001)