The term Third World should not be based on any political or economic criteria. Whose arbitrary criteria are those, anyway? But there may be common characteristics today, post-Cold War, among so-called ‘Third World’ countries.
The aggregate term ‘Third World’ has come to mean:
1. The demand and receipt of foreign aid (more aptly called Western aid). Some countries such as Myanmar (after Cyclone Nigris) and Sudan (in the wake of the Darfur war) are just some examples of countries that have repelled Western aid. In the process, they have become tagged as more repressive than ever.
2. The seemingly legalized dumping of toxic waste in exchange for bilateral trade relations and bilateral aid. An example of repelling this hidden and unspoken arrangement is the Philippines that is not too receptive in accepting Japan’s offer for bilateral aid under the already signed Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
Next time that you encounter the term ‘Third World’ or are even tempted to use it, think of it beyond those lands of starving children and savage tribes. Stretch your imagination a little bit more. Think of it as:
1. Those countries that are seduced to borrow from the IMF and ultimately languish in debt servicing hell
2. Countries whose agricultural livelihood is eradicated because of their forced ties to the World Bank, again through aid that isn’t really for free, comes by the name Official Development Assistance or ODA which is actually a loan package that they have to pay for in terms of being a dumping ground for foreign surplus agricultural products
3. Countries whose migrant labor runs the agricultural and industrial machinery of rich countries
4. Countries whose citizens are used as human guinea pigs for multinational big pharma’s latest vaccine testing
5. Countries whose populations reeling under the devastating effects of malaria and dysentery are pronounced dying with AIDS and thus administered antiretrovirals which are actually chemotherapy that lays their bodies wasted, but whose production means huge funding
Next time, please ask yourself the question: who holds the appropriate definition for the term repression?
And while you’re at it, also ask the question: who holds the franchise for the correct definition of freedom?
Posted by GSerrano on May 14, 2009 in Critic, Your Voice · 0 Comment
