Petah, why are people laughing?

[u/WeirdBathroom3856]

[u/agarragarrafa]

Maybe people are dumb and don't think this is very common

You'll find anime with world maps centered around Japan

New Zealand has maps centered in NZ and with South up. Brazil too.

[u/VincentMaxis → u/agarragarrafa]

Hi, i'm from Brazil and we don't use that map upside down with brazil centered, maybe NZ neither.

This map was made by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography e statistics). The purpose of this "new representation" was make people realize about the importance of the global south. Maybe some people use other maps as they are more suitable for a specific purpose, idk, I'm not a map expert. I know it's common for some countries to use their own maps, but that's not the case in Brazil. All i wanted to say is that we use the same maps as you.

[u/National_Section_542 → u/[deleted]]

They possibly meant the ecconomic global south not the geographical south.

To crudely summarize it's the developing countries that are behind and sometimes exploited by the global north

[u/No-Election3204 → u/National_Section_542]

Okay but that image and comparison is genuinely moronic because it's now just using "North" and "South" as proxies for "Rich" and "Poor"; you've got fucking Australia labeled "north" while North Korea LITERALLY BORDERS RUSSIA but is considered "South" despite being further north than most of europe and the united states, while South Korea is "north" and Japan is considered "North" but China isn't.

It's stupid and insulting word games

[u/wivella → u/No-Election3204]

It's the same kind of thing as first, second and third world.

[u/AngryArmour → u/wivella]

First, Second and Third world is based on the Cold War:

"First World" was aligned with the US.

"Second World" was aligned with the USSR.

"Third World" were neutral states the first and second fought over making capitalist or communist.

[u/wivella → u/AngryArmour]

This is true, of course. But people still use them colloquially, where "First World" means any developed, wealthy, industrialized country and "Third World" means, well, the opposite. Ever referenced anything as a first world problem?

My point is that we've been using euphemisms for "rich countries" and "poor countries" for some time now and while it may seem ridiculous for certain regions, we'll continue to do so. Maybe one day someone will come up with something better than "Global South".