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I must say Puerto Rico gettin practically destroyed by Catergory 5 Hurricane maria and the Trump administration not caring and throwing paper towels at people like hes playing hoops at Dave & Busters, made me think about this topic again. Puerto Rico definetly needs a change. Ill give you my opinion.
I personally love Puerto Rico, but I dont like the commonwealth status,Its like we're being used and the only thing we getting in return is military protection.
Im kinda iffy on statehood, we will lose our nationhood and culture almost entirely. I mean I love the US but I also love my Puerto Rican culture. We will become another Hawaii. If you dont know about Hawaii, before it became a state Native Hawaiians were the absolute majority and their culture was really practiced. Now, immigrants from East Asia make up a plurality. Whites, Hispanics, & Blacks also are larger in number than Native Hawaiians who are only like 5% now. And their culture is merely recreational and used for tourist reasons. Im afraid if Puerto Rico becomes a state it will suffer the same fate. I mean now most our immigrants come from Dominican Republic, who have the same culture and ancestry as us so no big deal. But once PR becomes a state, immigration will pick up tremendously, not just from DR, but from Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, Colombia, Central America, the Eastern Caribbean, Africa, & Europe, as well as tons of wealthy White Americans moving in. And PR just had this Catergory 5 Hurricane that practically destroyed the island, excellerating the exodus, so there will be room to grow. Right now Puerto Rico is 95% ethnic Puerto Rican, 50 years after becoming a state it will be 30% Puerto Rican.
As for Independence, it would be cool to see a independent PR, but that shipped has sailed. Right now Puerto Rico is waaaaaay too heavily reliant on the US and most on the island have a colonised mindset, on top of that the Puerto Rican government is very corrupt. To put it bluntly, an independent Puerto Rico would be like a chicken with its head cut off. And many Puerto Ricans who support independence are very socialist/communist, they would try to turn it into Cuba or Venzuela, we dont need that. You think PR is poor now? If it becomes solely independent, theres a high chance it will be much much poorer, a more mulatto/triracial hispanic version of Haiti.
I think Puerto Rico's best bet is to leave the US, BUT later unite with the Dominican Republic, similar to Trinidad & Tobago or England/Scotland. Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic are neighboring islands with almost identical cultures and ancestries, theyre the closest to us culturally and geographically. Everybody thinks DR is super poor but its actually not that poor, i mean ofcoarse its not as rich as the US, but its doing ok. Puerto Rico is only slightly richer, its almost identical despite being a US territory. Dominican Republic would have a much stronger military and exonomy than a solely independent Puerto Rico. DR's economy is growing and PR's declining. And to be honest, many other parts of the US is on the decline, as China is now the new "Head huncho of the world", to top that off many in the US dont even want us aprt of the country or even like us, out of all the Puerto Ricans who died for the US in wars, and the US government continues to do us dirty plenty of times. Now Im not denying the US hasnt done any good for Puerto Rico, cuz they did plenty good but alot more bad. We were like "adopted children they only took care of cuz they had to", our people were treated like lab rats very similar to Black Americans and Native Americans, fertilizing our women, test bombing our islands, and keeping majority of us in poverty, they care far more about our land than our people, before it was becuase of the strategic position of the island straight shot from the Panama Canal but now they just want to turn it into a playground for the rich. Anyway, I think Puerto Rico's best bet is to unite with the Dominican Republic. Anybody got any better ideas???
I think for now they got to sick with the USA. Too many expensive issues to try going it alone. Until the infastructure in bsck on place they better stay put.
As a Cuban American who loves Puerto Rico, I would love for Cuba and Puerto Rico to unify and create a union (assuming Cuba's government changes). Will that probably happen? No. But one can dream.
I think for now they got to sick with the USA. Too many expensive issues to try going it alone. Until the infastructure in bsck on place they better stay put.
of course Puerto Rico need to stick with the USA. It just makes a lot of sense.
Lastly, Nuyorican =/= Puerto Rican. Nuyoricans are Dominicans pretending to be Puerto Ricans. 99% of them don't know squat about Puerto Rico or speak a single word of Spanish.
I live in NYC and have yet to meet a Dominican who wants to pretend to have anything to do with Puerto Rico or a desire to be Puerto Rican. Dominicans are fiercely proud of who they are and are very bonded with the DR.
I am not even sure how many Nuyoricans (now grand kids and great grand kids of Puerto Rican migrants) care about PR. They are more connected to their relatives living in FL.
most of the Caribbean) is already very Americanized.
People talk like Puerto Rico is some backwater third world country, but it really isn't. They have a higher per capita GDP then any other Latin American country. Grant them statehood and their economy will improve. There is no reason Puerto Rico can't become the Hawaii of the Caribbean.
If PR is so advanced then why not become independent? Over countries aren't flopping over failing or wailing because some one else considers them to be 2nd class citizens.
If Maria hit DR do you think that the gov't of the DR would be wailing for FEMA to help them?
Maybe the media isn't reporting the facts but it does appear as if the PR gov't has left the residents of the island in a lurch by over relying on FEMA for assistance. Who do residents of PR pay income taxes to? They pay to the PR gov't and not to the IRS. So the main form of hurricane assistance should be from the PR gov't with FEMA only providing secondary support.
PR has many of the same problems that their Caribbean and Latin American neighbors have. The day that Puerto Ricans admit this will be the day when their problems will be resolved.
Given that there are no known natural resources in PR, if it were to become an independent country, other than tourism, what would PR's economy be based on?
If the DR can survive so can PR.
And you cannot want the Jones Act removed and want PR to be a state. A ship traveling between Miami and PR is a domestic journey, just as if it was bound for NY. If a foreign vessel cannot be used to transport goods between MIA and NY then why would one expect that it would be able to do so to PR?
PR doesn't have fewer resources than does the DR yet no one is suggesting that the DR should be a colony.
I seriously don't think that any one really regards Puerto Ricans living in PR as being Americans. In fact PR asserts an almost national identity at events like Miss Universe and the Olympics and Pan Am games.
I guess the island will be another Barbuda at this rate.
Barbuda is a little island with a subsistence economy based on fishing.
Puerto Rico has the largest GDP in the Caribbean, bigger even that Cuba and the DR. Any Puerto Rican making this comparison ought to be ashamed of themselves.
What? what a ridiculous statement. because some stupid event where women are judged by their looks like cattle defines a country's identity.
Well its that simple then. Miss PR should context with Miss NY, FL etc., for Miss USA. And Puerto Rican athletes should represent the USA in basket ball, base ball and other international sporting events.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too. This represents an underlying theme. Puerto Ricans see themselves as a nationality and don't really see themselves as Americans, except in emergency situations. However you measure it there is a distinct national identity as strong as any that can be found in the independent Caribbean nations.
There has been two polls in Puerto Rico asking the population if they are pro statehood, pro independence, or continued commenwealth status. The majority (twice) voted for statehood. Puerto Rico deserves to be the 51st state of America.
There has been two polls in Puerto Rico asking the population if they are pro statehood, pro independence, or continued commenwealth status. The majority (twice) voted for statehood. Puerto Rico deserves to be the 51st state of America.
It won’t happen under Congress watch
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