...and all thanks to Uncle Sam ...:tired:
Of course!
For those of you who still don't get what is the true purpose of this thread, its this. Many (notice, I'm saying MANY which in no shape or form means MOST or ALL) Puerto Ricans feel the need to constantly make themselves feel superior to Dominicans by comparing their tiny island to the DR. The funny part is that those same Puerto Ricans who like to make such comparisons, don't really like when the comparisons are done in reverse by Dominicans (they can dish it, but can't take it... I guess). Hence, Kemo comes into the picture.
He constantly is comparing Puerto Rico to the DR or vice versa, BUT in EVERY SINGLE COMPARISON he makes, PR is above the DR. The comparisons goes like this, blah blah blah in the DR is fine, but its just better in PR. The underlining message is that Puerto Ricans are better than Dominicans, period.
Of course, Dominicans are quick to "remind" such people that Puerto Rico is what it is because of the Americans forking over their money and those Puerto Ricans that like to make comparisons between the DR and PR (but hate it when Dominicans do the same) go on a rampage explaining that their relationship with the US means nothing, that the real reason behind PR's development is the Puerto Rican people. Of course, one has to wonder why they don't go the independent route rather than continue as a colony, but whatever!
The fact of the matter is that PR and DR are both in the shyte hole, albeit one is actually moving forward (DR, despite the fact that many people think its going nowhere or even backward) and the other is going nowhere (PR, despite the fact that many people think PR is moving forward, except for Puerto Ricans who complain about their island as much as Dominicans do about the DR and almost about the same problems).
Despite the fact that Kemo has made Puerto Rico appear as this great place just east of the DR, better than the DR in everything and all thanks to the Puerto Rican people, the Americans had nothing to do with anything over there:ermm:, the fact is that Puerto Rico has some serious problems.
Let me list a few and then I'll tie this to the topic of the thread and then I'm done, for now.
1. The Puerto Rican economy had the worst performance in the entire Caribbean last year and the year before that. It actually shrunk by over 1% last year, the island has been in a recession since the early 1990s, unemployment is still excessively high and there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel, at least for the time being, but then again, that has been the case for almost 20 years now, so....
2. Despite getting billions every year from Uncle Sam in free money, the Puerto Rican government took 10 years to build the first line of their subway (of the same length as the Dominican metro). Why? They ran into all sorts of problem, the main one being running out of money. Apparently, the superior Puerto Rican people didn't quite had the money to build the thing and guess who came to the rescue to save what was essential a project on the verge of failure? You got it, Uncle Sam.
On top of that, now that that project is finished, it mostly moves air from one place to another since its under-utilized.
3. The crime rate in PR is quite high. The drug war is everywhere, homes all over that island have bars on their windows and doors, the murder rate in San Juan is among the highest in US territory, car jacking is a national sport, and there is a strong anti-American feeling in the more remote parts of the island, to the degree that many PRs feel the need to express their distate for all things American to the few American tourists that make it to those places.
4. The treatment of animals is questionable. There was a report not too long ago about a place where hundreds of corpses of pets were found. Apparently, a gang of some sort went around stealing people's pets (dogs, cats, etc) and they threw those animals from a bridge to their deaths on a river a few hundred feet below. This even made it to national US news to the degree that the PR tourism company had to create a new damage control PR advertisement to prevent a fall in tourism. It was that bad.
5. Politics in PR are about as messy as the Dominican counterpart. In fact, about a year ago the entire Puerto Rican government collapsed for a month or so because the two main political groups in control were not able to effectively disburse millions of dollars to the various government departments. It was so bad that students on the entire island had their summer vacations early because the teachers had gone through weeks without seeing a dime and the same happened to the entire police force, and all government workers. All government agencies, even hospitals, were either closing or on the verge of doing such.
6. Break downs in basic services do occur. Don't be fooled by those Puerto Ricans who go around claiming their island is first world, because even though it looks first world (if you ignore slums like La Perla or Barrio Obrero in San Juan and elsewhere where tin roofs and badly constructed shacks are the norm), it sure doesn't function like a first world place. In many places water shortages are a fact of life on a daily basis, especially in the west around Mayaguez. In fact, this can get so bad at times, that many homes in PR have water tanks to compensate for the shortages.
The list goes on and on.
Some two-thirds of all households in PR live off food coupons offered by the government, good paying jobs are so few and wages are relatively low that PR is still losing more people than its gaining in terms of migration, the view many Puerto Ricans living outside of PR have of their island is that of a zoo crammed to the nth degree with people with cultural decay, crime, drugs, and laziness being rampant.
Now, I'm not saying that the DR doesn't suffer from similar problems or that those problems are minor in the DR compared to PR, but please, if you think PR is a floating Florida, you are going to be in for a shock.
Puerto Rico is a beautiful place and there are many good things about the place and the people, but don't go by what Kemo is saying because all he is doing is making himself feel better and his island sound nicer than it is by denigrating all things Dominican in preference for all things Puerto Ricans.
And to all those Puerto Ricans who don't go around making themselves feel superior by comparing their island to an independent country without a cookie jar to put its hand in, please, accept by apology for this negative post.
Your island is beautiful, its just that some of your people are... well, are not. :ermm:
And to tie this to the topic of the thread, Trump is not pulling out and Cap Cana is still a go!
:cheeky:
-NALs
