Puerto Rico: The little Engine That Could But...

Puerto Rican politics can be very complicated business. You can sit at the dinner table with family and there will be someone for statehood, another for commonwealth and yet another for independence.  The myriad of reasons for each is enough to make for a complex algorithm. There is never an easy answer.

The most recent plebiscite (the fourth since 1967) proves that, Puerto Ricans, are still very divided when it comes to their future. Along these lines, there is no need to explain their current political status. That's been done plenty of times. Truth is, just like a Californian or New Yorker that knows very little about each others politics to even be concerned, such is the case with Puerto Rico. Who in the U.S. really took notice of that small island, with a population of nearly four million, and its plebiscite vote?

The important thing to understand is that the U.S. Congress has no obligation to address this plebiscite. Up at the Hill there are barriers already set in place, as the machinations are in motion to ignore all the hoopla in Puerto Rico over this. As is always the case, Washington will merely nod its head in acknowledgement of the plebiscite while continuing to ignore the peoples right to self determination in the world's oldest colony.

At the end of the day, nothing is resolved for the plebiscite is merely a reflection of the algorithm and indecisiveness of a dependent people. Like the little engine that could, Puerto Rico keeps chugging along without a station in sight.

Deconstructing thePuerto Rico Status Vote

From Summer Olympics to Plebiscite: What's Next for Puerto Rico?

What is it about national pride that brings out a glow in people? That deeply embedded sentiment of belonging to something great. A reflection of your very being. I pondered this thought as the 2012 Summer Olympics were played. I quietly watched and digested the pride of the Puerto Rican athletes as they competed in various sports. And then, there was this feeling of contradiction.

Puerto Rico's Olympic Committee (COPUR) sent a total of 25 athletes to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Yes, Puerto Rico has an Olympic committee. Many never consider this as odd because to know that Puerto Rico is a nation in colonial bondage is to know America's secrets. To some, it is a foreign nation, to others a commonwealth or invisible. But, to know its history is to know that it a possession of the U.S.

The Olympic Games, considered to be the world's foremost sports competition, hosts more than 200 nations. Again, we have to stress nation and look at Puerto Rico's status as a nation. In pride, to some extent, in culture (given the American influence thus far) and in mindset, it is still a nation. Realistically, it is a nation held in silent possession and in experimental dogma.

Silently, Puerto Rico, a nation-less nation heads towards another plebiscite on the heels of positive Olympic fervor and in the midst of a presidential election in the U.S., in which they have no say. As the presidential and vice-Presidential debates take place, Puerto Ricans on the island can only watch and wait.

It is not to say, that there isn't an election in Puerto Rico. On the contrary, there is a gubernatorial election, along with the plebiscite vote. What comes out of this, can indeed be interesting. The current Governor, Luis G. Fortuno, who favors statehood and stands with U.S. republicans, is not exactly Mr. Favorable and the result of the plebiscite can contradict that which he favors. Still, the plebiscite is non-binding and doesn't change a thing. There is no real plan nor concerted effort by island politicians to take total control of the islands political future. All island politicians have is hope that Washington will take notice of their whimpering. All this, of course, is unknown to the American public.

Consider this: Immigration occurs for a reason, people looking for a better way of life may top the list. In that search, the glamorized American way of life becomes the pot of gold. Yet, in spite of the slow climb from a recession in the U.S. and Puerto Rico's one hundred plus year relationship with the U.S., Puerto Rico is still going through some tough times, both economically and socially, as witnessed by the influx of Puerto Ricans to Florida. It is then safe to say, when in difficult times people look for ways out of their misfortune. Puerto Ricans are no different. They have been led down a long road of U.S. dependency. The chains of colonialism extend for so long that the links have become more and obscure. In the end, if there ever is an ending, many questions remain and the answers, just as numerous, are never clearly defined.

Is the plebiscite vote a mathematical equation of subtraction in favor of statehood? Will the peoples right to self determination be acknowledged or ignored? Does America really want or is it prepared for a 51st state? What's next for Puerto Rico?

The debate continues.....

Of Ballots And Bullets

by Vagabond /August 28, 2012 / Originally published on #nothingtobegainedhere

Ballots & Bullets Revolver X by vagabond ©

“Political power comes out of the barrel of a gun.” – Mao Zedong

It’s (s)election season again in the United States Of America… Every four years when it comes time for the US to choose a president i’m reminded of Malcolm X infamous speech The Ballot Or The Bullet. The speech is a recognized as being the the 7th best American speech given in the 20th century. The power of that speech comes from it’s analysis of the modern American political system and in a way it’s a kind of bench mark in terms of how much progress (if any) has been made in American politics. But there never seems to be any real meaningful forward progress in American politics… and Malcolm’s speech made in Cleveland Ohio on April 3rd of 1964 is a reminder of just how much American politics hasn’t really changed.

Malcolm’s speech was delivered a year after the famous 1963 march on Washington DC in which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. That was a high water mark for the Civil Rights movement and yet with all it’s hope and promise of change, with all it’s generational upheaval and force of will very little had changed a year later in 1964 for Black people in America. In much the same way that Barak Hussein Obama was elected president in 2008 with all it’s hope and promise of change, with all it’s generational upheaval and force of will, not much has changed for Black people or for anyone else in 2012. And so Malcolm’s speech of 1964 has a haunting and prophetic relevance because the politics of America doesn’t change.

If you listen to Malcolm’s speech and replace the reference of Black people with the 99% you’ll see that the keen empirical and analytical analysis Malcolm makes of the American political system in 1964 is completely applicable in 2012. Why? Because the American political system is not designed to change in a way that benefits those who need it to change most. It’s not designed to respond to the demands of the people who are clamoring for it. History has born this out… from the abolition of slavery, to the suffrage movement, to labor rights, to the civil rights to gay rights and immigration reform, change has been achingly slow in this country. Change may be inevitable but in this country it’s not about stopping change as much as it is about slowing it down to a glacial pace.

Please don’t mistake this as some anti-Obama rhetoric, this goes beyond Obama… Obama is one man within a system… A system that was designed for self preservation no matter who was the president and what kind of change they might want to bring… Obama inherited an abysmal situation, but it’s a situation that’s been politically designed to be nothing else but a tragedy… The global financial collapse of 2007 – 2008 was created by the American political system. The so-called “rescue” of that financial system, on the part of that very same American political system, was only concerned with the financial institutions that the political class has always been beholden to in contrast to the people who elect them.

There has been recent pressure brought to bear on this American political system for a more rapid and radical change in the form of the occupy movements which by and large are rejecting these outmoded forms of political representation. That message though, seems to have fallen on ears that refuse to hear, eyes that refuse to see, minds that refuse to reason, and hearts that refuse to feel when in comes to the two major political parties. The occupy movement seems to have awoken people to the idea that the two major parties are dictating what the issues are from a top down position as opposed to a bottom up approach. This may be the reason why the two major parties have stayed away from the occupy movement, the threat of real democracy looms large within the occupy movement.

What Malcolm was trying to get at in The Ballot Or The Bullet, was that if we can’t get what we want by the ballot then we’ll have to get it by the bullet. If the political system that claims to represent you fails to do so then the only option left is revolution… The Ballot in Malcolm’s speech is of course, the status quo, the Bullet is the revolution. Revolutions are bloody as Malcolm points out but he closes his speech by saying that America has an opportunity to create a bloodless revolution… That bloodless revolution can only happen when the paradigm shifts and those at the bottom dictates the direction and speed of the change that need to happen. The form that our “Bullet” may take in this revolution may take on a less literal form in order to create this bloodless revolution, but make no mistake, whatever form it takes it must be in the end as affective as a bullet…

You can hear Malcolm’s brilliant speech here…

You can get a T-shirt or 1″ Button of the image Ballots Or Bullets Revolver X at my design company Audio Visual Terrorism. Between the Emma Goldman quote and the Malcolm X quote the design reflects my thoughts on the American electoral process…

Shortlink: http://wp.me/p1eniL-OZ