Third World in Every First World

Years ago, Trinh T. Minh-ha famously wrote that “there is a third world in every first world, and vice-versa.” In todays le Monde Jo Comerford and Mattea Kramer write about the growing reality of this in the United States:

“The streets are so much darker now, since money for streetlights is rarely available to municipal governments. The national parks began closing down years ago. Some are already being subdivided and sold to the highest bidder. Reports on bridges crumbling or even collapsing are commonplace. images-2The air in city after city hangs brown and heavy (and rates of childhood asthma and other lung diseases have shot up), because funding that would allow the enforcement of clean air standards by the Environmental Protection Agency is a distant memory. Public education has been cut to the bone, making good schools a luxury and, according to the Department of Education, two of every five students won’t graduate from high school. Continue reading “Third World in Every First World”