Puerto rico to decide status............... (appointed, 2014, how much)
U.S. TerritoriesPuerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, etc.
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If you ask any Texan, I'm willing to bet he will tell you he is Texan first and American second.
I will always be Puertorican first and American second...but does it really matter? I don't go around saying that I'm Puertorican first or otherwise. There is no such thing as a second class citizenship. If you are a citizen then you are a citizen.
I'm pretty sure people will try to find little things to try and make a difference but there isn't. When I moved to VA, I registered to vote as any other citizen and went to vote like any other... there was no special booth or line for me.
If you feel there is difference in citizenship then that's just your personal feeling of inferiority (can be due to many things... maybe character, past experiences, political brainwash etc...)
Everywhere I go, I ensure I make the best impression I can about me and Puertoricans (I usually endup saying where I'm from because almost everyone thinks all people with spanish accent are mexicans... smh) That is all I can personally do to help Puerto Rico, since I don't live there anymore.
The main reason I do not live on the island is due to safety for my family...that trumps all. Everytime thursday comes around I start thinking of all the things I could be getting ready to do in if I was on PR...Camping at the beach...or maybe at some caverns, go ATV'ing and chinchorreando de pueblo en pueblo, walk around old-san juan, go to Vieques or Isla de Mona, drive to any of the themed restaurants all over the island...sigh pretty long list and there is even more to do...I miss starting to talk about going out at night around 9-10pm then leaving around midnight to where ever... When its 11pm and I'm hungry I miss the Bakeries that make "Tripletas" or real "Pastrami" Sandwiches or a "Pinchos stand" but no...all I have here are McD's and BK's But like I said, my family trumps it all so, here I am in VA eating at Ihop when its after 11p and I/we get hungry.
Ultimately congress can make the call at any time, they do not need any referendum but no one wants to be the one to either make PR independent or Annex it to the union.
If you are not proud of where you come from how can you be proud of any place?
One of the main reasons Americans feel proud to be americans is because of what they did to become independent from the Crown... we (Puertoricans) were not part of that... so please efrenb5 tell me why do you feel American first?
Sorry if the thoughts seem out of order, I kept going back and forth adding lines between paragraphs.
The Texans being Texans first and Americans second is largely true. I suspect most Americans deep down inside feel more loyal to their local area to the nation at large.
The difference between us Americans and the folks in Scotland, the Basque Country, etc is that we realize we are stronger as one nation united irregardless of our regional differences and cultures.
One of the reasons why I support Puerto Rican statehood is because like they have a unique culture and lifestyle that would add a different flavor to this nation. By no means would Puerto Rico lose it's culture or the Spanish language as a state. It's impossible for us Gringos to change 500 years of history in 100 years even if we wanted to ... Puerto Rico will always have a Latino flavor and culture though I suspect that for practical reasons most will eventually become more bilingual. If enough of them want statehood then I am glad to welcome them.
irregardless is not a word... The correct word is regardless!
I support Puerto Rican statehood because the infrastructure in PR is crumbling. The sidewalks are falling apart and the streets outside of the direct tourist area are never, ever cleaned or maintained. It's pitiful. At least as a state some of what makes PR beautiful could possibly be maintained. Likewise, maybe just maybe someone would think of a better way to collect trash than have every house, apartment and business in pile it in high on the sidewalks... It's as if no one ever bothered using a zafacón to discard trash.
Last edited by La Boricua Rosa; 01-21-2012 at 06:40 PM..
One thing that never ceased to amaze me when I lived in PR was seeing cars pull off the side of the road and leave behind huge garbage bags of trash. I actually knew someone who had a job sitting under a bridge at night writing down the license plate numbers of cars that would throw their appliances off the bridge. It is really sad because so much of the beauty of PR is being literally covered up with trash.
Do you think there is something inherently laughable and hypocritical about someone who lives in the U.S. and is pro-PR independence? I think so. They won't even live and in and take part in the experiment that they want to embark upon. Makes no sense.
Why is the DR mentioned as a failed country? It has been growing every year. All you have to do is look at is GDP. There is also an incredible boom in Santo Domingo, including the construction of the second metro line. Also, you want to speak about Dominicans going to Puerto Rico (which is usually just a stepping stone to the real goal of reaching the United States), then I could say the same about Puerto Ricans attending Universities in the Dominican. That's for another thread however.
I don't see Puerto Rico making it on it's own. With all due respect (and with absolutely no attempt at trolling), it is too small. It would have to compete with it's bigger neighbors, who can produce much more than Puerto Rico can. I don't see it competing even with tourism. It has lost a lot of it's Jibaro (which is real PR ) culture. So even if it was to break away, it has lost it's exotic feel. It has been Americanized to the point that a tourist wanting to go to San Juan, might as well go to Miami.
I would like to see Puerto Rico try. So I am in agreement with Sobroguy. It may not work, but independence is something you should always strive for. It has been the main cause of war and uprisings in the entire history of the world. People would die for it. Puerto Rico, why can't you step out on your own?
Almost all countries has a growing GDP, and is like Mexico, look at Mexico city, how big and how much money it has, it is also the 5th largest city in the world, but look at the rest of the country, same goes for DR.
1. New tax laws and corporate laws would be created. All tax receipts (residential and corporate) remain on the island and go straight to the new government.
Have you lived in PR?
All taxes in PR goes to PR government...
There is no federal tax in PR. And PR tax is higher then federal income tax.
PR takes more money out of your income compared to federal income tax.
Have you lived in PR?
All taxes in PR goes to PR government...
There is no federal tax in PR. And PR tax is higher then federal income tax.
PR takes more money out of your income compared to federal income tax.
This is correct. Puerto Rico would actually pay lower taxes if they were to become a state ... even with Federal income tax included.
This is correct. Puerto Rico would actually pay lower taxes if they were to become a state ... even with Federal income tax included.
Ah but you see, you can't empower the "plebe" by educating them about these pragmatic realities. You have to insist on their addiction to folklore and a false sense of national identity. One which doesn't put food on the table or empower their children to aspire to the pursuit of happiness; you know.. that pesky "yankee" social value. No, instead you should eat more "arroz con habichuelas", ridicule your English learning neighbors and classmates, vote in local TV personalities for political office, all the while decrying the lack of economic opportunities and high cost of living/crime and low quality of life. In essence, getting paid in sunshine for your ignorance.
Central Florida isn't a floodplain for dispossessed unskilled, unjustifiably angry, assimilation-averse Puerto Ricans for no reason, you know. You want to talk about independence? The difference between PR and every other Caribbean country is that PR has a legal avenue to shed population. That's it. You close the airport and watch PR turn to Haiti. Depopulation is an ugly little truth the pro-independence folk will never tackle intelligently nor would they want to. You can't eat the Olympics Im afraid.
PR is, until further notice, a floating colony by choice. Militarily irrelevant (since the Vieques debacle) and without an economic driver to viably sustain the swelling population that yielded strictly and solely from an almost century of federal transfers (ergo artificial economy). A sweat-under-the-pectorals version of Disney World. A cardboard façade intent on making the preservation of Cinderellas historical wardrobe a more pressing matter than the recognition that they live in a freggin' artificial construct in the first place and people need to eat up in here!
One thing that never ceased to amaze me when I lived in PR was seeing cars pull off the side of the road and leave behind huge garbage bags of trash. I actually knew someone who had a job sitting under a bridge at night writing down the license plate numbers of cars that would throw their appliances off the bridge. It is really sad because so much of the beauty of PR is being literally covered up with trash.
Oh indeed. Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. Poor people need to eat and hussle before they can pay attention to aesthetics. This is proof positive Puerto Rico, arroz con gandules and all, is a culture of poverty and anti-intellectualism. The young, upward mobile and educated leave the island, period dot. The riff raff remains. I don't take this accusation lightly, I have plenty of high school classmates hussling to survive down there, many with children by now, many with a college education no less, so it pains me to see them so stuck. They would offer up some level of defense for living in PR, mostly circumscribed around elements of folklore and weather (painfully predictable and vacuous), but privately they would love to get the heck out to a more americanized construct of civil order. It's actually funny to watch attempts to model suburbanization in Puerto Rico. They end up looking like American oil company employee Fortified Compounds in Saudi Arabia, a la the movie "The Kingdom". This is in a US territory no less. It's pitiful and beyond extraneous for somebody with options (i.e. a US Passport). Meh.
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