The only way that the United States is comparable to a banana republic is that both of those are places where the government has been mismanaged and the people abused by the government and corporate interests of the United States of America.
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Countries don't just decide to plow under their arable land and replace their food crops with a single exportable monoculture like bananas because they fell backwards into an incompetent and corrupt government. That was imposed through colonial imperialism.
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Comparing the US to a "third world country" is patronizing and insulting projection that relies on the same American exceptionalism that got us into this mess. "Banana republic" comparisons go even further, acting like that's not a thing *we* did, as a nation, to others.
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Replying to @AlexandraErin @arthur_affect
Besides, "third-world" means "not aligned with 'the West' or the Soviet bloc," so ....
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Replying to @SidAndFinancy @arthur_affect
The original geopolitical definition is largely obsolete. Etymology isn't usage.
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Replying to @AlexandraErin @arthur_affect
What does it mean, then? What are the first two worlds?
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Replying to @SidAndFinancy @arthur_affect
Doesn't matter what they mean or if they even exist, any more than "bisexual" needs to refer to two of something. Etymology. Is. Not. Usage.
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Replying to @AlexandraErin @arthur_affect
So just to be clear, when considering the term "banana republic," one should engage in historically accurate exegesis, but "third world" is "lol usage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯"? Got it.
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I don't think people should use either word, at least not as a standard word for the concept of a poor country
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