Ok so Barrack obama promised to make a final decision regarding puerto rico within his 4 year term. wich means puerto rico will either become the united states 51st state or an independent country.

on the one hand they could benefit from a US economic model, get full benefits ( not just welfare but tax returns and benefits for the working poor), and become full fledged citizens isntead of half-way citezens as they are now (Half-way because they arent able to vote for president) BUT at the same time they'd have to pay taxes... theyd have to make english the main language on the island... and they'd be subject to americans coming in and "taking over" the island much like the situation in hawaii. where the native hawaiians are the poorest ethnicity and own very little on the island, they were basicly displaced by americans on their own island.

so what do you guys think would be the best options for the natives. lets say you were puerto rican what would be YOUR vote. Either statehood, Independace, or remain a commonwealth and how would puerto rican independance or statehood affect The DR ???

If PR's would choose independence (something which I think they will not), then the trend of the illegal travels on the Mona Channel would be reversed, cuz' they would not be receiving US subsidies anymore. How the DR would be affected it's a complicated matter, because even though it would be a good thing by the fact that it would force the dominican populace to fight for a better life in their own land instead of choosing the easy path of migrating, on the other hand it would be a bad thing cuz' we would not be dealing only with displaced haitian inmigrants as it's currently the case, but also with displaced puertorrican inmigrants as well.

Migrating is NOT the easy path.

Agreed. A sociology professor of mine back in college used to refer to immigrants as the "ambitious poor". I think that's a very apt description.

That definetly sounds likely to me, i mean puerto ricos economy is ALREADY doin bad..i think its decreasing at a rate of 2.1% a year under american leadership compared to DRs ecenomic growth of 5%-10% since 2004.
if the puerto ricans were to be given full power of their "country" i garentee that they wouldnt be doing as well as they are right now and idk about migrating back to DR..since they cant stand dominicans and they see dominicans and DR in general as a bad place.

I consider it so because migrating, at least from my point of view, is an act of "giving up" to the forces preventing that inmigrant from getting what he/she deserves on his/her own land. It's as simple as that.

Puerto Rico will NEVER become independent (not enough people are for it) and outside of Puerto Rico there is no enthusiasm for her becoming a state. She will remain a commonwealth from here till doomsday. Mark my words.

This is a tough issue to navigate. My immediate reaction is that if Puerto Ricans want to preserve a strong identity they should opt for independence. On the other hand they have to seriously consider the material consequences of such a choice. The current status may indeed be best for them on the level of material and economic status, perhaps superior even to statehood.

On a re-reading I personally give consideration to cultural and symbolic levels of the situation. We all know that the USA is now and will remain for the foreseeable future the hegemonic power of the Caribbean. Nothing our peoples do can change this without serious, unnecessary pain. It may be that it is a net positive for all of us, Puerto Ricans and other Antilleans, for there to be at least one significant geographic location where this relationship between ourselves and the US is explicit, de facto and de jure. I think having a close neighbor as an effective colony ignites some necessary sparks of cultural resistance and suspicion towards the hegemon. It also creates a citizen constituency within their society which keeps them from disowning totally the Latino aspects of their story. This serves both sides as it spurs ongoing cultural development n both ends and keeps the US powers playing with caution. In other words, it brings a useful level of honesty to the geopolitcs of the region.

Oh sure facing the struggle of alien (often hostile) culture, alien urbanity, a sub-citizen status, and distance from family is 'giving up'. It isn't as simple as that unless one chooses to apply a very simple-minded interpretation

It's easy for the inmigrant, but hardest for the country as a whole, cuz' that trend only serves to perpetuate what I call "the situado culture". If you have read about Dominican history, there was a time (the 1600's) when the colony was so poor that the only sustenance that it got was the situado, or payment, for the bureaucrats of the colonial government. This situado type of mentality, where every hope of sustenance of the native rest on the remmittance from outside can only tend to worsen the problems existing on the country from which the inmigrant comes from, cuz' the government doesn't feel any kind of incentive (or popular pressure) to change things on the country for the better. I'm sorry if I might appear as a heartless bastard, but my point of view has always been (and will always be) to look at the larger picture, how individual actions, while benefitting on some levels, might be harming the welfare of the majority in the long run. We need to abandon this "salvese quien pueda" mood, if we ever hope to achieve getting from Third World status, that is.