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Hellion1999,
In first place, thanks for your honorable service in the US military. My uncle (RIP) was a Borinqueneer and we were all proud of him. The last commendation he received was in 2016 from the City of Jacksonville in Florida, where he lived for 30 years.
I don't know if your case is like my uncle. He was an extremely poor "jÃbaro" from the mountains with a high school diploma when he joined the military. After his service, he returned very affected mentally. He suffered from PTSD. However, he worked in the postal service even with that limitation. My uncle never went to college, and his mindset was like a zealot because he didn't get the skills to think beyond of the brainwash of the military. All countries brainwash in some way their soldies to make them stronger. Your post suggests me that.
The political relationship of Puerto Rico with the US is complex. It can't be addressed from one perspective only. I divide Puerto Rico's history into four periods: (1) Under indigenous rule, (2) Under Spanish rule, (3) Under US rule prior to the Commonwealth, and (4) Under US rule after the Commonwealth. As you can see, it is a very long history involving many events and sentiments. It can't be treated with a simplistic "let's convert Puerto Rico a state."
The actual school curriculum has been an adaptation of the school curriculum of the US to the distinctive personality of Puerto Rico. At the beggining of the US rule, the English language was literally imposed in all public schools and that was a disaster to many poor "jÃbaros". Those were the times when the heads of the Department of Education were appointed by Washington. The first Secretary was Martin G. Brumbaugh. Under his administration, many school names were changed to American patriots and Puerto Ricans resisted those efforts to americanize them. I took a requisite course in college on History of Education in Puerto Rico when I was doing my bachelors at the Inter-American University in San Juan.
Things started to change dramatically after the island became a Commonwealth. There was the Operation Bootstrap that helped bring factories to the island, and college enrollment increased due to the fact that students started to qualify for federal grants. College access was crucial to maintain a competitive labor force. The Commonwealth brought progress to a very depressed and poor island, but it was artificial at the expense of federal subsidies and tax exemptions. The local governments never envisioned a real sustainable economy without external boost. Things started to go down the hill after Section 936 of the IRS Code was eliminated in the 1990s until the present day when things are really upside down.
I wish Puerto Rico could be a state too, but just because of the language barrier I don't see it coming soon. Keeping the language barrier has been part of the agenda to maintain Puerto Rico separated from the US. The local media is the principal instrument in doing that. I don't think I will return to Puerto Rico any time soon, and this has nothing to do with the economy. It's because living in a place like the US is living in the World. This country has so many different people, cultures, religions, etc that makes me broaden my mindset.
I hope this helps.
Thank you! Solid point of you view you just wrote. Like I said before, I don't speak for all Puerto Ricans. I understand that everybody will have their own views depending how they view the world, their politics, life experience and how they were raised and how teachers in their lives shaped their views and how they absorb or reject the false propaganda and false stereotypes about Americans and the U.S. in the island.
I'm statehood all the way! I would vote for statehood all the time if I was in the island because it's the only system of government that I have known all my life that I understand and would give my life to defend that protects my individual rights and property rights that others take for granted while giving me a stable currency and a solid economy and opportunities to grow.
By view is, it's hard to sell statehood in a territory where the majority don't feel Americans....not even Puerto Ricans first and Americans second (some do) but the majority are "I'm Puerto Rican, period!" and if you call them Americans, they will look at you funny or take it as an insult and God forbid you waive the American flag and not the Puerto Rican flag, they will view you as a sellout or not one of them.
I think the language barrier is because they feel a disconnection with the U.S. and feel it's a foreign country and they think it's selling out. If you can learn how to dance Salsa music you can learn English as a Second language because learning to dance Salsa is a lot harder....LOL
Then I go to social media from people in Puerto Rico talking about the U.S./Puerto Rico events just to read and feel how they feel about the United States and a lot it's negative (others Pro USA). You have the old school independentistas that they will always be die hard independentistas until they die (I get it) but to my surprise, a lot of young people today with those views and I'm thinking it's the propaganda they get fed at the public schools and the internet. It's a left wing socialist anti-American propaganda.
I'm surprised that from the Commonwealth birth in 1952 to 2019, you would think the needle would have moved higher towards statehood and more people feeling a direct connection to the U.S.
The reason I blame the public education system in Puerto Rico and the political propaganda spread in the schools is instead of teaching American Civics and the positive things that U.S. government has done for Puerto Rico like the GI BILL, Social Security, Medicare and the stories of many Puerto Ricans that have served in the U.S. Military or in the private sector in the U.S. with honor and their stories of success they focus on the dark and negative side like the Ponce Massacre and all these isolated incidents that create resentment and a dislike for the U.S. government.
One of the lies spread in the schools in the island is that the U.S. gave Puerto Ricans U.S Citizenship so they could fight in WW 1. That's not true, giving U.S. citizenship to Puerto Rico was talked about and debated it in Congress in 1915 way before the U.S. got involved in WW 1. Luis Munoz Rivera pushed for it in Congress.
Another lie is the the U.S. imposed U.S. Citizenship in 1917 against the will of the Puerto Rican people.. It was discussed by the Puerto Rican Senate that a few objected but the majority didn't and when the act was passed it gave Puerto Ricans an option to reject it and the instructions how to do it in the courts. Only a few cats (people) did it and over 99% of the population didn't and when in 1952 the Puerto Rican people passed their first Constitution that states U.S. Citizenship in black and white in the document it was accepted and pass by a Democratic referendum by over 80% of the electorate.
Another lie is that the Federal Government imposed the GAG LAW, known as "Ley of Mordaza" Law 53 (I believe) that nobody could sing the P.R. national anthem or fly the P.R. flag in public or talk about independence in public. The truth is that law was passed by the Puerto Rican Senate and the PPD. It was a law that was identical to the federal laws active today that you can't take down the government of P.R. by violence or threats of violence or it's institutions or give speeches to incite violence on the government. Every country in the world have those laws........and you can talk about independence because the Puerto Rican Independence Party was in the ballot box in the elections in 1948 and 1952 and so on and that party has the word INDEPENDENCE in their name and logo, so that exposes that lie that nobody could talk about in public but that is the propaganda they spread in the schools and colleges in the island.
There are more lies, half truths and distortions that if young students in Puerto Rico that has no ties to the U.S. and that's all they hear and there isn't any debate or challenges in the schools, well, those students are going to grow up resentful and have a negative view of the U.S. and will not feel Americans and that's the disconnect I'm talking about.
Not only the propaganda in the schools but outside in the media about the Jones Act and now I read in an article in the ENDI front page a distortion that the Puerto Rico people send more money back to the U.S. than what they receive in federal funds. This is bad economics by the author who is an economic teacher in the university in P.R. which makes you wonder the propaganda being spread in the colleges because they are mixing the earnings in the private sector of commerce to federal funds,that's apple and oranges. The earnings of the private sector after they pay taxes to the P.R. Government, pay the wages and benefits of the jobs they create and the cost of running the business then what's left belongs to the company, Not the federal government or the Puerto Rican People......their argument is "see, all these American companies making a profit in Puerto Rico they take their earnings outside of P.R. back to the U.S. and we only get a lot less in federal funds"......and many people in the island believes this stupidity. "see, the Americans don't give anything for free, they take more from us then what they give us and this is abuse and the U.S. is exploiting us and they are the cause for our economic situation"....." they invaded us, they abused us in history, they exploit us, they impose all these federal laws to keep us down, they treat us like 2nd class citizens, they are racists" (I heard that a lot)
with all that, is anybody surprised why the majority in the island don't feel Americans and there is a disconnect and a paranoia and distrust about the U.S.? I'm not.
if the majority of Puerto Ricans in the island can't answer a simple question in what does it mean to be an American and be the #51 star in the American Flag and don't feel anything when the American anthem is playing and the American flag being raised you don't feel pride then they shouldn't be a state.
Last edited by Hellion1999; 04-13-2019 at 11:35 AM..
What about reparations for PR, for 100+ years of oppression? Seems right to me.
With all due respect, please don´t take this amiss, most people would say that has already come in the form of cupones, Beca Pell, and countless other ayudas federales.
Many say that these things are the reason why PR shuts up and takes its colonial status, and why the work ethic and independent spirit have already been sucked out of the people.
God Bless you and Thank you for your service.
I pray for your people that they can one day lift themselves up from their own boot straps
pay off their monumental debt ,rebuild their decimated land and jump start a profitable economy.
You are a proud people but Puerto Rico is in big financial trouble and unfortunately to risky of a
gamble for any nation to consider investing. There is light at the end of the tunnel but I see poverty
for many many years to come.
thank you but unlike other people in the island, I'm very optimistic. The reason I say this is, our grandparents and their parents went through worse in Puerto Rico and the USA in some extent with extreme poverty, Great Depression, 2 World Wars, Category 5 hurricanes all back to back of each other and they raised their families and created future generations and they were happy people. Poverty is a state of mind.
I have issues with today's generation. I understand that there are always obstacles and problems in life but they tend to whine and complain a lot and expect for things to fallout of the sky and when they don't it's the end of the world for them. Reminds me of this old Italian saying of an old woman walking around with with 2 big Virginia Hams around her arms and complaining that she has no bread.
Whatever they are going through in then island right now, is nothing in comparison of what our Grandparent and their parents dealt with and with a lot less help from the government back then........for today's generation is if the internet goes out for weeks it's a crisis or if the local cable tv company in Puerto Rico blocks Telemundo because of a contract dispute then people get upset and protest.
Our Grandparents are looking down on us and telling themselves: "These people have it good compared to us, and they are always complaining and mad" LOL
Last edited by Hellion1999; 04-13-2019 at 12:07 PM..
What about reparations for PR, for 100+ years of oppression? Seems right to me.
the best government reparation is call a JOB!......Put down the beggar's cup and try it. The only people we should take care of in society are the children and elderly that can't take care of themselves for whatever reason, that is our responsibility. The rest can go to work.
the best government reparation is call a JOB!......Put down the beggar's cup and try it. The only people we should take care of in society are the children and elderly that can't take care of themselves for whatever reason, that is our responsibility. The rest can go to work.
Like Hector Travieso says : "los quiero mucho"!!!
Damn bro! I think I'm falling in love with you! LOL! The CD gods won't let me rep you no more.
You're absolutely right! Being employed is the best reparation!
What about reparations for PR, for 100+ years of oppression? Seems right to me.
Puerto Rico hasn't been 'oppressed' any more so than Hawaii, New Mexico, and South Dakota were when they were under the same territorial status that Puerto Rico has today. In fact, it's even less oppression ... Puerto Rico has an elected governor, Hawaii had a presidential appointed governor right up until statehood.
Nobody is imposing anything on Puerto Rico, if they don't like it they can vote for statehood or for independence. Instead a good 40%+ of the electorate would rather indulge themselves in fantasies about some make believe "commonwealth". Change begins with them, not with us (us being the Gringos).
Damn bro! I think I'm falling in love with you! LOL! The CD gods won't let me rep you no more.
You're absolutely right! Being employed is the best reparation!
stop it! you are spoiling me here....ok, you can continue. if my grandparents were alive they would say:
" reparaciones???? que que? una patada por el trasero te voy a dar, levantate y ponte a trabajar. Mira que reparaciones y ocho cuartos"
When I visited them in the Campo, he used to tell me that if I don't work around the house, I don't eat and will sleep with the chickens (I don't know if he was serious but I never tested him). They woke up early every sunrise with the AM Radio News and Coffee brewing and there was always something to do. He always had a list of things to do even on the weekends and anything that broke in the campo, you fix. None of this of calling the yellow pages for a handyman or a plumber. My Grandpa was the mechanic, plumber and handyman of the house and he expected me and his grand kids (boys) to follow his lead and learn or he will call you "flojo".....that's a code word for "weak man" or "useless"...you didn't want to be label that in the view of the people in the campo. Might as well pack your bags and go back to the city and don't comeback. They didn't like lazy people.
and if the neighbors needed help my Grandpa sent us and if we didn't do a good job he would come down to inspect and send us back until we got the job done to his satisfaction.
That's where I realized that the people in the countryside helped each other and it doesn't matter how poor they were, they got by and were happy. The people in the city in Puerto Rico are that way too but the people in the countryside take it to another level. They cook a big pot of Arroz con Gandules and send some to Juana and Pedro their neighbors. if somebody was hungry they take care of them. It's like this brotherhood of love and helping each other out......that's long gone with this generation.
stop it! you are spoiling me here....ok, you can continue. if my grandparents were alive they would say:
" reparaciones???? que que? una patada por el trasero te voy a dar, levantate y ponte a trabajar. Mira que reparaciones y ocho cuartos"
When I visited them in the Campo, he used to tell me that if I don't work around the house, I don't eat and will sleep with the chickens (I don't know if he was serious but I never tested him). They woke up early every sunrise with the AM Radio News and Coffee brewing and there was always something to do. He always had a list of things to do even on the weekends and anything that broke in the campo, you fix. None of this of calling the yellow pages for a handyman or a plumber. My Grandpa was the mechanic, plumber and handyman of the house and he expected me and his grand kids (boys) to follow his lead and learn or he will call you "flojo".....that's a code word for "weak man" or "useless"...you didn't want to be label that in the view of the people in the campo. Might as well pack your bags and go back to the city and don't comeback. They didn't like lazy people.
and if the neighbors needed help my Grandpa sent us and if we didn't do a good job he would come down to inspect and send us back until we got the job done to his satisfaction.
That's where I realized that the people in the countryside helped each other and it doesn't matter how poor they were, they got by and were happy. The people in the city in Puerto Rico are that way too but the people in the countryside take it to another level. They cook a big pot of Arroz con Gandules and send some to Juana and Pedro their neighbors. if somebody was hungry they take care of them. It's like this brotherhood of love and helping each other out......that's long gone with this generation.
Entitlement Mindedness should be considered a treatable illness. The treatment? Hard work!
Entitlement Mindedness should be considered a treatable illness. The treatment? Hard work!
I like that. You have well defined it.
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