[Lio]

“First world”?

First world is a political term meaning non-aligned with the West or Communist states during the Cold War.

Historically, Sweden was a non-aligned country. The very definition of a “third-world” country.

[csomar]

That's the original definition. I think now first, second, third are used to annotate which level of development a country is at. Especially that now, not all developing countries are equal.

[alsetmusic]

It's more nuanced than that. First was the USA, the first nuclear state (and the west / allies). Then the Soviets. The Third World was the anticipated rise of the nations that would join us on the world stage, a hopeful and optimistic term[0]. Then we deliberately sabotaged them and kept them under our boot to extract resources.

Third World is now a slight for developing nations.

0. The Jakarta Method (Vincent Bevins) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jakarta_Method