Because Puerto Rico is filled with American citizens who also deserve those things, and it's a vibrant island filled with scrappy, resilient people?
In this case, the calculus may simply be that the mission can be more comprehensively and efficiently achieved via investments elsewhere that will similarly benefit Americans near those areas as a reinvestment would have benefitted in Puerto Rico.
The story of the death of Arecibo is a stain on the way the United States treats its colonial territories.
All 3 referenda in PR since 2010 have favored statehood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_movement_in_Puert...
Therefore. Since nobody in Congress or White House lifts a finger, the referendum becomes just another political rally cry for the local pro-statehood party.
The United States and their political class have made it exceedingly clear that they favour the status quo -- both economically and politically -- at the expense of the island folk who suffer increasing austerity cuts and a deteriorating standard of living.
Statehood and its benefits isn’t something to be unilaterally demanded. Puerto Rico should have the option to declare independence. But it’s far too corrupt for political integration.
The US government has the full might of the US military, a reluctant political class and an economic interest in keeping the status quo.
There has to be cooperation in both sides for either statehood or independence, if decolonization is to be achieved peacefully. Sadly, there's no will to negotiate from the US gov’t.
About corruption, well, it’s true. Our ex-governor was recently indicted.
However, I also find corruption allegations a convenient way to perpetuate this image of Puerto Ricans as freeloaders—completely missing how much the mainland benefits from us economically, both as a tax haven and as a source of tax revenue (no IRS federal tax, but Jones Act import restrictions).
For more on economic benefits, think about this: a market of 2-3 million people locked in exclusively into US goods and markets due to colonial import restrictions.
Taxation without representation.
1) All goods sold in PR have to pass by mainland US ports, raising living costs significantly. This means re-boarding into a US vessel on the mainland, then sailing to PR if coming internationally.
2) We pay other federal taxes (as freelancer, I pay social security tax among others).
3) Related to #1, customs taxes and levies on all goods transported, paid to the US Treasury.
This is an excellent overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Puerto_Rico
“I think that the benefit for the community that infrastructure investment provides is so much greater than rebuilding the telescope, to the point that if I had absolute control of the limited gov budget I’d allocate all money to infrastructure.”
That’s debatable, but it doesn’t seem like a logical fallacy.
Maybe look past your sentimentality and notice that if money in Puerto Rico goes to anything it should be the electrical grid itself that manages to go down for weeks anytime something as mild as a tropical depression looks in the island's direction.
(This would probably be a lot easier to get funded if Puerto Rico were a state...)
If you want to help, becoming a proper, independent country could be a good start. The majority of citizens opposes the current colonial status, as evidenced by several referendums, but, well, it’s not theirs to decide - because they are just a colony and aren’t allowed to vote.
From Title 8-ALIENS AND NATIONALITY CHAPTER 12-IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY SUBCHAPTER III-NATIONALITY AND NATURALIZATION Part I-Nationality at Birth and Collective Naturalization
All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after April 11, 1899, and prior to January 13, 1941, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, residing on January 13, 1941, in Puerto Rico or other territory over which the United States exercises rights of sovereignty and not citizens of the United States under any other Act, are declared to be citizens of the United States as of January 13, 1941. All persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are citizens of the United States at birth.
Real is probably the wrong term here, but certainly a citizen without the full suite of rights granted to you. If you have all the obligations without all the rights, you are a second class citizen. It's frankly absurd that someone can live within the US as a "citizen" without getting have meaningful representation.
People born, raised and still living in DC, Puerto Rico, US virgin islands, Guam, and Marianas are being punished for not breaking the law.
> Real is probably the wrong term here, but certainly a citizen without the full suite of rights granted to you.
I acknowledged the thing you are objecting to before you started objecting. If you want to bikeshed a loosely used term after it's been acknowledged as being the incorrect term - have fun.
And before we get into a debate about whether ex-cons "deserve" rights, their sentence is supposed to be them paying their debt to society. Why shouldn't their rights be restored after that?
If Puerto Rico and DC were suddenly made part of California, nothing would change but suddenly they'd be "first class citizens"? (Besides now paying federal income tax)
DC being part of California would marginally change the distribution of the House. Agreed the Senate & FPTP is undemocratic.
Puerto Rican residents can vote on everything aside from federal elections.
And yeah, becoming a US state would be better than independence, but it won't happen, because - you guessed it, you can't vote. By becoming an independent country you could get major powers to compete to do business with you - I'm pretty sure China would invest billions into your infrastructure, you could literally become America's Taiwan.
It kinda feels like you're trying to shame Puerto Ricans for being the USA's bitches or something but I don't think that's reasonable. Puerto Ricans are US citizens and can move anywhere in the USA which is not only valuable and lets them send money home but shows that they're respected as just other Americans.
> By becoming an independent country you could get major powers to compete to do business with you - I'm pretty sure China would invest billions into your infrastructure, you could literally become America's Taiwan.
Leave the one country that helps you, though maybe not enough, to be the puppet of their enemy. Like that's not going to end in pain, but that's not your concern as an outsider trying to accelerate chaos.
So, a colony? Taxation without representation. We might not get taxed IRS federal planillas, but all the levies and duties plus the harmful Jones Act beg to differ with your characterization.
The US is choking our economy in its current status. Statehood or independence, a binding referendum is urgent at this point.
Oh, and don't you remember how the US Supreme Court declared us second-class citizens recently? [0]
[0]: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/scotus-declares-u-...
How did the US acquire said territory? And after they acquired it, what did they do to those who did not want their nation to be a "territory?" For those unaware, I'll give you a hint: it did not involve a hearty Socratic discussion followed by a game of badminton [0].
> If you think puerto rico becoming it's own country and missing out on the aid, support and ease of travel provided by the federal government you are either malevolent or naive.
This worked out rather well for the Hawaiians, who are currently having their groundwater poisoned by the US military [1], and their ancestral land acquired by mainlanders while they are made homeless [2].
In the recent non-binding referenda, and the bill to have a binding referendum which recently died in committee, there has been an option for "independence with free association" -- that is, an independent nation-state but with strong free trade and free travel agreements baked in [2]. Statehood is that, plus being subject to the whims of voters in Wisconsin, Idaho, et al. as to whether Puerto Ricans should be allowed funding for things. Keep in mind that there is no way out of this setup short of insurrection.
Given Puerto Rico has a distinct language, culture, etc. from the US, I can only assume we're deciding that the Westphalian model of the nation-state is not a consideration. Given this, I would also like to propose the following for statehood:
1. Korea
2. Vietnam
3. Iraq
4. Iran
5. Afghanistan
6. Somalia
7. Syria
8. Mexico
9. Haiti
10. Dominican Republic
These countries would surely flourish with the support and aid provided by the US federal government. And they were already, at one point or another, occupied by the US. So I can think of no reason not to annex them, short of naïveté or malevolence.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utuado_uprising
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jan/04/the-us...
[2]: https://thehomemoreproject.org/blog/the-hawaiian-homelessnes...
The veterans who died for the continental US beg to differ.
> If you want to help, becoming a proper, independent country could be a good start.
The US government has the full might of the US military, a reluctant political class and an economic interest in keeping it that way. It's difficult -- whether you're pro-statehood or independence.
Only if they skipped their history classes - dying for the empire is a standard part of being a colony.