The US is barely a developed nation. The Economist reclassified the US as a flawed democracy in 2022. There were also proposals by members of the UNCTAD to reclassify the US as a developing nation in 2023, a classification formerly known as third world. The proposals were unsupported by the World Bank.
I don’t remember where I heard this, but someone a while back called America a “third-world country but with Walmarts.” And while the “third-world” moniker is a bit dated and problematic, I think the rest fits pretty well.
The US is like the Two-Face or Jekyll/Hyde of developed nations. It’s more like a developing nation with islands of modernity AND Walmarts.
We have all this money, military, cultural influence, universities, businesses, and so many other by-the-numbers indicators of a modern society. But we don’t have the quality of life, and we just elected Donald Trump in goddamn 2024. Decisively so. Fuck.
That was before Trump won. I think the category moved from developing to post-apocalyptic.
