Puerto Rico- Our 51st State?

[Winner]

I think the fifth columnist thing may be something against them rather than for them, in the same way your own Germans became doomed because of a similar position for them. It's not like the Anglos of the rest of the country are just gonna sit around watch that happen. They will vote for guys who will do stuff against it. It will simply lead to ethnic discrimination and assimilation policies becoming more explicit. I suspect ...

I doubt it would work, and in fact it would be rather counter-productive. Also, we're speaking of the parts of the US where Latino population is either very large minority (30+%) or even a majority. Due to the US citizenship law, the percentage of Spanish speakers who can vote reaches 100% with the second generation. No politician can ignore such a segment of the electorate.

The proximity to Mexico is crucial, in my opinion. Dispersed minorities separated from their mother country by large distances (e.g. the Germans in the US) can usually be assimilated. Geographically concentrated minorities which are continually being replenished with "fresh blood" from the "mother" country and/or at least maintain strong links with it are a different matter altogether. I think the US is potentially looking at a Sudetenland/Southern Slovakia kind of situation in some parts of the country.

And I don't think it's a bad thing, it's about time the Anglo-Americans were introduced to bilingualism.

 

[kramerfan86]

Main obstacle to bilingualism in the US is the school system. Most schools dont bother to introduce spanish until the students are nearly in high school and even then its only a couple years usually, almost never enough to actually teach the language instead just gives a bare bones introduction. Schools need to start young when its really easy for students to soak it in.

 

[Winner]

Main obstacle to bilingualism in the US is the school system. Most schools dont bother to introduce spanish until the students are nearly in high school and even then its only a couple years usually, almost never enough to actually teach the language instead just gives a bare bones introduction. Schools need to start young when its really easy for students to soak it in.

I find it confounding. I mean, the American continent is predominately Spanish speaking, so Spanish seems like the natural choice for a second language. Knowing it opens you the window to the culture of so many other countries.

 

[kramerfan86]

Ive never gotten it either, wish I had been taught the language as soon as school started, would have been incredibly easy to pick up and learn at that point. By the time they got around to teaching it, it was a bit of a struggle. Outside of basic definitions never got much out of it. There is this bizarre pride in english in the united states, considering its not like we invented the language I have never understood it.

 

[Elta]

Clears throat


Can I clear something up fellas?



American here - My mother is from Mexico, and I speak Spanish. If anyone want to learn Spanish, more power to them, right on - I speak 4 languages myself and I think it's great to learn as many as you are comfortable with. This "hard to assimilate" crap is a load of nonsense. I am know a lot of first generation Latino Americans - Every single last one of them speak English primarily when they are with their brothers and sisters/ other first generation Latino Americans. A third of them don't speak Spanish at all. There is not in the least bit an English language problem with people born in the U.S.



The things conservatives complain about: Signs and labels in Spanish - The majority of immigrants (about 2/3rds) in the U.S. have at a minimum 8th grade educations and can read just fine in Spanish, but are poor readers in English - naturally signs are also in Spanish sometimes. - Somehow this is perceived as an assault on liberty itself. The other complaint is Bilingual Education - It clearly the worse thing in the world for your poor kid to learn Spanish everyday in elementary school

 

[Winner]

Take a deep breath and calm down, you're arguing with yourself.

 

[Elta]

Take a deep breath and calm down, you're arguing with yourself.

I am aware, it's late.

Wasn't really directed at you.

The part I quoted you was, but I may have taken somethings you said out of context, I deleted those parts.

 

[Cutlass]

Is the number of people actually paying taxes that low in the US?

No. Other than small children, only a handful of Americans don't pay any taxes. The Class Warriors just single out the Federal Income Tax for the reason that a substantial portion of the population does not earn enough to qualify for paying that. Essentially the argument is that the poor should be cut out of political participation and government benefits because they are too poor to cross an imaginary threshold. So the government should either make them a lot poorer or strip away their rights.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Basically this. Every Puerto Rican was granted full US citizenship during the WW1 years. So they are indistinguishable from the inhabitants of any other US state, it's just the local government that is different.

Nope, much more complicated than that. Check out the details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_status_of_Puerto_Rico

 

[Hygro]

English.

...exactly, which is not integration in actuality

 

[Ice_Tyrant]

Whenever I hear anybody say something about how English should be the national language I always have this come to mind: http://xkcd.com/84/

 

[warpus]

I find it confounding. I mean, the American continent is predominately Spanish speaking, so Spanish seems like the natural choice for a second language. Knowing it opens you the window to the culture of so many other countries.

Americans don't really travel like Europeans do. A lot of Americans are content staying in their own country and not exploring at all. My roommate was like that.

 

[Ice_Tyrant]

Americans don't really travel like Europeans do. A lot of Americans are content staying in their own country and not exploring at all. My roommate was like that.

I know I never have really been able to go around much. Usually "travelling" for my family is maybe going up the river to Evansville or down south a bit to Bowling Green. Really it just has more to do with that we can't really afford to just up and go somewhere for a vacation, except to visit our Grandpa in North Carolina 'cause he'll pay for rooms and such for us.

 

[say1988]

Americans don't really travel like Europeans do. A lot of Americans are content staying in their own country and not exploring at all. My roommate was like that.

Keeping in mind that the US is nearly as large as Europe there is a lot more travelling to do without going to other countries.

 

[BvBPL]

Americans don't really travel like Europeans do. A lot of Americans are content staying in their own country and not exploring at all. My roommate was like that.

If you live in the Northeast, going to New Orleans or New Mexico is like going to another country.

 

[Traitorfish]

Keeping in mind that the US is nearly as large as Europe there is a lot more travelling to do without going to other countries.

Or that plenty of Europeans aren't much for exploring either. The only reason that most Britons ever leave the country is because our summer is only four and a half hours long and the beaches are all made of broken glass.

 

[Disgustipated]

Americans don't really travel like Europeans do. A lot of Americans are content staying in their own country and not exploring at all. My roommate was like that.

I admit I have not been to another country since I left the Navy. It seems too much hassle to me. Getting a passport is enough hassle in itself, and then the security checks/customs when traveling abroad. The U.S. has so many beautiful places to see here, that I could never see them all in a lifetime.

The only place I would consider going is Paris, and that would be with a woman. Most women aren't interested in that sort of thing though (most women in my city are ignorant of foreign countries). I would like to see Vienna too because I'm a classical music fan. Although I'm not sure how much there is to see there.

Anyways, that's off topic. As for Puerto Rico, I don't care either way. Do they get to participate in the Miss America pageant if they become a state? I know some Puerto Rican women are hot. So that's always a plus.

 

[Arwon]

I'm from a big and geographically diverse country too (we have pretty much every landscape except tundra, somewhere), but that doesn't mean there's nothing to see elsewhere. Travel isn't just to see nature. Don't Americans want to go places with different culture and history and food? Obviously cost is an issue, but that shouldn't affect the desire to travel.

 

[Cutlass]

I'm from a big and geographically diverse country too, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to see elsewhere. Don't Americans want to go places with different culture and history and food?

Do you honestly think the food and culture are the same throughout the US?

 

[Arwon]

Yes. Compared to the broad sweep of human experience, yes of course. Do you think otherwise?

I've been to thirty states, even Louisiana and Hawaii have a thick strata of "American" in the way people go about their lives and what they eat, as wonderful and different as the places are.