On 03/02/17 08:08, Alvin Starr via talk wrote:
On 03/02/2017 07:31 AM, Russell Reiter via talk wrote:
On Mar 2, 2017 3:51 AM, "ac via talk" <talk@gtalug.org <mailto:talk@gtalug.org>> wrote:
Alvin Starr via talk <talk@gtalug.org <mailto:talk@gtalug.org>> wrote:
... A guy I worked for years ago with seeing people with "will work for food" signs on the side of the road in California said. "America is a third world country. They just don't know it yet". ... The US has always been the third world; in post columbian discovery, after Eurasia and Africa. Typically, like the youngest in a clan it is favoured, demanding, petulant, selfish and envied. Just like its current president. ... That is not completely fair.
For a time the U.S. lead the world in progressive thinking. For example the idea of rebuilding things after WWII instead of seaking huge war reparations. I would argue that the 50s to the 70's were the summit of progressive U.S. society.
In that period they managed to screw a lot of things up but the general trend was for a more open society and that has clearly reversed.
Now the best you can say is "America. The longest life expectancy of all third world countries" . If you want an eye opener take a look at the CIA world statistics web site(https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/). Its their own facts not something cooked up by those "lefty-leaning U.N. types".
As for america not knowing it yet. That too is a condition of the young.
I remember we used to have a lot of LUG meetings and LAN parties back in the States. Times have changed, I reckon that these things are more or less a thing of the past. Nowadays it's not so convenient for me to attend LUG meetings. I feel it's important to do so, if one is into open-source operating systems. As my children get older, perhaps they will join me for some LUG meetings.