A Third of the World

A few years ago my then dewy-eyed and dimple-faced cousin from Canada stopped by on her way to Xinjian, China. She was on her first overseas missionary assigment. Miss Muffett was not so little anymore. A college graduate proficient in both French and English.

In her short stay, we conversed on things of cultures and customs, from the Chinese to the Québécois. At our last meal together, she broached the subject of "third world this, and third world that." I asked what she meant by third world. Without pretense nor guile, she said: "A third of the world."

The phrase, "third world", is still very dear to the socialist-technocrats and Poli-Sci majors. It is at the ready in the arsenal of anti-American rhetorics. Unlike the Patrick Moynihans and Alfred Sauvys of another world and time, many of these pseudo-intellects are clueless what "third world" means and yet they parrot as though they do. Furthermore, they expect the average Joe Six-Pack knows it as well. If anyone dared to question its usage, he would be frowned upon with condescension as a red state hick.

I leaned over my coffee on the dining table and looked at the rosy-cheeked Miss Muffett and began, "It has nothing to do with the abstract or imaginary partition of the earth into thirds..."

Miss Muffett is no longer the innocent abroad. She is on her second missionary stint in Xinjian. I'd like her to enlighten me about that part of the world upon her return. But I'll pass on the Yak milk and salted butter tea.