Quote Originally Posted by Mars_ax View Post
@TitoFan ,
Sounds like a catch 22, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

From the little bit that I know about PR politics, the real issue seems to be, whether or not most Puerto Ricans want to become part of the U.S. and fall under it's laws, et al. Just guessing it might not be all bad and might benefit the country as a whole, especially some of the poor.

Texas for example is a U.S. State, but we like to think we're a bit Independent, I don't see why PR couldn't do the same thing if it becomes a State. It's not like PR would be under the thumb of the U.S. government, you'd still have a lot of flex.

I for one would love to see PR become America's newest State.

cheers

Thanks, @Mars_ax. Personally, I favor statehood also and have for many years. What you said about Texas strikes a chord here, because many Puerto Ricans are afraid of losing a little of the identity that comes from having a unique and separate culture. Puerto Ricans are proud of their individual and collective accomplishments, such as well for instance having boxing world champions, world-class baseball teams (competing in the World Baseball Classic), our Olympic team, etc, etc. Some Puerto Ricans are afraid of losing their culture and/or their language.

Me... I'll always be a Puerto Rican first. Me and my family will always speak Spanish. Spanish is my first language. But at the same time, our U.S. citizenship is vastly important to us. It sucks to have the citizenship, but not be able to vote for the U.S. president. And bottom line is: I don't think you lose your identity or your culture by becoming a state. Our culture is within us. And isn't part of the beauty of the U.S. that it blends lots of different cultures anyway? Look at Alaska and Hawaii. They have their own, individual cultures and have retained them even after statehood.

Again, there's a lot of misinformation regarding statehood. I just hope to see statehood become a reality within my lifetime. Even if that means being from the same country as VD (shudder).