Why do we call poor countries, "third world?"?
78757
The term "third world" was coined to reference the "third estate" during the French Revolution, which was composed of everyone but the clergy and nobility. They were the power behind the revolution.
921560
When the term no longer applies.  If I remember my economics right it is a country that has only one national product and thus has a very unstable economy.  It normally has galloping inflation and standard of living is very poor nationally.  This leads to political instability and coups and revolutions are typical.\n\nThere are other criteria but that is the gist of what third world means.  There is also second world and first world of course.  The numeic designation basically stands for the stability of the government and economy.  When the world countries no longer fit the discription, they will no longer be clasified that way.
267504
The more "rich" countries have used and abused the more poor countries, after sucking up all their resources they leave them high-and-dry. Its so easy to ignore the rest of the world unless they have something you want, IE: oil, coal, coco beans, rice, cattle, etc.
324702
It would be unfair to categorize people as stupid, lazy or any other name without having a more in depth grasp of the situation people in these countries are living. I'm from Senegal, West Africa, English is my third language, yet I feel I have more brains than certain people that will use such a medium to speak nonsense.\nAnyway mulumbu, to your question the answer is yes, but certain elements will have to be in place. Neither the US, nor any of the Western developed countries made it to this level of development in one day. No need to expand the historical tangent, but many African nations have had their so called Independence less than half a century ago -Senegal's was in 1960. After years of exploitation via colonization those countries owe a financial debt to the countries that colonize them in the first place, talking about irony. This makes it virtually impossible to fashion any internal policies that will favor the growth of those countries because the interests that needs to be considered first are the one of those other nations. \nSo when you ignorant people use the N word freely, or call people names in the comfort of your own cozy homes, my striving self for a better world via knowledge will be busy being curious about things that governs and affects the well being of our society.
865508
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_world\n\nThe terms First World, Second World, and Third World, can be used to divide the nations of Earth into three broad categories. Third World is a term first coined in 1952 by French demographer Alfred Sauvy on the model of Sieyès's declaration concerning the Third Estate during the French Revolution: "...because at the end this ignored, exploited, scorned Third World like the Third Estate, wants to become something too." The Third World later became a synonym of these nations that aligned themselves with neither the West nor with the Soviet Bloc during the Cold War. Thus, the Non-Aligned Movement was created after the 1955 Bandung Conference.\n\nToday, however, the term is frequently used to denote nations with a low UN Human Development Index (HDI), independent of their political status (meaning that the PRC, Russia and Cuba, all of which were very strongly aligned during the Cold War, are often termed third world).
1020230
The reason for the success of the US and other western countries is that we have adopted a system of government which allows for free enterprise and equality. A generous welfare system cares for most of the needy. We are allowed to suceed and excel. We also donate generously to the third world.\n\nIn third world countries politics and corruption and dictatorial governments repress freedoms and try to control and restrict free enterprise. NGOs with idealistic delusions of the 'noble savage' attempt to block useful new technologies from entering third world countries in an attempt to maintain them as some kind of museum of the past. Third world countries that have adopted our system of government are the ones which are making the most progress, yet even these countries are still beset by rampant corruption and nepotism which strangles incentive and achievement.
346574
The word poor here means a humble need for the Holy Spirit. It means that we are not self-sufficient spiritually and that we need it's life, power and it's sustaining grace constantly in this world we live. The poor in spirit inherits the kingdom of God which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
233276
I believe it's a matter of "LEADERS"... most developing country are VERY rich in natural resources but alas they have phony leaders, like Egypt for example, it was rich in agriculture, in energy resources, in almost everything... but it has a phony leader working as a puppet for the World Leaders. And the same goes for most of Africa, they're rich with diamonds and gold and many things that if were managed correctly, Africa could've been the world leader... but alas, they're all puppets.\n\nSo a developing country is a country with a phony leader and good natural resources, and once the resources diminish, it becomes a poor country below development standards.
581152
Lesser-Developed Countries
169835
I would say .. the world is a triangular Society\n\n\n40% industralized nations >> or the have \n(These nations are the roots of misery of the 3rd World)\n\n20% semi-industralized countries \n\n40% The have not (poor third countries) .. Corruption is the main reason for their poverty + The World Bank is the Al-Capone of these countries
44985
It is relative, but in the United States 'poor' typically refers to any individual whose financial situation is insufficient to maintain a 'world class' standard of living for an ongoing period of time.  It also points to anyone unable to afford access to the level of technology, health care and education which is considered obtainable by the work force.  'Poor' is relative to a society's overall level of technological and economic sophistication.
221472
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries--is now classified as third world. -check the link for the list http://www.imf.org/external/np/hipc/index.asp\n\nDeveloping and Industrial countries are 33 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.\n\nGood Luck and Prosper...;*!*;...
639508
The bottom line is it is about the all mighty dollar.  Maintaining access to foreign goods means that our government feels a need to exhaust our resources to "make nice" with other countries to help them with their strife--at the sacrifice of our own needs.  Sure there are some of the richest people on the planet here, but not all.  There are also a lot of severely impoverished as well.  We need to get our priorities straight as a nation.
1119926
If you are referring to celeb in US and UK or Europe, well most of these countries are developed, and although poverty and lack exists everywhere, third world countries have more of it and people do not have the right mentality to combat it or the right environment to be able to change their current situations\n\nplus they get more publicity that way too............
1116205
Well, in some areas of the USA you would think it was a third world country because of this, California. We in Oregon give them drivers license, voting papers and free food. Plus many other aid items. They hear about that and a rush will exist to Oregon.
308116
Maybe it is, but third world countries are primitive and backward compared to 1st and 2nd world countries.  They do things like wash their clothes by hand, have dirt floors in their homes, don't have electricity.
560957
Nope. The rich and poor countries are intertwined whether they like it or not. The rich need the poor to exploit and the poor need the rich in order to be exploited. There would not be one without the other.