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> And because of this, a breathtaking gap opened up between wages in the West and wages everywhere else. The so-called Third World was summoned into existence.

Just picking a nit, but the Third World came into existence during the Cold War, long after the industrial revolution. Third world countries are countries that were non-aligned or neutral during the Cold War.

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Third_World




I like how Sweden is a third-world country according to that definition.

But seriously, I don't think that's how people use this term any more. It's just a synonym for developing country by now.

I also like this definition from Urban Dictionary: "Any country that owes rolls of money to the IMF and the World Bank."


Yeah. I usually don't pick this particular nit in common speech, but when you talk historically, it sounds really weird to say that the Industrial Revolution gave rise to the Third World.




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