It's time to review and update the unfolding of Thirdworldization, or the slow descent of First World countries into banana republic territory, in light of the latest local and global events and trends.

In Brazil, the new year only starts after the Carnaval, beginning February 10.

Everything is open, and everyone has been working since January 2. But – and this is kinda awkward and difficult to explain – the period between that and the end of the world-famous popular festive on Fat Tuesday (yep, like Mardi Gras) is sort of considered something of a "warm-up", and not really the game. Or so dictates the tradition.

That little idiosyncrasy, a folklore typical of less developed nations, might be the perfect introduction for my first post of 2024 for The OP.

Wars

Even though I don't consider conflicts and geopolitical disturbances as Thirdworldization by themselves, no doubt wars can impact in more than one way the standard of living in countries not directly (i.e., physically) involved in the conflicts but by proxy or some other way.