www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Here is some info to answer that question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

Lots of other info out there but here is some more....,
Like Jeff Foxworthys says, "You might be a redneck if..."
Well you might live in a THIRD WORLD COUNTRY IF....

Your country's national debt number is in the trillions.
Your home is worth less than you paid for it.
You have to shuffle your credit cards before you go out on Friday night.
You watch more than 1 hour of TV a night.
You think all movies that come out are either great or just ok. (THEY ARE ALL TRASH)
The morning news tells you about a shooting somewhere near you.
Your president tells you more than one lie a day.
Many more. STOP calling Costa Rica a Third World Country.

The principal lesson from the Wikipedia article is that the 3rd World designation is about the staggering and increasing wealth inequality between rich and poor, and the increasingly successful battle against the middle-class/middle income folks and their stability. We could debate endlessly about causes and endpoints but facts are facts, stats are stats.
In other words, I agree with the OP.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Most all of Costa Rica is one big lie as the familial oligarchies continue to centralize their power under this guise and that guise.

But one example of its Third World status (almost at the top of the list): It is a "nation" that treats less than 3% of its raw sewage, allowing the rest (ummm.....that's 97%) to freely flow into the rivers. Some "eco-paradise".

It's a third world place like its neighbors to the north and to the south. Again: It is what it is. There's nothing wrong, per se, in being third world. There is something wrong with pretending it's not. Now there's a lie.

http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/0 ... 653_a.html :

"2. Summary. Costa Rica treats less than 3% of human waste, dumping
97% of its sewage into the nation's rivers that drain to the sea,
making the rivers little more than contaminated open drainage
ditches. Despite this shocking lack of modern infrastructure in a
nation that takes great pride in its environmental reputation,
lawmakers vacillated for months before finally accepting a Japanese
loan for major sewage treatment projects. End Summary."

http://responsibledevelopmentfront.com/?page_id=1978

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g2 ... _Rica.html

Etc.

PS: http://www.nacion.com/archivo/Embajada- ... 66841.html

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

OH Really, so it all depends on how the country treats their shit?

Excellent description for the simple minded when one uses the word "shit" in its multi-purpose mode: "I've got some shit to do."; "There's some shit in the way to getting this done"; "Don't give me that shit." etc.

So, yes, it DOES depend on how a country treats "their shit".

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

He's almost got it. More to the point, it's what a country treats as shit...effluents, people, whatever.

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

It's kinda sorta exactly like this thread: The vast majority don't give a shit!

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

I think the diplomats and the World Bank are now using a different term rather then "3rd world": "Developing". And that is how CR is now categorized along with 144 other countries. Some surprises on that list, some you would think "no way" and some you'd say" that's not a surprise for sure".

Source: World Bank March 2013, sorry, too lazy to go back and get the link, but shouldn't be hard to find, I found it on first google of "Developing Countries".

Didn't dig into the criteria as to how you make the "D" list.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country identifies the 145 nations.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview identifies "strategies".

Costa Rica has had to place "currency controls" "....to stem the flow of capital from developed markets that has driven the colon higher....". "Chinchilla, 53, has called capital inflows from developed markets seeking higher yields “weapons of mass destruction” against the nation’s economy. Her government submitted a bill to Congress this week that would raise taxes to 38 percent from 8 percent on foreign investors who transfer out of the country profits from capital inflows."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-2 ... -says.html and that's just scratching the surface of what's REALLY going down behind them closed doors and the "...let them eat cake..." viewpoint of the very, very, very few who control the place.

Remember....we're discussing a nation which has no centralized blood bank: The caja hospitals do not share with the private hospitals and vice-versa. 4 doctors I spoke with didn't even know there was such a thing as a pump for blood transfusions....that gravity was good enough! And that's just for starters. (These doctors also explained to me to NEVER go to a private hospital for critical, emergency situations given the lack of an organized methodology to secure blood; that if you go to a private hospital from the get and require blood transfusions there is a good chance you could bleed to death because that's just the way it is.....go to a public hospital, get stabilized, and then transfer to the private hospital and hope to heck you can get air ambulanced back to wherever). And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

It's a 3rd world country once it's all said and done.....

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Interesting about the blood situation. Chances are if you need blood it would be trauma related so chances are you'd be taken to a CAJA place initially. But I would sure like to wind up at CIMA.



edited to take out "hopefully" because it was grating to Jazzbo

Hope is not a strategy.

_________________
"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Agreed, any more than "chasing" is a strategy in Texas Hold'em. BTW, I'm one of those chickensh!ts who objects to hopefully used this way (as a sentence adverb)--not incorrect, just grating: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/adverbs

_________________
"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Took "hopefully" out for Jazz.