E l'era del Terzo Mondo
Perhaps we're the leader of the New Third World.
What say you? Is this the era of the Third World ("era of undeveloped, impoverished, unstable and violent nations"). — Ciceronianus
From a slightly more positive perspective, I might label this "era" as the birth pangs of the Fifth World. The "fourth world" label is already taken, in reference to the almost extinct indigenous peoples, left behind even by the Third World banana farmers. In my sideline sociological myth, the "Second World" was the land of conquistadors & colonizers, who had the power to exploit Nature and older cultures via technology : machines, communication & transportation (or Guns, Germs & Steel).
But we are now entering the era of political & informational Globalization. Of course, while this jostling & merging of cultures is leveling the field of technology & communication, at the same time it is distressing ancient traditions, and conservative minds (generally, those on top of the power pyramid) who are defending the status quo. Hegel called this dance of oppositions, the do-si-do "Dialectic".
Human Culture is different from the rest of Nature, in the sense that it changes too fast for natural processes to keep up. So, we now find ourselves faced with the challenges of defending both vulnerable Nature (first world) and lower-level (third & fourth world) cultures, from our predatory (capitalist & oligarchic) successes & excesses. In other words, humanity is coping with the inner conflicts of cognitive dissociation (go-go vs no-go). This is not new though. Despite the warnings of Cicero, the decline & fall of the Roman Empire went through the same over-reach & internal divisions, that made them vulnerable to invading third-world Barbarians.
The invaders today are the same former colonists & indigenists, who are escaping (migrating) from third & fourth worlds into the settled (developed) second world -- which likes to think of itself as the rightful First World. In the process of migrating, they are shifting the balance of power in the whole world. Hopefully, the current destabilizing civil wars & emigrations will eventually settle-down into a new stability. But we may have to endure a dismal Dark Age in the meantime. Lets hope the invaders are smart enough not to kill the goose who lays the tide of golden eggs of technology, which in theory raises all ships.
BARBARIANS INSIDE THE GATES
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