After talking to an American guy the other day who told me he considers Oz to be a third world economy & at best it would be "an emerging first world country " im interested to hear what others think . My response to him was "you are joking arent you ? " & "its probably more first world than america at the moment "
Australia isn't "Third World" under the definition of Third World. If the guy is talking about developing countries then no Australia isn't a developing country. The definition of a developing country is: A developing country, also known as a less-developed country, is a nation with a low living standard, undeveloped industrial base, and low Human Development Index (HDI). Australia has a relatively high living standard, a developed industrial base and a decent HDI (not as high as Europe though!). Sounds like another American who's never left his country and still thinks Sydney is a small town.
Yeah thats what i told him Im still in asia & hes done a bit of travelling i said he needs to go there before he starts talking rubbish
I remember working with a German guy who came out to commission a machine for us, and when he was show our "workshop" (which we thought was pretty well up to date) he said " if I knew I was coming to a third world country, I would have brought some tools" so depending on where you are from, and what you are used to, I suppose we can be viewed as third world-ish in some respects. I think any tourist that visits an aboriginal community in the outback and sees how native Australians are treated would certainly see Australia as third world.
Hmmm, I wouldn't call Australia 3rd world, it's definitely 1st world (mostly), but I think your second statement is inaccurate and probably predicated on the fact that they have high unemployment in the US atm. Imo, Australia is lagging the rest of the world by a few years so in that sense it can "seem" backwards to some extent. I expect the high unemployment that the US is currently experiencing to arrive in Oz at some point in the not too distant future.
That's coz Germans are dicks! No we're not a third world country, we have developed, but we will always remain a country reliant on agriculture and mining. As such, and as witnessed throughout our history, we will have a continuous cycle of boom and bust. And Americans (Yanks) are even bigger dicks!
What a load of crap! _ tell him to go online and look up the definition If anything is emerging we are an emerging 2nd world nation (or demerging) Look that one up as well
We have permanent housing for the majority of our citizens - instantly not a thrid world country #sheesh#
Certainly in terms of retail and electronics, countries like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan are way ahead of us.
I used to live at the tip of Cape York... I wish I was treated like the locals... they get $$$ literally thrown at them
Lagging is what regard? When it comes to online banking etc then I think its the USA that is seriously third world in terms of being largely dependant upon Checks and Bank Wire Transfers for making simple payments.
Yes but according to the Yanks, we have a "socialised" health care system. This then gets equated in the minds of an average American as a "communist" health care system. And the extension to this, in the minds of the average American, communist/socialist = Third World. such is propoganda and the ignorance it promotes. I gave a little talk to a classroom of 12 year olds in Ohio, USA on life in Australia. The sorts of questions I was asked "Do you have washing machines in Australia". :| There probably wouldn't be much difference in that knowledge when compared to an adult in the USA on life in Australia.
Australia is pretty advanced in some fields such as niche medical areas but there are plenty of areas which Australia could take lessons from other countries. Examples include: Public Transport Internet Mobile coverage/4G/3G/2G Technology Probably more stuff but it's Friday and I left the brain at home.
Depends uon which countries we take lessons from. I would say without a doubt, that we could take lessons from Germany in all the area's you noted Fishball, particularly Public Transport. On the flipside, we sure as hell wouldn't want to take lessons from the USA on that score (public transport).
Well, both countries get propagandized, just in different ways. And the US is as socialized in general as Australia is. It's an affliction that has infected the entire Western world. And as it has happened more and more the answer for the problem of the market not working effectively as a result, is that we need more socialization. That's in general how we are lagging the rest of the Western world. They are closer to govt collapse than we are. We follow the US and Europe with most things but there is a lag of a few years implementing them leaving us following behind. Australia has little innovation.
Get him to point to Australia on a map and you might find he's talking about a completely different country
