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Post by Brooke Gentile on Oct 2, 2017 1:29:24 GMT
When you consider that Puerto Rico is one of the thirteen United States colonies, and many Americans live there, it only seems logical for us Americans to help. However most people do not know that the majority of the Puerto Rican population consists of American citizens. President Donald Trump stated with many tweets blaming “ Puerto Rico’s woes on internal dysfunctions and “massive debt” owed to Wall Street’s financers.” Instead of blaming them, Americans should be helping them in their time of need. The Puerto Rican people cannot get medications or the correct health care they deserve. If this were to happen in one of our fifty states, this problem would have been solved already. The citizens in Puerto Rico are also covered under the US Constitution, and vote in our primary elections which gives them the right to have fair medical treatment and supplies. If someone in Puerto Rico is a diabetic they are going to have a terrible tough time getting the medications and insulin they need to live on. Since we are able to help Texas in a timely manner it shows that we have the potential to fix disasters efficiently. We have not shown that type of urgency with the devistaions in Puerto Rico. We are watching them live in awful conditions and struggle to keep their families alive and we just stand back and watch it all happen. Clearly Puerto Rico is a victim of colonial neglect.
My question is: With Puerto Rico as a protectorate of the United States have we as a nation done enough to provide support and relief efforts?
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Post by Maddy Crighton on Oct 2, 2017 1:31:07 GMT
@colebell I totally agree with you on the fact that Trump is trying to benefit himself economically and that we should be aiding Puerto Rico in the same way we are for Texas and Florida. They are US citizens and if more people had this knowledge they too would agree that we should be helping them more. If our nation was out of food, water, and other resources we would want someone to aid us and help us out.
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Post by Maddy Crighton on Oct 2, 2017 1:37:47 GMT
@brookegentile We as a nation have not done enough in the aiding of Puerto Rico. They are US CITIZENS for crying out loud, why are we not taking this more seriously than we are. The fact that many Americans in the US do not know that the people born in Puerto Rico are US citizens goes to show how much we know about our history and country. President Trump (even though I support some of his ideas) needs to get his act together and aid Puerto Rico.  |
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Oct 2, 2017 1:43:23 GMT
@barbie I think the long-term effects on our nation would be the inflation of building materials. It will also effect the health of our people. Researchers found that wounds, poisonings and infections in the gut or skin increase soon after storms. Also people with chronic conditions are prone to health problems immediately after a storm.
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Oct 2, 2017 1:50:11 GMT
@maddy I completely agree about you saying how other countries think of the U.S. as a leader, but how are we to lead other countries when we are just sitting and watching part of our colonies struggle to survive. Other countries are probably going to think that we only care about ourselves and not about others surrounding us, which will make us look awful in their eyes. How can we expect other countries to look up to us if we don’t be a leader and help out whoever we can with all the resources we have. As Americans we are so very fortunate with all we have, with that being said we should help out a part of our colonies because we CAN!
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Post by Cole Bell on Oct 2, 2017 2:33:48 GMT
@rickymineo Puerto Rico will never be strong enough in our lifetimes to be their own country. They are in debt with Wall Street for a reason. Without the united states, puerto rico would be nothing. The U.S. is the leading funder for hurricane relief and if we shut off the funding then they would have nothing and it would take years before they even got power back on the entire island.
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Post by Cole Bell on Oct 2, 2017 2:46:22 GMT
@brookegentile yes and no. Like what Maddy said, They are US Citizens, but We also have to realize that only half of the US population even knows that they are US Citizens. The teachers of our nation should be teaching the youth of our country more about our territories, so when things like this happen to fellow US citizens, the youth is already educated of the location. On the other hand, some of the people in our country just plain and simple dont care about anyone outside of the us, citizen or not and President Trump cant force it on people without facing major repercussions.
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Post by Ricky Mineo on Oct 2, 2017 12:05:27 GMT
@wyatt the citizens of Puerto Rico would no longer be United States citizens, they would be on their own feet rather than being able to depend on the United States for a lot of things. I feel like we would provide plenty of relief for them even if they aren’t a territory of the us although we haven’t given much relief yet.
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Post by Hunter on Oct 2, 2017 12:06:09 GMT
brooke I don't think we have, President Trump says we are helping, but not enough. It doesn't help that 46 percent of the U.S. doesn't know that people who live in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens. I believe that if most of the United States realized that U.S. citizens were devastated by this hurricane there would be a greater relief effort.
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Post by Matt Hartz on Oct 2, 2017 12:10:06 GMT
Puerto Rico is definitely receiving colonial neglect. Yes the United States are currently hovering them supplies and send people to help rebuild but the are still neglected by the US. Even though they are a colony of the United States, they are not treated fairly through elections and their own government structure. What I mean by this yes they vote for the President of the US but they do not have a "strong" government of their own. They do not get electoral votes in the election and if Peurto Rico would become a state of the US, they would be the 30th most populated state. Even with the US relief that they are receiving, they are still going to be behind on EVERYTHING for at least 6 months. Puerto Rican's are devistated because they were hit by not one major hurricane but two. This puts all their focus on rebuilding and not moving to new discoveries for improvement.
Do you think that the hurricanes will make Puerto Rico closer to the US or push them farther away? (Becoming a state or becoming their own country)
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Post by Hunter on Oct 2, 2017 12:10:49 GMT
@meghan When a natural disaster occurs the United States rejects a lot of aid and that is not right. We should swallow some pride and just accept it especially trillions in debt like we are today. It is not weak to accept help like we have come to believe it is in this day and age. The world would be a better place if we could just all put differences aside in bad situations like these and helped each other out.
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Post by Matt Hartz on Oct 2, 2017 12:13:56 GMT
Puerto Rico is a modern day example of colonial neglect and negligence of a mother country toward its territory. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States that is treated similarly to how the American colonies were treated: A well known example of salutary neglect having no representation having large taxes and tariffs. Puerto Ricans are American citizens, but they can only send one non-voting representative to the House of Representatives. Because of the Jones-Shafroth Act the Puerto Ricans are supposed to be allowed the same rights as American citizens but the neglect apparent after the double threat natural disasters with the lack of aid and news time. This lets them have no control in government, just like the American colonies had no representation. The fact that 46% of Americans don’t know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens doesn’t allow for most Americans to try and give them representation. The American ignorance adds to their lack of power in government, if nobody knows they are affected by regulation then they will not be considered when laws are passed. Trade to and from Puerto Rico is plagued with tariffs, fees and taxes because of the Jones Act. This makes it very costly to both ship to and from Puerto Rico. These tariffs are monumental compared to the tariffs placed on the America colonies and the Puerto Ricans don’t have the economic stability to break away especially after their double wave of natural disasters. The lack of representation and large taxes/tariffs are just two of the largest similarities brought forth in the article. Comparatively Puerto Rico is suffering from worse colonial neglect than the American colonies did. Q: Do you think other countries should also try and help aid Puerto Rico? Or is aid being turned away by the American government like with many other natural disasters? Meghan, I think that other countries "should" help Puerto Rico but are not going to because they will believe it is a problem of the US. Because it is a colony of the US, other countries will not step in for relief efforts |
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Post by Ricky Mineo on Oct 2, 2017 12:17:57 GMT
brooke We are not doing enough I help Puerto Rico get back on their feet after these natural disasters. They are pretty much completely destroyed and waiting on foreign aid to come to them. Puerto Rico is also just a territory, they’re not even a state. They’re so poor that they’re just causing problems for the United States so we need to help them rebuild and then let them go on their own.
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Post by Matt Hartz on Oct 2, 2017 12:19:11 GMT
Puerto Rico is not completely neglected. Due to the fact that the marine corp is down there providing hurricane relief. Proof of this is found on the Marine Corp’s social media. However, this still doesn’t answer how only 45% of people in America know that Puerto Ricans are even American Citizens, according to a poll taken by New York Times. Plus, it doesn’t help that the American people don't get any coverage what so ever on the event. As stated by the Washington Post “ The United States may not like to see itself as the type of nation that has colonies, but if you’re not treating Puerto Rico and its American citizens the same way as you treat states and their, that’s the only explanation,”. However even if Puerto Rico was considered a colony it is still the responsibility of America to take care of one of its own. However some people do not believe in sending aid to the island. President Trump even states in a tweet explaining why relied efforts are not what they should be “Puerto Rico is on an island in the middle of the ocean,” where “you can’t just drive your trucks there from other states.” Like some people did for Texas after Irma. Question: If Puerto Rico were to seek independence, 1) Would citizens born there still be citizens to the U.S.? 2.) Would the U.S. provide relief for natural disasters such as hurricane maria and irma? Wyatt, If Puerto Rico would seek independence from the US, citizens their that stay their will no longer be a citizen of the US in my opinion. This is because they have split from the US and staying their shows they do not want a part of the US. If they declared independence and became their own country, the US would not provide relief efforts if a natural disaster occurred because they are no longer a part of the US. |
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Post by Maya Borland on Oct 2, 2017 13:40:13 GMT
Puerto Rico is going through a very hard time right now. They have not gone through one hurricane but two. They have no power, little to no fresh drinking water and little to no support or help for the US. Why are we not helping Puerto Rico as much as we should be. Well the answer to that is simple, most people don't know of the sereneness of the matter or chose to ignore it. The one person how is really trying to ignore it is President Trump. Trump is saying that Puerto Rico is an island and does not have any ties to the US. This however is not true. Puerto Rico is par of the US, and most of the people living there are US citizens. People in the US don't even know this information, and therefore believes as President Trump does. That Puerto Rico should fix itself and the US should go back to its own world.
My question is should we help Puerto Rico even if it was not part of the US? People are starving, and need help regardless of where they come from.
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