It is a virtually meaningless term—just about as useful as “none of the above” in describing over 150 countries spread north and south of the equator over four continents and containing people of all races and religions. What most have in common is that they are grindingly, desperately poor. The average per-capita income of the over three billion people of the Third World is less than $800 a year, compared with $18,000 in the United States. They are poor for many reasons, but the single largest is that they have not yet found the way to productively harness their own vast human and natural resources. We cannot solve all their problems. But in the years ahead we must do everything we can to help them solve them. If we do not we will be abrogating our moral responsibilities. We will also be permitting an endless cycle of poverty, despair, and conflict that will inevitably prevent us from building a structure of real peace in the world. The most insidious aspect of the term “Third World”
