TITLE: lt is no longer relevant to classify countries into ‘rich‘ and ‘poor‘ or ‘developed‘ and developing‘
Since the nineteenth century, or even earlier, people have referred to countries as ‘rich‘ or ‘poor‘.
These terms may have changed; for example instead of ‘rich‘ the countries may be referred to as wealthy‘ or ‘developed‘, while ‘poor‘ countries may be called ‘developing or emerging countries.
This way of classifying countries is based an the idea that an entire country is essentially ‘rich‘ or ‘poor‘, and does not take into account the possibility that there may be significant differences in wealth within that country, or that the country might not remain rich permanently.
This idea can be illustrated by the situation of former colonial powers, for example the UK, which has seen a gradual decline in its wealth while it has been overtaken by formerly poorer countries. Furthermore, within this country and many others there is a large gap between rich and poor.
If there are benefits in being rich, they therefore do not apply to all the citizens of such countries.