You Know You're Living In A 3Rd World Country When...

[D.B. Cooper]

Every Public Works project has the president's name on it... (dead give away)

The ATM machine at the local bank runs out of money...

The pharmacy sell prescription drugs without a prescription... ( I like this one ! )

You see three or more people riding a motorcycle without helmets...

Barefoot children begging in the subway get the cold shoulder from passengers.

( I know they're probably gipsies,... but still gets me )

 

[Joe]

Pedestrians are treated as potential road kill by drivers.

Public restrooms are as rare as a skinny Yanqui.

The bills dispensed by ATMs will not be accepted for small transactions.

Yanquis and Eurotrash come looking for love in all the wrong places.

 

[nativexpat]

.... Dogs pee and poop everywhere.

.... the president believes she is the messiah.

... Tinelli is on TV.

... bus drivers close doors on you and accelerate as you are getting off.

 

[aapietje]

you obviously have no idea what a 3rd world country is...

 

[Joe]

you know you're in a third world country when:

the president is the wife of a former president.

the president tries to change the constitution to stay in power.

there is a currency black market.

you can be put in jail for publishing inflation numbers the government doesn't approve.

 

[zug]

You guys honestly think Argentina is third world? Hoo boy. Anywhere you can easily get high-end imported goods and all the streets are paved isn't exactly third world.

Argentina's GDP (PPP) per capita is 51st out of 180 countries (that's the 71st percentile for those of you playing at home). Argentina has a lot of problems, for sure, but it's pretty disingenuous to not acknowledge that it's a rapidly developing country on par with Brazil (75th) and Chile (53rd).

And even if you think PPP calculations are BS, it's still 59th out of 180.

 

[French jurist]

You know you live in a developped country when:
- You live in a society that don't take care that much of the old folks (funny how homes for the elderly suddenly become crowded before the Summer holidays)
- The corruption of the political leaders is far more important and subtile
- You think you live in a highly democratic country why the value of the money you make working depends on people who have never been elected (call it QE1/2/3/4/5 or whatever... applies to any country)
- Your country started borrowing far more than it will ever be able to refund back in the 1980s and let down the domestic industry (mainly due to the wish of the Finance sector into some aspects... other guys who never got elected...) (with the exception of Germany maybe which still has a great industry sector).
- You go to 3rd world/developping countries on vacation to do things you would never dare to do in your own country
- Your country has been living above its means for the past decades and you don't realize yet how hard the landing will be (followed by extremist votes to comes).
- etc.

 

[Montauk_Project]

you know you are living in a third world country when. . .
your president is the son of a president elected just 8 years ago.
they won´t let in outside eleciton observers.
they do not honor international treaties, or international courts of law
they do not provide basic health care to their citizens
there is a growing gap between rich and poor
Free ice cream cone to anyone who names the country I´m thinking of

 

[TomAtAlki]

USA!
That ice cream to Nancy, not Tom!

 

[citygirl]

You guys honestly think Argentina is third world? Hoo boy. Anywhere you can easily get high-end imported goods and all the streets are paved isn't exactly third world.

Come visit my neighborhood - the streets aren't paved despite being a mere 4 blocks from the highway and I don't know where you're shopping but high end imported goods aren't exactly easily obtained.

As for the rest - yawn on the US bashing and I think most realize that 3rd world is actually a completely inaccurate description of Argentina.* It does technically fall under developing economy.**

* Inaccurate since the context of 1/2nd/3rd world is no longer valid.
** Although I think many of us here would argue how much the economy is developing and might posit it is in fact doing the opposite.