[Suki]

[size="5"][b][font="Times New Roman"]Sonambulo you don't get it do you? You think Puerto Ricans can 'move' on and make a difference in a society that has not had what it needs in its most essential form to make progress. Why do you think there was no real progress made on political levels at all and consequently on economic levels on crime control and legal levels on etc. levels if you have never been given the real tools and the real power to do it?

If Puerto Ricans truly were economically independent, prosperous, and had a low or non-existent unemployment rate, low crime and high standard of living do you honestly believe they would be speaking English only and be USA dependents? Any nation (take your pick) that has all of the above have never accomplished the prosperity, clout, low crime and strong legal and social controls by being colonies of other nations. NEVER in the history of humanity has that ever happened. All colonial relationships have failed in the annals of history. Do you think Puerto Rico is going to be the exception? I don't think so. It is all a matter of time and circumstances. Palau was once a colony of the USA. They aren't anymore and many economists say that since the pullout Palau is making slow but steady progress on all fronts that they had not been able to accomplish being a dependency.

The problems are the pro-gringos, and the conservative among them who are out for themselves only. And will always be out for themselves. They want to win for themselves, to serve themselves. Not for the best of the nation of Puerto Rico. They will and are sellouts. And so is their agenda. Plus, they lack intelligence. Do you know which is the most educated per capita state of the United States? It is Massachusetts. It has the top rated schools and high schools in the USA. Massachusetts also is the most 'left' leaning of all of the USA states. That is no coincidence. Brutos=Right wing. And that is and always will be true. Very few right wingers are analytical. The few that get close to being truly intelligent are 'mavericks' and 'independent' thinkers anyway on many issues. But the average conservative in the USA is really not high on the intellectual scale. Will they win? Who knows. Being intelligent and analytical is not what composes the 'right stuff' to become President of the USA. It is more about who you know and who with money and power is backing you up. The system is completely broken and has been for a long time. Those who don't recognize that FACT either are less than intelligent.

No nation can move on and make real CHANGE that is tangible without going internal and fixing the foundation of democracy and the balances and imbalances of power. Until those are addressed stagnation is the natural outcome of being colonized. You haven't got that yet Sonambulo? Puerto Rico will never make progress if they don't cope with the lack of power they have on all fronts and the natural corruption and decadence that is the NATURAL outcome of lack of power and rot that is endemic to not being allowed as a nation to call your own shots, determine your own plan and future and be free in every real sense. All you will ever accomplish will be colonial menatalities. And people who are colonized will never be able to take personal responsibilities for anything or anyone. They can't envision anything. They keep looking to the colonizer with power for guidance. If you keep looking outside of what is an innate creative and human quality and not only that, but keep expecting something better from people who don't even see you as humans and EQUAL---you will only perpetuate the problems until there is nothing left of identity, respect, energy, and ability. If allowed to exist too long in that mode......ghost nations (such as destroyed and conquered national identities without any hope of surviving then die off and rot) and that will be the end of Puerto Rico. Native Hawaiians are not the majority in Hawaii. They don't own the best land in Hawaii, they don't control anything of real consequence. They live in poverty and have lost so much. That is and will be Puerto Rico in the future if it doesn't get its independence. A bunch of pidegeon English speaking Puerto Ricans living in the worst parts of Puerto Rico and not controlling anything. The best beaches, properties, jobs and so on will go to the foreigners and the stateside raised USA citizens and the native boricuas will never recover. No Spanish. Nothing. The island will be the 51st state for the benefit of the snowbird wealthy who can buy beachfront property in Isla Verde and environs, all decisions of import made by stateside (most likely wealthy white men), and etc. Huge amounts of poverty dependent on dole Puerto Ricans move to Orlando, Chicago etc. ghettoes where their children assimilate not to become middle class but to be the new inmates of the state run prison systems because their progenitors never had the abilities of self determination and felt and were powerless and unaware. They lost something but they are so far gone they don't even remember what they lost. That is the future of the 51st state if ever it even gets to be realized.

Independent nations are hard and difficult and demanding to cope with. But if one struggles long and hard and works extremely hard and does what is necessary, eventually things evolve. Nobody says it is easy. Life is not easy. Never was it meant to be easy---reminds me of Darwin---struggle for existence is the toughest hurdle of all for survival of the species.

I don't think any self-respecting Puerto Rican really wants to kill the Puerto Rican identity. Its ethos and its essence is uniquely Puerto Rican and not Anglo and not stateside. It is very Latin American that identity and anyone with a sense of history knows that. Statehood will kill it as surely as putting pesticide on an insect. The reason why 80% of Boricuas can't speak English fluently is because the island is physically occupied (very densely I might add) by wall to wall Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and others.Most of whom don't live Anglo lives stateside and whom have no plans on becoming monolingual English speakers. LOL.