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I think we should let the UK pay for its sins for a change. Setting up anything "autonomous" with its own laws and customs is a terrible idea. Assimilation shou

by m0zg 6y ago

I think we should let the UK pay for its sins for a change. Setting up anything "autonomous" with its own laws and customs is a terrible idea. Assimilation should be a requirement for immigration.

chrisco255 6y ago
Really, are Puerto Rico and Guam really that bad of a concept? I don't think so. Most of the western US was simply U.S. territory for decades.
- oh_sigh 6y ago
  Puerto Rico doesn't make much sense to me - they should either be a state and have the full rights and federal oversight that every other state does, or be their own thing entirely. Living in this limbo world where you're a citizen but sometimes in name only if you're on the island seems wrong.
  - rayiner 6y ago
    They’re in a limbo because they don’t agree on what should happen. In the most recent real referendum (2012), a plurality slightly short of a majority wanted to maintain the status quo. But the rest were split: some wanted statehood, but the others wanted to be independent. Note that Puerto Ricans are fully citizens. The island itself doesn’t have representation in Congress because it’s not a state. (Which is a legal thing that’s distinct from the people who live in the state! The “United States” isn’t just a name, it has legal significance.)
    - oh_sigh 6y ago
      I agree for the historical reasons, but I don't think it should be left to Puerto Rico if they can't decide. The US should just say we are (state-hooding/evicting) you, unless you decide one way or the other. Along those same lines, I also think DC should gain representation in congress in some manner, either by largely becoming part of VA, or by becoming a 51st state(DC has more people than Wyoming or Vermont, and about as much as Alaska).
catalogia 6y ago
The people of Hong Kong are "paying" a hell of a lot more than the British.
- m0zg 6y ago
  That's always the case in anything colonial-like. I don't see why we should intervene though. "Autonomy" in the US means Sharia Law in Minnesota, unfortunately. We don't know how to do it well, if it can be done "well" at all.

by m0zg 6y ago

I think we should let the UK pay for its sins for a change. Setting up anything "autonomous" with its own laws and customs is a terrible idea. Assimilation should be a requirement for immigration.

chrisco255 6y ago

Really, are Puerto Rico and Guam really that bad of a concept? I don't think so. Most of the western US was simply U.S. territory for decades.

oh_sigh 6y ago
Puerto Rico doesn't make much sense to me - they should either be a state and have the full rights and federal oversight that every other state does, or be their own thing entirely. Living in this limbo world where you're a citizen but sometimes in name only if you're on the island seems wrong.
- rayiner 6y ago
  They’re in a limbo because they don’t agree on what should happen. In the most recent real referendum (2012), a plurality slightly short of a majority wanted to maintain the status quo. But the rest were split: some wanted statehood, but the others wanted to be independent. Note that Puerto Ricans are fully citizens. The island itself doesn’t have representation in Congress because it’s not a state. (Which is a legal thing that’s distinct from the people who live in the state! The “United States” isn’t just a name, it has legal significance.)
  - oh_sigh 6y ago
    I agree for the historical reasons, but I don't think it should be left to Puerto Rico if they can't decide. The US should just say we are (state-hooding/evicting) you, unless you decide one way or the other. Along those same lines, I also think DC should gain representation in congress in some manner, either by largely becoming part of VA, or by becoming a 51st state(DC has more people than Wyoming or Vermont, and about as much as Alaska).

catalogia 6y ago

The people of Hong Kong are "paying" a hell of a lot more than the British.

m0zg 6y ago
That's always the case in anything colonial-like. I don't see why we should intervene though. "Autonomy" in the US means Sharia Law in Minnesota, unfortunately. We don't know how to do it well, if it can be done "well" at all.