THIRD WORLDISMS - A GUIDE A Masterthread of posts about ‘Third...

POV: You are taking a train in Britain (AMBIENCE) (HEADPHONES ON) (BINAURAL)

Third World Britain

Someone has suggested that it might not be that there is a distinction between public and private spaces but more that, at least in the minds of some of the people living in these spaces, the idea of the ‘Public Space’ is just not there. “Public space” as a concept is a kind of universally agreed on meta that anything that isn’t private is shared and should be treated with a similar level of dignity by everyone. This idea is visibly absent in at least some parts of the third world for various reasons, as eg above. Empty public space becomes fair game, you can go there to mill, set up your stall, set up your shack… a type of hyper communalism that a certain kind of tolerance is extended to

One of the things Paul Kagame did in Rwanda that means Rwanda is less overbearing as more developed Third World country apart from a commitment to ‘trash-free’ streets as a part of “quality of life” ‘mostly competent pragmatic governance’ is that Rwanda has banned certain kinds of informal markets that you “just set up anywhere”. Instead, there are designated market spots in every neighbourhood that are covered for people to sell things in - and if you try to sell your wares elsewhere the police will arrest you and destroy the stall

Trying to board a bus in London in 2024. Goes without saying that social niceties like queueing that are a part of high trust societies will disappear as Third Worldification continues. They say that British people love to queue - not anymore apparently

MILLING AROUND: A Spotter’s Guide

“Milling Around” is the activity one engages in when one engages in no activity at all - and in an egregiously aimless form is particularly common among Third Worlders. You may often see them in groups just doing nothing. A brief guide to types:

The British recognised that some groups had such Djinnbrained understandings of the world that different legal tiers for different groups were created because you couldn’t really hold those groups to the same standard of ‘reasonableness’ as laws designed for regular Anglos did

This is a classic Third Worldism - the ‘Trashfire’. In this video, a muslim woman burns her trash on a UK street. People in the Third World will sometimes burn their trash in bonfires on the street because local authorities fail to collect their rubbish or just out of convenience

Another classic Third Worldism, the obsessive washing of feet and other body parts at any kind of public water source. Partly it derives from the Islamic cultural practice of Ablutions (Wudu), but you’ll also see non-Muslims do it. A kind of socially oblivious ritual cleanliness

Worker at Indian Takeaway restaurant cooks raw chicken in a trolley in an alleyway - another example of bizarre Third World hygiene standards. Weird performative ritual hygiene in situations where hygiene doesn’t matter, apathy and expediency where it does

Many Favelas in Brazil at edges of cities like Rio formed during periods of industrialisation where poor people were encouraged to move to cities enmasse, the mass migration went unchecked and shantytowns formed - now Brazilians are replicating same process in YooKay shantytowns!

Another classic Third Worldism, the ‘Shitbin’ - small bins in toilets where you throw ‘used toiletpaper’ because local plumbing is insufficiently advanced for paper. ‘Shitpaper’ isn’t common in the west but you may increasingly see it due to new arrivals who maintain old habits

The ‘Carrying A Bag On Your Head Look’ is a new but increasingly common feature on Yookay Streets. Very common sight in parts of Africa, seen almost entirely among women who often walk long distances balancing bags on their heads - now seen in Britain because of migration trends

Great collection of Third Worldisms in this video - rickshaws with gaudy lights splayed out across the road in a disorderly way, loud music being played from tinny speakers, unashamedly occupying public space in a way out of keeping with old cultural norms

Another Classic Third Worldism - disregard for or lack of awareness of road rules. Driving up on the pavement or the wrong way down a road because it’s quicker

Other creeping Road ‘El Clásico’ Third Worldisms to look out for:

• Overuse of horns
• Inability to stay in lane, driving in two lanes
• Lack of signalling
• Rickshaws
• Informal Minivan Buses that solicit passengers on streets
• Drag racing esp at night among young people

A Classic Thord Worldism - theft of batteries, wiring, fluids etc. from public electrical infrastructure in order to re-sell them. As Third Wordification continues you will hear more reports of failures or outages due to theft since any infrastructure not locked up is fair game

WHY IS THE POWER GRID CONSTANTLY FAILING IN LEBANON? 🇱🇧 🧵

Rolling blackouts are a very common occurrence in famously dysfunctional Lebanon - In many places they can last for hours on end almost every day and sometimes even for days in a row. Why are there so many blackouts in Lebanon? In short, the blackouts happen for all the usual ‘Third Worldist’ reasons you might expect - corruption, vested group interests, unsustainable energy policies and fundamental neglect, the result of elite capture of state resources etc. - all of which is a consequence of the various incompetent and hyper ethno-religiously divided Governments Lebanon has been governed by since the end of its Civil War

Lee Kuan Yew on how he stamped out ‘Third World Behaviour’ in Singapore

“[We told them] stop spitting, stop littering … you can’t go around peeing everywhere as you did in the old squatter villages”