Is America still a ‘first world’ country? Not compared to Japan

Recently, someone on X.com said that Japan was the last “first world country” left on earth. I felt an instinctual agreement when I read this statement. America no longer feels very “first world” to me. Not lately.

When the three worlds concept was first invented — in 1952, during the Cold War — America was the definition of “first world.”

Everywhere you looked you saw competence, excellence, and cultural cohesion.

America, most of Western Europe, Japan, Korea, and a few other prosperous nations were “stable capitalist countries with the highest literacy rates, life expectancies, and living standards.”

Communist countries, especially those controlled by the Soviet Union, were considered “second world.” They had modern amenities but limited freedoms. Living conditions were significantly lower. And the governments were coercive and