I figured that seeing as it was discussed (in regards to its independence) we could use a new thread. By the way, if anyone is curious about the country, here is Wikipedias article on the subject.

Essentially its a "unincorporated territory of the US." Full title is the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or Associated Free State of Puerto Rico. It is debated whether or not it should become independent, remain in "Status Quo", or become a full-fledged state.

And to take my old style off the shelf for a spin, take it away folks.

Well, they do have legitimate elections in Peurto Rico, so if the people want independence, they can vote for it whenever they want. As of now, they have not, so there is no reason for the island to be independent.

They really should push for statehood. For such a small landmass, the population is significant.

I understand that roughly half the population wants statehood. I have no clue what the other half wants.

Meh. They can do what they like. I'm not worried about it.

What would statehood or independence actually entail beyond what they already have? As in, what would the practical changes be?

It would probably make it harder to get US citizenship if Puerto Rico was independant. If they were a state, they would probably have a greater say in US domestic politics.

I think it should be a state. I mean, it has more people than 31 (!) of the full states (Individually, of course).

I think they should go for independence, but if they don't vote for that, like I said, nothing to be done.

Of course I don't mean that population should be the only qualifier, but combine that with how most of Puerto Rico's inhabitants don't want full independence, statehood seems to be the best option.

edited 26th Dec '11 4:20:18 PM by DirectorCannon

Well, as far as I can see the only real difference between Puerto Rico and an actual State seems to be the ability to vote or send a representative to Congress. Considering that they're subject to US taxes, could be included in a draft, etcetera. Seems pointlessly arbitrary to me.

edited 26th Dec '11 4:20:37 PM by TheBatPencil

They'd probably be better off as a State than as an independent entity.

~shrug~

It's up to them, really. I honestly can't be bothered to give a damn, since it doesn't hugely matter either way what happens. I guess I'd feel kind of bad if they voted for independence, but that really doesn't look likely right now...

"Well, as far as I can see the only real difference between Puerto Rico and an actual State seems to be the ability to vote or send a representative to Congress"

Isn't this kind of a big thing?

Yes.

As I said, with everything else being the way it is, denying people voting rights is abitrary and fairly pointless.

The "add-a-State" plan really wasn't designed with the possibility of controlling overseas territories with non-White populations in mind.

I imagine they planned to simply ethnically cleanse anything they captured or overrun them with settlers.

Obviously, things have changed in the nearly 300 years since we came up with the idea...

@Bat I thought you were saying that there was no difference between the Status Quo and Statehood.

Well colonies typically don't get to have representatives. I suppose really the question is what the people want and I figure what they want is "as long as the US keeps the economy going strong, we'll stick with status quo".

There's two political parties based on the idea of statehood and independence. And one other that bases most of its platform on environmental issues. *shrug* As I understand it, they've had a vote on this before, and last choice essentially chose the status quo. I know they have to pay taxes, but I don't think they currently have to pay federal taxes, and get to move freely about the United States.

So.... it might be that there's no particular incentive right now for them to change their status. *shrug*

The goverment should hold a referendum giving the people the option either become a full state, OR become independent.

edited 26th Dec '11 7:57:09 PM by Baff

They've already done that, Baff. And they're probably going to do it again the future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_status_referendum, _1998 That's the results of the last vote listed on wikipedia. It's not like they're being ignored, they just haven't gotten enough support for any other option to change their status.

I'm hoping they become a state. I wonder how the US flag will look . Maybe, we'll add a huge star to the flag.

If I recall correctly, they already have hypothetical flag designs for if the US had all the way up to about 60 States, and could put the 51-State flag into production immediately to replace all the Federal flags...

Yeah, they have a couple of designs for that. One of them is a circle of lots of stars. Pretty cool looking. And, out of the territories we have, Puerto Rico is the most likely to become a state. Not sure about Guam.

I knew there are a couple of places, but there are 10 potential additions to the US?

Does Guam have the population? I think you need at least 60, 000...

Anyhow, the only thing holding back Puerto Rico from Statehood (or independence) is their own indecisiveness...

I think they just do it to have it, and we may have once held more. I know that once upon a time they thought Cuba and the Philippines would be States...

edited 26th Dec '11 8:29:06 PM by USAF713