0.21 Cultural and aesthetic considerations  (Page 2/5)

Categorizing countries

Countries are categorized by a variety of methods. During the Cold War period, the United States government categorized countries according to each government’s ideology and capitalistic development. In this system, the "First World" included the capitalist countries; the "Second World" included the communist countries and the poorer countries were labeled as "Third World." With the end of the Cold War, this system has been discarded.

Current classification models utilize economic (and sometimes other) factors in their determination. One two-tiered classification system developed by the World Bank classifies countries as developing and developed . According to the World Bank classification, developing countries are those with low or middle levels of GNP per capita. More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in the more than 100 developing countries. A few countries, such as Israel, Kuwait and Singapore, are also classified as developing countries, despite their high per capita income. This is either because of the structure of their economies, or because their governments officially classify themselves as such. Developed countries are those that have a large stock of physical capital and in which most people have a high standard of living. Some economists consider middle-income countries as developed countries when they have transitional economies that are highly industrialized.

A three-tiered classification system was developed to categorize countries more precisely, especially those that are not easily classified as either developing or developed. These three categories are: less developed country (LDC) , moderately developed country (MDC) and highly developed country (HDC) . Criteria used to determine a country’s category include: GNP per capita, transportation and communication facilities, energy consumption, literacy and unemployment.

A country categorized as an LDC has a marginal physical environment. Most African countries and many Asian countries are categorized as LDC. An LDC has the following characteristics: low energy production and consumption, mostly subsistence farming, a large percentage of the population is under 15, a high infant mortality rate, poorly developed trade and transportation inadequate medical facilities, a low literacy rate, a high unemployment rate and a very low per capita GNP.

Countries such as the United States, Japan, and most of the Western European countries are categorized as HDC. HDCs are characterized by: extensive trade, advanced internal communication systems, highly developed transportation networks, high energy production and consumption, advanced medical facilities, low population growth, political stability and a high per capita GNP. The MDCs have characteristics that fit into both the LDC and HDC categories, but have a moderate per capita GNP. Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Mexico are considered MDCs.

In a way, progress of less developed countries is determined somewhat, if not actively undermined, by the developed countries. Because developed countries are the more technologically advanced, they are able to maintain their advantage relative to less developed countries. One way they accomplish this is through "brain drain." With brain drain, the best educated people in less developed countries move to developed countries where they have better opportunities to improve their standard of living. Another way is for developed countries to exploit the natural and human resources of less developed countries. Developing countries generally desperately need the capital that developed countries can give them. Because environmental issues often take a backseat to economic issues, environmental disaster can follow.