Day Twenty-Nine: "Third World" politically incorrect?

Have you ever wondered where the term, "third-world" came from? Lately, I've noticed that I haven't heard "third-world" being used as often as it used to be. I began to wonder if I've missed some semantic shift and was stuck being politically-incorrect. So I turned to my friend, Wikipedia to find some answers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

I was surprised to learn that the term originated in the 1950's during the Cold War and referred to the countries that were not aligned with the capitalists countries (first world) nor the communist countries (second world). These countries were often former colonial states and had underdeveloped social, economic and political systems. The French demographer, Alfred Sauvy, who coined the term had said, "...the Third World is nothing, and wants to be something."

In recent years the term has been questioned. I would suggest that "third world" has a negative association with it. It seems to put struggling countries into a lesser category and dooms them to always be disadvantaged. The term "developing countries" is perhaps more accurate. It portrays a more positive outlook. And a positive outlook inspires hope!