Hacker News Reader

Comment by kyteland | Hacker News Reader

The United States will always be a first world country because that is the definition of first world. First/second/third world status never changes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_second_third_worlds_...

View on HN

With that definition it makes the term first/second/third world nearly meaningless. "A is A because it is". I prefer the definition that implies that "A is A because [INSERT REASONS]" and "A is A but can become B if..."

The definitions are from the Cold War: industrialized capitalist nations in the West, communist nations in the East, and none of the above, where the proxy wars were fought. So the definition is fixed by history, and also somewhat obsolete.

Note the amusing parallel between assuming the US is turning into a "third world" country, since the gaps in industrialization worldwide are closing, and the article's original assumption that an educated middle-class girl would never have to do the same work as a Spanish-speaking working-class woman.

> original assumption that an educated middle-class girl would never have to do the same work as a Spanish-speaking working-class woman.

Maybe you read a different article, but she was doing the same job as a Spanish-speaking working-class woman. The assumption is that it was just a stepping-stone to bigger and better things, while the 'Spanish-speaking working-class woman' works the job to make ends meet. She may have had some assumptions that as a middle-class girl she wouldn't end up working a waitress job to make ends meet, but there is a large portion of the population that gets sold the promise of "go to school, get educated, get a better job." This isn't just about 4-year degrees from a major university. It's the same with trade-schools, community colleges, 2-year degree programs, online universities, etc. The idea that a 'better job' will necessarily just follow from 'getting an education' is sold all over the place.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com