First World Probs Launch
There's No Problem Like A First-World Problem
New site allows you to air your trivial grievances about spilled lattes, endless meetings, cold leather seats and other injustices of daily life
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 29, 2010 – The new website FirstWorldProbs.com was launched as a sounding board for those who are privileged and still suffering. With unemployment hovering at 10% in much of the Western world, and the rest of the world in far worse financial conditions, it's sometimes necessary to tacitly acknowledge that the "problems" we tackle on a daily basis in the first-world aren't so severe in a greater context - even though they can cast a dark shadow on our everyday lives.
Creator Alyx Kaczuwka on the principle behind FirstWorldProbs: "Patrick Moynihan wrote a great piece of social theory in the early 1990s about 'defining deviancy down' - at the time, some communities were so overrun with crime that they had to adjust their standards to ignore many petty violations to allocate their manpower to tackle the serious issues. However, it's also possible sometimes to see that the inverse is true. When all your basic needs are satisfied, it can be downright depressing to break a heel or spill your latte on your favorite suit. You could call it 'defining deviancy up', if you will."
On FirstWorldProbs.com, visitors can read through archives of first-world problems, input their first-world problems and comment on the first-world problems of others. "I hope the site functions as a stress reliever, as I think most people will get a good laugh out of it," Kaczuwka continued. "Really, once you put it in writing, you realize it's not worth crying over spilled kombucha. And you know you more likely than not have the resources to fix whatever it is that's bothering you, because, honestly, in the first world - usually it's not a problem, it's an expense."
Immediately after launching, the site began receiving first-world complaints in droves. To see First World Probs in action, visit http://FirstWorldProbs.com.
