Puerto Rico - U.S. Virgin Islands
POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Saturday, July 25, 2026 15:29
VIEWED: 19797
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion/trump-fails-puerto-rico.htm
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Comments: David Ricardo, Massachusetts - 3 Oct 17 says,
Oh, please. This column is what Trump would call "fake news." There has been only one individual on the entire island who complained about the federal government's response, the mayor of San Juan. This mayor had not met with FEMA officials and had not participated in recovery efforts. The governor of Puerto Rico was initially quite positive on the federal government's actions.
The problems with distribution in PR are due to unionized drivers failing to show up for work. There are tons of supplies in the port ready for distribution, and the local drivers are nowhere to be found. Let's put the criticism where it belongs.
In addition, PR is plagued by poor governance and corruption. I, for one, do not want to dump a bunch of aid on an island without the government infrastructure to manage it. Puerto Rico has a long history of incompetence and corruption, and let's not use Hurricane Maria as an excuse to bail out these crooks.
.......
OK. I quote Ricardo because he does speak to something I
suspected. Altho from here, I dunno if Mayor Yulin Cruz
is at fault, or is it the Governor Rossello?
When I first began to read about PR after this disaster
struck ... I saw that they appear to have huge debt for
a state of only 3.6 million citizens. And no way to work
out of it 'cause unemployment is also very high? Seems
like business as usual in PR had the citizens in dire
straits beFore the storm.
I've no idea of the age distribution of people there.
What percentage are employable? Are there jobs to be had?
If so, do they get even minimum wage? ... I don't know.
We often call such places "a banana republic." This one's
a banana US protectorate that we're not managing very well
at all. If things don't work down there, isn't it on the USA
to fix ... We like to interfere & we're good at it.
But if it was our 51st state ... that's a different story.
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
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Sounds like they're a complete welfare state.
Most people didn't even know their status before, and most people couldn't explain it to you now.
Who's financial responsibility is Puerto Rico? Californian citizens? Alaskan citizens? Indiana citizens?
Why should it be on tax payers 3,000 or more miles away to support somebody else? What do they get out of it?
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6, I really don't think they need support, & prob'ly don't want it.
Most people would prefer opportunity.
What they need is economic development.
And if the poor economy is due to corruption ...
I wouldn't know where to begin.
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I'm just wondering what you meant by "isn't it on the US to fix it".
I'm not a huge fan with how we go about "fixing" things stateside, or anywhere else in the world that is not in our purview, for that matter.
They're probably better off without our "help".
As for why they're in the situation they're in, I'm sure government corruption has a lot to do with it. But again, I don't trust our leaders to "fix" that any more than I trust their leaders to. I say the same for Republican or Democrat leaders here.
I think in the end it all boils down to overpopulation, which I've said on many occasions is probably the largest problem that everybody faces in the world right now. Some more than others.
That's an awfully tiny island to have 3.4 million people on it.
Quote:
Similar in size to Connecticut, encompassing 3,492 square miles.
Population: 3.8 million. As a state it would be considered mid-sized by population measure (similar to Kentucky or Arizona)
Connecticut: 5,543 mi²
Kentucky Size: 40,409 mi²
Arizona Size: 113,998 mi²
Only less than 400,000 people live in San Juan, and I'm sure a lot of them aren't close to being rich. I can't imagine there's a lot of booming business for the other 3 million people living outside of San Juan.
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Sq miles ... PoP ... ... Pop per sq mile
304.6 mi² 8,538,000 28,030 : New York City
3,515.0 mi² 3,411,000 979 : Puerto Rico
So the population of NYC is 28.63 times as dense as PR.
Overpopulation isn't a problem in Puerto Rico.
The people outside of San Juan may be mostly farmers &
fishermen. No doubt, urban areas have the same kinds of
skilled labor you'd find in any self-sufficient community.
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
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Quote:
Originally posted by Oonjerah:
Sq miles ... PoP ... ... Pop per sq mile
304.6 mi² 8,538,000 28,030 : New York City
3,515.0 mi² 3,411,000 979 : Puerto Rico
So the population of NYC is 28.63 times as dense as PR.
Overpopulation isn't a problem in Puerto Rico.
The people outside of San Juan may be mostly farmers &
fishermen. No doubt, urban areas have the same kinds of
skilled labor you'd find in any self-sufficient community.
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LOL... Can't compare San Juan to New York. Not only is NYC one of the biggest, if not the biggest cities in the most powerful nation on the planet, but it's kind of the central hub of the world.
How much airport traffic do you think San Juan gets in a year compared to NYC?
Overpopulation is the problem in Puerto Rico. There is nothing that they could do that would give worthwhile jobs to 3.4 million people on that little island that nobody travels to. What could they possibly have to offer the rest of the world besides maybe some light tourism when they clean up the island? Maybe they can grow some sort of crop that has medicinal purposes that is not able to grow in any other area on the planet?
They've got nothing anybody wants.
Well.... I guess that's their number 2 problem right there.
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Quote:There is more going on than tourism from cruise ships. Puerto Rico manufacturing is 46.4% of the economy.
Originally posted by 6stringJoker:
There is nothing that they could do that would give worthwhile jobs to 3.4 million people on that little island that nobody travels to. What could they possibly have to offer the rest of the world besides maybe some light tourism when they clean up the island? Maybe they can grow some sort of crop that has medicinal purposes that is not able to grow in any other area on the planet?
They've got nothing anybody wants.
Well.... I guess that's their number 2 problem right there.
For the USA, it is 19.4%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Puerto_Rico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Manufacturing what the island needs maybe. How much of the stuff is exported? Good or bad, they live in a bubble.
A majority of that manufacturing money being made would be in San Juan and maybe a few other smaller hubs of the island. A very small percentage of people are making out on that work. All the people that don't have good jobs and pretty much slave away at farming probably make just enough to survive on. Nobody is paying for food when nobody has money to pay for food.
I've already said many times that our lack of manufacturing in the US today is a problem. It's not because we don't have anything to offer though. It's because we ushered in the global economy and the big corporations make a killing having the work done any place but here.
I've also said that overpopulation in the US is a problem, and we have a lot more land per person here than they do in Puerto Rico. This was my argument for why there is a need for so many worthless minimum wage jobs in society today, because there is too many people.
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Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND:
There is more going on than tourism from cruise ships. Puerto Rico manufacturing is 46.4% of the economy.
For the USA, it is 19.4%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Puerto_Rico
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
My guess is: the USA does a lot of manufacturing there,
because the labor is much cheaper?
If so, that'd even account for why it's not a US state. :(
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
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Quote:
Originally posted by Oonjerah:
My guess is: the USA does a lot of manufacturing there,
because the labor is much cheaper?
If so, that'd even account for why it's not a US state. :(
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Good point, but I think I have to go with yes and no on that one.
I just don't think that the labor would be all that cheap compared to countries half a world a way that we've been exploiting for generations now.
When's the last time you saw "Made in Puerto Rico" on anything? I never have. Most of my stuff comes from China, although I honestly rarely ever buy anything that isn't food these days, so you'd probably know better than I would.
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