Good point, thank you, and apologies for that.

Here's where I'm coming from when I use the third world analogy. I was born in Kenya of irish mum and dad, then we moved to Italy, then England where I finished school. Along the way I had exposure to other countries too, especially meeting other immigrants who instead of migrating comfortably by plane and air freight, had fled leaving everything and had saved only their lives, no money and no career or possessions. Invariably they told stories of a scary dictator who killed his enemies, bribed government officials and coerced the military to support him as he declares martial law. This story, told many times over and about several different countries, was ingrained in my awareness through childhood and teen years.

I know there are many poor countries where life is wonderful, people are friendly and peaceful and the land gives up its fruits and crops without bloodshed or oppression. That's not the third world I'm afraid of. I love the idea, even if I'm personally too materialist to want to live in a village and be unable to jump on a plane for some international tourism.

The third world that I'm afraid of isn't hard to find: get a globe, and spin it, then stop it at random with your finger. If you didn't land on water, you have almost certainly landed on a dictatorship. Democracy is by far the minority form of government for the human race.

This is why I'm not polite and I do not pull punches in my blunt disdain for Xi Xiping, Muhammad Bin Salman, Putin, Duterte, and every other ass-wipe dictator who oppresses an entire nation. One day we may have an international criminal court powerful enough to cripple dictators and put them behind bars, take all their money and give it back to the countries they stole it from, and help countries install democracy.