Against Third Worldism
by Guillaume Faye
Third Worldism is a doctrine, on the Left and Right, which claims the Third World has been “exploited” — and that it’s advisable to aid it, unceasingly, with financial and technological transfers, and to welcome its migrants.
The Snake That Swallows Its Own Tail
Third Worldism is a snake that swallows its own tail: in claiming to aid poor countries, it deserts and divests itself of all actual responsibility for them. It imposes on these lands a Western economic model, destructive of local economies. One pities the Third World in terms of a self-culpabilising charity.
The proper attitude to the Third World is one of relative indifference, the opposite of the present “right to intervene.” Europe has no obligation to peoples whose destiny is not their own.
The endemic poverty, wars, and epidemics that ravage certain parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are not our concern. These populations are alone guilty of their incapacity to govern themselves. We are not “responsible” for them.
To let the Third World take responsibility for its own fate requires that we refuse to assist it.
The Obsolete Concept of the “Third World”
The Third World — this notion created in the 1960s by Alfred Sauvy to designate those countries that belonged neither to the Western nor the Soviet spheres and that were mainly former European colonies — has lost its former pertinence.
What do a Mali, an Argentine, and a South Korean have in common? The notion of the Third World, though fluid, nevertheless retains an association with “poor countries.”
But why “poor”? Third Worldists argue that the countries of the North have exploited the Third World, while the reverse is true. Europeans need to invert the charges and work on shedding whatever guilt they might feel toward it.
Forms of Third World Parasitism
Third World parasitism takes the following forms:
Direct financial costs — lost loans, European-financed exports, the annulment of debt, etc.
Technical aid and cooperation — the cost of technological transfers. Despite massive aid, no African or Arab country has ever attained even a modicum of economic balance.
Raw material exploitation — we are told that Europe exploited the South’s resources. But in reality, these reserves were discovered and exploited by foreign companies, who paid enormous rents for them. A geopolitical Eurosiberian space would have no need of Third World resources.
Demographic dumping — the worst burden: excess population exported into Europe, overwhelming her demographically and weighing her down with an economic ball and chain.
Myths and Legends
A certain number of legends need to be resisted. Chief among them:
The legend that European colonialism, in the form of exploitation and slavery, was a sin for which we must forever repent.
The thesis of eternal blame is especially promoted by Algeria.
In reality, European colonialism harmed Europe more than the colonised. It benefited the Third World, whose demography it vastly developed — an immense historical error that has since boomeranged against Europe.
During colonisation, populations in Africa, the Maghreb, and the Middle East lived under conditions of peace, liberty, public order, and prosperity far superior to those of post-independence. Many of those old enough to remember now admit this.
A Pseudo-Philanthropy
Third Worldism, like anti-racism, is a pseudo-philanthropic doctrine that blames and paralyses Europeans.
Though of Trotskyist origin, it has been adopted even by certain right-wing theorists, who fantasise about cultural and geopolitical solidarity with the Third World — particularly the Arab-Muslim world.
Islamophilia and Third Worldism form a cosy mélange for those who know little of Islam, little of the Third World’s socioeconomic realities, but want to appear politically fashionable (bien pensant).
The truth is the opposite: far from being a potential ally, the Third World represents the worst possible danger to Europe.
Inverting the Charges
Now part of the dominant ideology, Third Worldism rests on the principle that industrialised countries once pillaged the Third World — as Leninist, Trotskyist, and Maoist schemata argue.
But in reality, the Third World today lives at the expense of Europe. It is the South that now exploits and colonises the North.
The above text is an excerpt from Guillaume Faye’s Why We Fight (Arktos, 2011). If you liked this selection, be sure to check out the whole book.
Rehabilitation from Constantine Coalsmeister.
Vibe shift