It was always my understanding the Second World was what used to be called the "New World," i.e., what the old empires colonized, the First World being the "Old World" (western Europe) and the Third World being pretty much everything else.
However, m-w.com backs you up and says "Third World" is "a group of nations especially in Africa and Asia not aligned with either the Communist or the non-Communist blocs." I admit I never heard this definition before.
Still (she said defensively), the definition of "first world" is "the highly developed industrialized nations often considered the westernized countries of the world." Not western. Westernized. Implying more countries, like Mexico, join that world every decade or so. Portugal and Canada were never anything else.
Only the definition of "second world" is specific to the Cold War: "Communist nations regarded in the latter part of the 20th century as a political and economic bloc."
Lastly, and this is really my point, the broadest "third world" definition is "the aggregate of the underdeveloped nations of the world," which still doesn't include Canada, Mexico, or Portugal.
Had Mr. Colbert referred to Oregon as, say, "Nevada's Burundi," then yes, the "third world" line would be exactly right.
Neither Portugal nor Mexico is a Third World country! Portgual is First World, and Mexico is Second. In today's less-judgmental nomenclature, Portugal is a "developed nation," and while Mexico is still a "developing nation," it's not even in the bottom 100.
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It was always my understanding the Second World was what used to be called the "New World," i.e., what the old empires colonized, the First World being the "Old World" (western Europe) and the Third World being pretty much everything else. However, m-w.com backs you up and says "Third World" is "a group of nations especially in Africa and Asia not aligned with either the Communist or the non-Communist blocs." I admit I never heard this definition before. Still (she said defensively), the definition of "first world" is "the highly developed industrialized nations often considered the westernized countries of the world." Not western. Westernized. Implying more countries, like Mexico, join that world every decade or so. Portugal and Canada were never anything else. Only the definition of "second world" is specific to the Cold War: "Communist nations regarded in the latter part of the 20th century as a political and economic bloc." Lastly, and this is really my point, the broadest "third world" definition is "the aggregate of the underdeveloped nations of the world," which still doesn't include Canada, Mexico, or Portugal. Had Mr. Colbert referred to Oregon as, say, "Nevada's Burundi," then yes, the "third world" line would be exactly right.
Neither Portugal nor Mexico is a Third World country! Portgual is First World, and Mexico is Second. In today's less-judgmental nomenclature, Portugal is a "developed nation," and while Mexico is still a "developing nation," it's not even in the bottom 100.