Rant on "First World Problems"

Lately I've been hearing the term "first world problems" thrown around a lot and frankly, it irritates me to death.

Let's see the definition from Urban Dictionary:

or there is a rap:

Ok, first of all, the above rap IS legitimately funny and who can argue that some of the crises we have are ridiculous. I know I have been guilty of not plugging something in because the charger was OVER THERE. But the problem is the dismissive attitude we have towards problems in our lives. I feel like even serious problems are confronted with "well, at least you aren't starving in Africa". I'm not saying that starving in Africa isn't terrible and something we should be concerned with but aren't our problems legitimate as well?  We have homelessness and starvation here in the first world. Mental illness is on the rise. Whenever I read the news from Winnipeg someone else has been hacked up, shot, set on fire or any variation on these themes. Are these "first world problems"? Was it not as bad that someone got their head chopped of by a mentally ill person on a bus because those people weren't starving? 

I live in a fairly conservative and religious community, and if there's one thing people like to talk about here it's the Suffering of People In Other Countries. I'm not trying to be dismissive of people's suffering around the world but I feel there is something preposterous in the subtext of "if only WE suffered as much as those people we would all be better people?" Really? Would we? Hardships can make us stronger but I don't think they are something to strive for. Furthermore I find this concept just a bit patronizing, I feel like when people talk about the "Suffering People Around The World" it is as if they are children to be proud of for their great skills at suffering. Even though I feel it is patronizing to people around the world I also feel it does us damage. Imagine you are confronted with a problem, something sad in your life, a tragedy, etc and now, not only are you feeling sad about whatever it may be, but on top of that you are supposed to feel guilty. Your problem, no matter how much it is hurting you, is a First World Problem and you should just thank your lucky stars that you aren't STARVING or DYING in AFRICA. This isn't a compassionate view. I have done yoga off and on for many years, and several years ago I was suffering from a mild to moderate depression and I started reading The Mindful Way Through Depression. Basically, the gist of this book is that Eastern meditative practices can help you combat depression. The idea is, more or less, that you can only experience life moment by moment. If you are feeling unhappy, trying to dispel your unhappiness, your depression by convincing yourself that you aren't or shouldn't be depressed is not going to work. What the book suggests is that you have to accept your pain, you have to have compassion for yourself, something yoga also teaches, you have to accept how you feel in that moment. What I am saying is, rather than dismissing our problems as "too first world" we should have compassion for ourselves, we should accept our problems and work through them. We should have compassion for others' problems and not be dismissive of them either.  I still love the rap though.