Overheard a convo of some coworkers today talking about whether the US should grant sovereignty to places like Puerto Rico & American Samoa and whether it’s right to not let’s places that have their own culture and identity govern themselves. What’s your opinion?
Edit: To clear this up, *i’m* not saying they should or shouldn’t have sovereignty nor am I saying they don’t already govern themselves. I’m simply summarizing the topic of a conversation I **overheard** about the morality of owning territories and asking this sub their overall opinion in the subject.
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I am open to the idea if that is the majority feeling of the people living there. Self determination is kind of a big deal.
However, I don’t believe the majority would want that and it would likely have a net negative on their lives.
Do they *want* to leave the U.S.?
> govern themselves
They already largely govern themselves.
Whatever those places want.
Do they want to stay a territory? OK.
Sovereignty Sure.
Become a state? OK.
Just a blanket “you’re all on your own” might not be what they want, even if you think they do.
My hot take is that we’re the United States and shouldn’t have territories. So they should either be spun off into independent countries or become states, depending on their preference. Likewise, D..C. should have its residential areas (besides the White House) either rolled into the neighboring states or become a state.
I was born and raised in the mainland US, but I’m here because of Puerto Rico and the Jones-Shafroth Act that gave my great-grandparents American citizenship. To me the important factor is self-determination. The Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico should determine their future, whether that means independence or statehood or remaining a US territory.
I’d support granting them soverignty….if they vote for it. I don’t know about Somoa, but Puerto Rico usually votes to maintain the status quo.
PR IMO is the only one worthy of statehood.
I think outlying territories benefit from US sovereignty and would probably vote to remain that way.
If they want sovereignty? Sure.
They already mostly govern themselves.
I definitely support making American Samoans actual citizens. Because right now they are the only territory that aren’t.
They don’t want sovereignty, so why should we grant it to them? But if you mean self-government, they already have that and your friend should really know that already.
Why would we cut ties with Puerto Rico when they want to become a state?
It’s their choice, i personally do not care.
They should get to decide if theyd rather leave or become states, but they shouldnt stay territories
I’d like to see all the pacific island territories added to Hawaii. Kind of arbitrary, but it would seem like they would have similar concerns and issues. I’d like to see Puerto Rico become a state for sole purpose of pissing off the racist “Americans speak English” people.
Puerto Rico needs to make a decision. Yes or no.
That is entirely up to the people who live there.
If they want to stop being a territory and become a sovereign nation, that’s fine.
If they want to become a state and have a population larger than the least-populated state, they should be entitled to that as well.
Let them do whatever they want, if they want to stay then stay if they want to go then go
They should determine what kind of connection, if any, they want with the US.
They should have a right of self-determination. Do they want to become states, stay in their status, or stay independent? You’re assuming they all want independence, and numerous polls and referendums already say this is a minority opinion (at least in Puerto Rico).
They also already are *mostly* self-governing.
If they want to be a state that’s great, if not that’s great they are fully in their right to stay territories. Puerto Rico and American Samoa have their own identity and culture independent of the fact that they are territories and claiming they don’t just because they are territories is a fundamental misunderstanding of how human social structures work.
They have sovereignty, they have their own governments and laws but they fall under us territory and enjoy certain privileges because of that. They are also us citizens
I think they should get whatever they want. Puerto Rico has voted against independence, so I don’t support cutting them loose. If they voted for independence, I’d be happy to see them granted independence. They’ve voted for statehood multiple times and I support that, though Congress appears deeply uninterested.
I don’t think you can lump all of those territories together and make on decision that applies to all of them. The first thing to do is figure out if they *want* independence. I can see the allure of sovereignty but there also must be some benefits to being part of the US, such as security.
I think these places largely do govern themselves.
The 5 US territories are self governing. And while not “sovereign ” in the strictest sense, they are to varying degrees. theos degrees of sovereignty also correlate to the degree of US citizenship and application of the constitution. A Puerto Rican is a citizen and is afforded all the rights thereof, An American Samoan is an American National and is afforded fewer political rights.
The US summarily removing the citizenship of over 2 million people,and the defence and financial support of what would become 5 small nations would lead to a worse situation for those nations. Should the territories chose to leave there is a path to secede legally. No one has tried…
If they VOTE on it. We’ve made our position quite clear on this subject. The people of PR, American Samoa, etc., as territories, get to do things like have independence referendums.
As for identity and culture, it’s not something we can do anything about. Governance and identity are not entirely segregated issues, but the way you’re asking this suggests they are inextricable from each other.
I straight up think we should just give all the land back to the native americans. We clearly are not responsible enough.
Guam and Puerto Rico should probably just become states, they are big enough. The smaller island Territories are fine as territories, or as “independent” countries in association with the US. According to polling none of them really want full independence.
Puerto Rico should be given the right to choose what they want. That could be statehood, independence, free association or status quo.
I’m not so sure about American Samoa though. A territory of 45,000 people suddenly gaining two senators seems very imbalanced. They should be given citizenship though. Currently, American Samoans are only “nationals.” They should also have the option to secede or gain independence with free association if they wish. Guam is also quite low in population at 170,000 people, but they are significantly bigger than American Samoa. I guess they shouldn’t become a state either.
Puerto Rico has a population of 3 million though, so it’s obvious that they deserve representation in Congress if they want it.
I haven’t read all the comments, but based on your edit, I’m assuming some of the comments pointed out that they don’t need to be granted something that they already have.
I grew up in one of our commonwealths. The majority of the indigenous, and non-indigenous, residents of my home are inclined towards wanting statehood. Most of us want to either remain right where we are or to forge an even closer tie with the USA. Independence is generally not something we’re seeking.
They don’t want to become a state because they don’t want to pay US income tax.
They don’t want to become their own countries and no longer get US military support etc.
They don’t want full sovereignty. For instance the Northern Marina Islands voted to become a U.S. territory after being taken from Japan after WWII and American Samoa voted down being incorporated as full U.S. citizens since it would impact their restrictive ethic land ownership laws.
U.S. territories are self administrating, don’t pay federal taxes, and have elected non floor voting (can in committee) representation in Congress. They are also heavily reliant on the U.S economically and so don’t want to leave. The fact it gets shot down whenever a referandum up shows that fact.
Yes they should
Puerto Rico at least should receive statehood. All other territories should be given better representation. The extent of which, I’m not knowledgeable enough to pontificate. The Jones act should be repealed.