Third World Is Third World Throughout the World

For years, I held the incorrect assumption that “third world” nations – Cold War terminology describing countries that neither aligned with the Western bloc nor the Soviet bloc – were concentrated in the Caribbean. This belief was permanently altered by my travels to the South Pacific, particularly to Fiji.

Not Exactly Tourist Ready

I landed in Nadi, Fiji. Then I flew onward to Suva, the nation’s largest city. From the air, Fiji’s topography was breathtaking: lush, dramatic, and postcard-perfect. After seeing enticing images online, I eagerly anticipated exploring Suva itself.

Upon arrival, I was shocked to find a tiny airport far more primitive than expected. The helter-skelter row of taxis awaiting arriving passengers served as an early warning of what lay ahead. Although I had arranged a ride in advance, it took 12 minutes to locate it due to poor signage.

When I finally found the car and driver, I felt relief, until I stepped into the back seat. Where floor mats should have been were flattened corrugated cardboard boxes. The dashboard was equally startling: no radio, no console – next to nothing. It appeared stripped bare, leaving only the steering wheel and basic controls.

Despite the car’s condition, the driver was competent, and I trusted we would reach downtown Suva, where I planned to spend the night, near the cruise port. The journey took more than 35 minutes. Throughout the ride, I kept expecting signs of modernity or at least picturesque views. They never came.

One Long Haul

Mile after mile revealed dilapidated homes, broken sidewalks, litter, half-finished construction projects, mom-and-pop fruit stands, and small roadside enterprises with makeshift signs and improvised awnings. There wasn’t a single glimmer of economic progress.

Buildings appeared assembled from corrugated metal, scrap wood, bricks, or whatever materials could be found. Many people seemed idle or disengaged. I told myself this must be an unusually bad stretch. After all, we were approaching Fiji’s largest city, its commercial center, and home to a cruise port capable of docking ships carrying thousands of passengers. Still, on the near outskirts of town, not much changed.

We finally arrived. My hotel was acceptable. After a total of 26 hours traveling, I slept for six hours and awoke at dusk. I decided to take a walk and then quickly re-experienced, on foot, much of what I had already seen by car.

No Better at Night

Downtown Suva, to put it politely, was dumpy. Broken sidewalks, trash everywhere, and people sleeping on benches and concrete surfaces. Makeshift drink stands and food vendors created a carnival-like atmosphere, but without any charm. Lighting was broken or inconsistent. Everywhere I turned, I was reminded of the roughest villages I had encountered in the Caribbean.

That’s when it became clear: Third world is third world, no matter where you are in the world.

My South Pacific trip had been filled with visions of tropical paradise: exotic flowers, lush vegetation, and pristine beauty. While such pockets do exist, they are carefully preserved and deliberately separated from daily life. I was told that Fiji’s coveted beauty can be found in plantations, farms, and tourist centers located 30 to 40 minutes away from downtown Suva.

Assigning Blame

Defenders of third-world conditions often blame Western societies, particularly the U.S., and Caucasian males specifically. However, which of these factors impacts a community’s reluctance to pick up litter from the street?

With thousands of them participating, if Suva’s residents wanted to transform their city, it wouldn’t take more than a week of basic effort — cleaning, hauling, painting, and simple carpentry. These are skills that many residents possess. Instead, endless neglect is tolerated.

With the debris that lies along the roadside today, chances are it will still be there a year from now, even ten years from now. This reality brings the issue home to America.

Intentional Slack Management

As we all know, under the Biden Administration’s reprehensible border policies, the U.S. allowed millions of individuals from third world backgrounds to enter our country. Rather than improving American society, this predictably degraded it.

On border policy alone, Joe Biden deserves recognition as among the worst presidents in U.S. history. Predictably, liberal historians are already attempting to rehabilitate his record. Thankfully, the second Trump administration is tackling the mess head-on, despite opposition, lawlessness, and sometimes outright anarchy.

The intentional slack management seen in many third-world countries is visible in Leftist-run U.S. cities. Areas with large concentrations of immigrants are experiencing deteriorating infrastructure, high crime rates, and strains on social services. The cultural and economic mindset that allows third-world countries to remain stagnant and underdeveloped can, in part, influence newly arrived individuals, especially if they are not properly integrated into American systems.

Not prioritizing education, assimilation, and self-sufficiency – the hallmark of lax immigration policies – leads to dire consequences. When these trends continue, invariably we see more areas of the U.S. mirror the neglected stretches I saw in Suva.

Taking Root

Third World is Third World. Whether in the Caribbean, Central America, the South Pacific, or urban America, the challenges of neglect and a lack of accountability take root where complacency predominates. Western societies must critically examine the inflow of people from such areas and the long-term consequences of failing to ensure their effective integration into a modern, thriving democracy.

The stakes are high. Consider modern-day France. If we do not take the necessary steps to address these issues, we risk losing the very attributes that have made Western democracy successful.

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