So, My husband has made a great analysis of the main #FirstWorldProblems, and now I will proceed to describe my #ThirdWorldProblems. First of all, I don’t come from a regular third world country, I came escaping from a dictatorship that rejected anything that was not red, socialist or revolutionary. I come from Caracas, Venezuela, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, and at the same time one of the most beautiful ones. Arriving Caracas is like  dating a beautiful famous model with addiction problems and bipolar disorder. Yes, the country is polarized. Yes, half of the people is happy with the status quo of not having enough food, medicines and high levels of devaluation, and the other half, isn’t.

Third world problems are more characterized by the “lack of” something that is attached to a heavy fact: “uncertainty”. Lack of social and health services, lack of water, lack of security for the people, and much more. All of the lacks causes an urgent feeling of hopelessness that is fed by the uncertainty to obtain something that is VITAL for the organism, such as all of the needs that Maslow proposed are the base of a pyramid, that includes water, food, shelter and a sense of safety. Uncertainty gets into a shape of a social tumor that is very hard to kill in third world countries, causing emotional and physical mini crises that end up by making implode the fragile contention walls of patience and survival of any normal human being.

All of the questions exposed in my husband’s text, are questions that I also asked myself many different times meanwhile living in Venezuela; such as: should I be happy with what I have? many people have much less (80% of the country is poor, aprox. ) and I am here whining about……about being robbed several times a year, about not having the possibility to be independent with a regular salary meanwihle having a degree from one of the best universities from your country (UCV), or not being able to just buy a car so I can take my family for a ride to the beach after all of the effort previously done. Yes, I was 30, and I never had a car in my life. Went through high school, College and Work without needing a car. Is this hard? yes it was occasionally, but of course, having a benefit in poor countries is also a threat. The threat of uncertainty, it might get stolen, and you might end up dead by a piece of metal made in China.

So, 1st world problems are the ones that 3rd world people wish to have. 1st world problems are not much related with “lack of” or “Uncertainty”, they are created by clashes between objects, beliefs and functions that seems not to match, or seems not to express happiness or being able to give positive reinforcements. The “Lack of” and the “Uncertainty” to obtain seems not to be there. 1st world problems are more related with the hardships to keep supporting the happiness that we have through the “reinvention” of objects. No more simple Black coffee, More caramel macchiatto with coconut milk. No more Blackberry’s, More and new adapted to our “needs” Iphones.

No more simple computers, More laptops that you can carry, break in half, sign to them and have smart replies when you don’t have anyone to talk to. 1st world problems are more complex, and they get more specific because the availability of the components is there, and there is no uncertainty. When there is no uncertainty, boredom comes to fill up the life of the regular 1st world citizens. Certainty is desired by the 3rd world country citizen to be happier, and the lack of certainty seems to be one of the reasons of boredom in first world countries. Of course, 3rd world country citizens feel thrilled with whatever thing they have obtained, the uncertainty is reduced. 1st world country citizens feel thrilled when certainty  is replaced with new and improved things, because they truly deeply know, that dealing with uncertainty can be severely debilitating for mind and soul, as they watch on TV and news from foreign countries. I do understand this point of view, because this is what I wanted. I wanted certainty, I wanted peace.

With all of the previously exposed, I wanted to express that, It does not matter where you were born, or where you live, you will always have this constant dialog of happiness-unhappiness, constant comparison with others (coworkers, relatives), should I be happy with what I have or should I strive for more? Probably the answer is in all of us. a balance of having what is basic to life, and a challenge to obtain only the things that are really important to us (material or ethereal).