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Comment by ijidak | Hacker News Reader

> "I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not moving out of California to a third-world country,” Morris said. “I’m leaving a third-world country to join America."

Ummm... having been to multiple 3rd world countries, this is laughable.

Unless parts of California lack sewage infrastructure, indoor plumbing, and have millions living in homes built from pieces of wood and metal hand-gathered it is definitely not third world or even second world.

But I'm sure she's just being purposefully hyperbolic.

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> But I'm sure she's just being purposefully hyperbolic.

To be fair, the HQ address Calmatters.org provides is a parking garage. Searching the names and images used in the article returns many other publications which similarly have no masthead, don't credit authors, and either provide no physical address or a junk address. Calmatters' staff photo is recycled on other astroturf publications. Anyway, I guess the point is that good propaganda should be hyperbolic.

World's 5th largest economy = third world country. TIL

I too have spent months on end in some of the poorest countries on Earth. Very frustrating to read such comments.

It’s not a hyperbole, it’s a self justification to convince oneself that they made the right decision.

It’s pretty obviously a dig, likely referencing the homeless situation in SF. Someone visiting the city for the first time could be excused for wondering if sewage is, in fact, widely available.

I visited the city for the first time last year and noticed some issues, but my main thought was wondering if affordable housing is widely available, not sewage transport/treatment.

(Knowing, of course, that affordable housing is not available. Public defecation is just one of many symptoms, that have root causes in the lack of societal support for universal housing and mental health care)

I've read some stories about juvenile justice in Texas, you know, when a seriously underage - like, 10 yo - has to answer to a judge. No links now, sorry, but it left me wondering how different societies can be structured - and so in places where you don't always expect them initially.

To compare California and Texas, one would need to look at a range of factors, not just house prices or even BOTE cost of living estimates.

>millions living in homes built from pieces of wood and metal hand-gathered

CA has 130000 people living in the streets so sadly not too far off on that front.

Many blocks in SF and Oakland are reminiscent of Indian slums

Have you seen what's going on in San Francisco and downtown LA?

I invite her to spend a day in rural Mississippi if she thinks California is anything resembling a third world country. And to your point, even THAT is a far cry from the likes of Haiti.

I think the argument here is that yes, people in the Bay Area don’t have power some days. AC often isn’t available in their buildings. Drink water at your own risk due to earth quakes, etc etc. air quality is notoriously poor in LA and recent fires have made the whole state have poor air quality.

While it’s fair to say it’s not “3rd world” it’s fast approaching.

These points are badly oversold. Power is out for hours every few years for most people. Anyone who doesn't have AC is choosing not to pay for a portable unit. Drinking water is absolutely not at risk in the bay area. Air quality is bad in LA but it's so much better these days because of improvements (low-smog gas formulations) that's it's mostly pollution from abroad now.

The fires were especially bad this year, but "fast approaching 3rd world" is strictly hyperbole.

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