Is the United States becoming a Third World nation? This question has long been on the edge of polite conversation, but former President Trump's conviction in two New York courts has pushed the query to the forefront. The short answer is that while this slide was once unthinkable, it currently seems "unlikely." Worse, all the trends point to its increasing likelihood. 

What generally defines "Third World" includes pervasive poverty, dilapidated infrastructure, lack of sanitation, inadequate modern healthcare, rampant crime, ineffective education, and violent political instability often reflecting ethnic rivalries, not democratic elections. Law reflects the whim of the powerful; not following written precepts. Third world governments also have a penchant for crushing national debt and wild spending. Invariably, a very rich minority governs masses living in squalor. 

What separates First World nations like the U.S. from Third World nations like Nigeria is not vast natural resources. Third World Nigeria abounds in natural wealth while First World Japan has little. 

The key difference is human capital, a collection of multiple traits, especially brain power and a strong work ethic, and absent these traits, a modern capitalist economy cannot exist. Expats in Third World countries routinely complain "nothing works," and the corrupt government cannot fix or maintain anything.

Countless outward signs of a typical Third World nation have recently emerged in the United States. Most visible is the physical decline of major cities: filthy streets, unsanitary homeless encampments, open drug dealing and use, unpunished crime, burgeoning slums "off limits" to ordinary people, and a general incivility. Add a growing multi-generational pathologically ridden underclass permanently dependent on government assistance. A Baltimore resident would be shocked by the contrast with his hometown if he visited Helsinki or Athens.