America is known throughout the world as an economic powerhouse, and as one of the pillars of the global economy. This is due to both the high standard of living within that country and is also due to the high domestic product of America. America is one of the most economically successful nations on the planet, and when its large size as a country is compared to other economically successful countries on this planet, America becomes a heavy contender for the position of "top dog" on the global economic scale.
The price paid for this on a global economic scale, however, is one of blood on behalf of those those "third world" and other, lesser developed nations. This idea that America is the "best" country, a belief which is held by many Americans, leads to a sense of self-entitlement, of perverse egoism of the citizens of this "great country". The capitalistic economy of America, combined with the desire of most American citizens for constant pleasure, stimulation, and a standard of living which would seem fit for kings, leads to a global stratification, creating these "third world" standards of living for many other countries due to the tendency for any capitalist entity to pursue maximum profit at minimum cost; this is often accomplished by exporting manufacturing and labor to these "third world" countries and paying the workers a wage which barely allows for the necessities of life, let alone financial comfort and the support of a family.
Karl Marx once put forth the idea of a "Bourgeois" and a "Proletariat" within any economy, that those with the means for success would continually oppress, manipulate, and burden the majority of the people, using their combined efforts to lift themselves up at the expense of the masses. During Marx's time, there was not a global interconnectedness as can be seen today; Marx saw his ideas as applying mainly on an intra-national level. Today, however, with the world becoming more interconnected and interdependent by the day, his ideas must be seen as applying to not only the national but the global level as well. First-world capitalism may have served its purpose in allowing these countries to begin and continue thriving; this system today, however, has begun to show its cracks and has begun to serve to oppress and give false hope to many countries who will never and never had the chance to grow. America, and other "First-World" countries have become the global Bourgeois, and these countries continually pressure other countries to become their manufacturing and labor systems. Until we allow these countries to throw off these shackles of economic oppression, an economic dichotomy will continue to prevail on the global scale.