Are Alaska, Hawai and Puerto Rico First World?

[Cristiano viejo]

I genuinely have no idea about these places. It supposed to be First World since belong to USA, but I highly doubt.

[JosephK]

Many, including myself, would argue that the US is itself a Third-World country. Alaska is probably in a better position than most US states, in that it probably has better wealth distribution. But this would get into what makes a country "first world" or "third world." To me, it's the large swaths of desperately poor, malnourished, compared to a small number of ultra-wealthy who are separated from the poor, and that's how most of the US is. Hawaii is probably pretty typical of that, and perhaps Puerto Rico, but I don't think that the wealthiest class in PR is as large as in other states. Just guessing, really.

[sean]

Alaska is definitely first world. It's a pretty libertarian state. You need good money to enjoy what it has to offer. The place is picturesque (at least in the Panhandle, where I've been). The border crossing from BC to Alaska on the Klondike Highway sticks in my mind for how fuckin' pretty it was.

They also have universal basic income for residents; paid for by oil revenue. Everyone who lives in the state gets paid for living there.

In Canada, a lot of those little islands between Juneau and Vancouver Island are basically owned by American and Canadian millionaires, vacation homes and whatnot.



Hawaii and Puerto Rico are third-world shitholes for sure. They are basically the same thing (Puerto Rico serves as an avenue for the ultra rich to be able to establish residency, keep US citizenship, but be exempt from paying federal taxes), it's just that Hawaii got turned into a state because of politics of the time (the place is critical to maintain power in the Pacific). The whole state is a bunch of mongrelised filipino slave caste faggots 'we wuzzing' as Kama'aina (the place is 40% non-Polynesian).

[Cristiano viejo]

Alaska is definitely first world. It's a pretty libertarian state. You need good money to enjoy what it has to offer.

This is exactly the point of the thread. I am not discussing if people in Alaska or Hawai earn enough money to be considered middle or high class according the standard of USA or even the entire world. My doubts about they not being part of the First World are related to having all the infraestructures and services that real developed places have. Alaska and Hawai are a quite isolated regions scarcely populated, I dont think all what you can find in let say any random Western European city or the own continental USA, can be found in these two states. And if it exists, is with less quality.

[sean]

This is exactly the point of the thread. My doubts about they not being part of the First World are related to having all the infraestructures and services that real developed places have. Alaska and Hawai are a quite isolated regions scarcely populated, I dont think all what you can find in let say any random Western European city or the own continental USA, can be found in these two states. And if it exists, is with less quality.

The state is swimming in oil and mineral resources. Just because something is remote doesn't mean it needs to stay that way. The infrastructure is already developed since Prudhoe Bay has been producing oil since the 70's. It's the only place where beautiful nature is accessible and combines with decent infrastructure. You can live in the middle of nowhere and still have stores, hospitals, utilities, roads, Internet, etc. Alaska has massive IT infrastructure investments, cell service is so good you can just use an unlimited data plan hotspot if you are super rural.

Long ago, Yukon Territories and Alaska were hard to reach. They built infrastructure and roads to get to them and now they aren't remote at all. But the state has some uninhabitable areas (and there is practically no infrastructure up there), it also has 10 of the most remote national parks in the country, and the resources are not spread out.



However, it's actually way more simple to prospect and drill in Alaska than in Siberia or the North Sea, because the oil is very nicely concentrated on the coastal plain.

[Cristiano viejo]

more opinions, gays of TA?