Quote:
Originally Posted by WIHS2006
In each of the past 37 times a territory (colony) has become a state it's economy improved considerably post-statehood.
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I'm not aware of the economic history of many states (for now), but I think its safe to assume that the economy of every single state improved for the single reason that the 20th Century was the most spectacular century for the United States. It was in the 20th Century that the U.S. solidified its global political and militaristic power and after WWII it took the lead in the economic front. It seems to me that its quite easy to make the case that the economy of Hawaii improved after joining the Union without mentioning that Hawaii's admission as a state occurred in the 1940s, precisely at the time the U.S. economy was transforming itself into a global power. Even Puerto Rico, and all other U.S. territories, benefitted from the rise of the U.S.
This reminds me of the case many people make as to why they look down on Spain and support the U.S. The argument usually goes along the lines that Spain didn't developed Puerto Rico as the U.S. did, but people often ignore that Spain herself was not developed either. By the late 1800s the mighty Spanish Empire was reduced to, basically, two islands in the Caribbean (Cuba and Puerto Rico), an archipelago in Asia (Philippines), and a handful of minute colonies elsewhere (Melilla, Canary Islands, etc.) What would had happened to Puerto Rico had she stayed with the Spanish crown to today? The answer can be seen in the Canary Islands, Melilla, and in other Spanish territories. Very good infrastructure, widespread prosperity, improved sanitation and standards of living. These improvements occurred as Spain herself began to developed. Basically, Spain couldn't offer more to Puerto Rico because she, like any country, couldn't offer what she herself didn't have and, much more importantly, didn't know how to make it happen. Once she figured it out, the remaining colonies benefited from the increasing wealth.
This is similar to what happened with Puerto Rico under U.S. leadership. For many decades, Puerto Rico remained an economic backwater, much as it was under Spanish rule. The U.S. basically turned the entire island into one huge sugar cane plantation and once they ran of land suitable for planting sugar cane, they expanded into the then virgin eastern region of the Dominican Republic and the sugar produced there by the South Porto Rico Company was shipped to sugar mill in Guanica, PR for processing. It was only after the U.S. had solidified its political, military, and especially economic power that Puerto Rico began to see significant improvements, along with the rest of the 50 states, including the then new states of Hawaii and Alaska. It was from the 1940s onward that the U.S. truly became a giant economic power and that was reflected everywhere the U.S. ruled from New York all the way to tiny Guam out in the middle of the Pacific. It was similar to what happened with Spain and its territories, except that Spain began its transformation in the 1950s/60s and its remaining territories didn't see much improvements until that time.
Here is the achilles heel of the current situation. As of right now, it seems that the 21st Century will not be like the 20th. In other words, this is not going to be the century of the U.S., but rather the century of Asia as their economies continue to develop and have a much greater impact in the global economy. With greater economic power comes, inevitably, greater political and military power. History has shown that whenever there are more than one super power, one of the two will succumb and its usually the older one. It happened to Great Britain when the U.S. was the newest kid on the block and to many other places. Lets say that it is true, that the U.S. as the greatest economic story in the world is coming to an end, perhaps not in terms of the U.S. actually impoverishing, but in relative terms lagging behind an ever catching up world.
What could this mean for Puerto Rico or any other territory contemplating joining the Union as a state?
Will Puerto Rico actually benefit any more than it already has by joining the Union as a state? If so, how exactly will this happen?
I don't see a bright future for Puerto Rican manufacturing, because state or territory, Puerto Rico can't compete with much more competitive economies such as the neighboring Dominican Republic, which has seen a massive arrival of manufacturing companies that previously were in Puerto Rico (look at Timberland as a perfect example.) The only way Puerto Rican manufacturing can compete is if it specializes in one or two industrial products and develops them to become the highest quality, or among the highest quality, in the world. That's the only way that the high price of Puerto Rican manufactured goods can be justified and, quite frankly, I don't see that happening whether PR becomes a state or not. Other than Bacardi rum and a few other products, PR is simply not known for high quality.
Puerto Rican agriculture also has a limited future. There's only so much that can be produced on such a small land, even with the highest productivity levels in the world. PR can't even feed itself which is why most foodstuffs have to be imported and this will not change regardless if PR becomes a state or not.
The drug trade and the related crime will not reduce itself if PR becomes a state.
The list goes on.
I'm not saying that PR shouldn't become a state. If Puerto Ricans want to become a state, then more power to you. What I'm saying is that I don't see the great benefits that many imagine. Becoming a state will not be the panacea for Puerto Rico's problems. I don't see how PR will actually improve much regardless if it becomes a state or not, because Puerto Rico's problems appear to be structural and culturally based. While they are perfectly changeable, what will cause that change is not the status of the island, but rather the willpower of Puerto Ricans, especially those that rule the land and those that produce/invest in her. The changing characteristics of the global economy and the ever reducing influence of the U.S. economy means that the experience of the 20th Century may not replicate itself in this century. What this means for PR is that the so called economic improvement by joining as a state can simply be a fallacy because no one is noticing that the economic improvement of not just the U.S.'s territories, but also the territories of most European countries (look at Martinique with France, Aruba with Netherlands, Gibraltar with the UK, etc), was a response to improving economic ability in their respective mother countries. This is an expectation that simply doesn't exist right now for the U.S. as the 21st Century continues to march on.
This is why I ask how will PR's economy benefit by joining the Union as a state? So far, I haven't been given an answer that is even satisfactory, especially when I take into account all the other things I already said here.
If Puerto Ricans want to become the 51st state of the Union, then do so; but, don't expect much changes. If you do, you will only be disappointed.
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