Tag: First World vs. Third World

First World Problems

First World Problems - by C-Section Comics

Ok people let’s be clear
First world problems aren’t near-
ly as bad as third world ones
we have our grams, they have their tons.

“Famine, wars, it’s all so sad.
My mom was raped, don’t know my dad.
There goes my limb, there goes another.
Short sleeve? Long sleeve? Who cares, why bother.”

First world person rolling eyes.
“It’s the Fallacy,” he cries,
“of Relative Privation, man!
I suffer too! You understand?”

I understand you completely,
your pain is real. But when you see
the problems other people face
it puts things in perspective, ace.

So even when your day is bad.
Lift up your chin, don’t be so sad.
Be thankful for the things you’ve got.
It just might help you cope. (Or not).

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Here’s another thing some of us first worlders don’t know how much we should be grateful for.

How We React to Vaccines

Here are some interesting facts about vaccines:

  • American microbiologist Maurice Hilleman developed eight of the fourteen vaccines that are now routinely administered. He is credited with saving more lives than any other scientist of the 20th century (thanks, Reddit).
  • Polio, which can cause lifelong paralysis, can be prevented with a vaccine that costs only $0.50. In the 1980s, polio paralyzed at least 1,000 children every day all over the world, but today, after international efforts to immunize every child everywhere, 5 million people are walking who would otherwise be paralyzed and the world is almost polio-free. (Source: United Nations Foundation)
  • The United Nations actively backs vaccination campaigns in third world countries, such as this one in Afghanistan.
  • A recent Measles outbreak in Texas is linked to an anti-vaccine Pastor. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Taliban tries to stop polio vaccinations, accusing health workers to be “US spies”.
  • In Israel, a recent government funded emergency vaccination campaign ignited debate on the necessity of vaccination, that even reached the High Court.

And me? I’m just grateful to live at a time when we have advanced medicine and science, without which vaccines wouldn’t even exist.