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Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

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Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#41
I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is?

Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#42
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PR is a developed country in a developing country neighbourhood. Healthcare is cheaper than the US but some specialties are hard to get an appointment. The neighbours, DR Cuba, FWI, are a cheap ferry or puddle jump away. So for the common ailments, you have neighbouring islands keeping prices in check. That's a sailor's perspective on PR healthcare. Since I'm not part of their health care system I looked at it as is…

PR isn’t a country. It’s part of the US.

It's a territory. It has an independent government, constitution, country code, Olympic team, and elections. Functionally, it is a country.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#43
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In the US" Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

I'm aware. But Puerto Rico is a commonwealth, so within the context of my post when I wrote "in the US", I was referring to the 50 states and the federal district. I apologize if it wasn't clear.

I found this incredibly obvious given your context.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#44
post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

Puerto Rico would need to petition to become a state. (I believe it meets the criteria for becoming a state, but haven't verified that.) There are benefits to remaining a territory, in particular they can create tax inventives that would be precluded if they wete a state.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#45
post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

If I remember correctly, most Puerto Ricans aren't interested in the statehood status (wasn't there a referendum?) probably because it's a pretty major cultural shift.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#46
post #25

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico, but left to work in tech. As with any place, there's some good points and there's some bad points. Below are some points that someone moving to Puerto Rico might want to know. In my opinion, their greatest achievement has been in its educational system. Despite its huge list of problems, UPR enables people of any background to receive an affordable high quality college education.…

"In the US" Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

Given the content of the rest of the post, did you really think the author was unaware of that?

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a Gini coefficient (.531 as of 2011) between Guatemala (.530) and Colombia (.535). Italy and Spain are at .319 and .359 respectively. The US as a whole is .475.

It's an inequality coefficient, not any kind of measure of how "nice" a country is for someone living there. Countries with a high Gini, tend to segregate more heavily than those who don't, which for the typical 'rich' software developer means that they'll live in a trendy area and know to avoid the 'ghetto'. For example, Miami has a high gini at ~0.6 to 0.7 which gives you the palaces overlooking shacks effect of Mi…

> they'll live in a trendy area and know to avoid the 'ghetto'

cough cough the Bay Area. Seriously, though, the Santa Clara County metropolitan statistical area clocks in at 0.45 while New York is 0.60 [1].

[1] https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr10-18.pdf

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#48
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PR is a developed country in a developing country neighbourhood. Healthcare is cheaper than the US but some specialties are hard to get an appointment. The neighbours, DR Cuba, FWI, are a cheap ferry or puddle jump away. So for the common ailments, you have neighbouring islands keeping prices in check. That's a sailor's perspective on PR healthcare. Since I'm not part of their health care system I looked at it as is…

PR isn’t a country. It’s part of the US.

For that to be completely true Puerto Rico would have representation in the federal legislature.

Puerto Rico has it's own Olympic team. Which is sort of a basis for considering PR as a country.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#49
post #5

> They are motivated both by an urge to help lift Puerto Rico out of its quagmire, but also by a profound attachment to the island — its beaches and countryside, its friendliness, its intimacy and the tug of family. They're probably more motivated by the complete lack of federal income tax[0]. Funny that this wasn't mentioned once in the entire article. 0. https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/07/04/hate-taxe.…

Eric and Bryan, the two founders of Lunchera featured in the article, are good friends of mine from MIT. They definitely didn't return to the island for tax reasons. Puerto Ricans are passionate about their "isla" - hard to explain to people expecting rational reasons.

Not to be inflammatory, but I wouldn't expect nationalism to be hard for Americans to relate to.

Re: Millennials returning to Puerto Rico, launching startups

#50
post #41

I'm not American, so would someone knowledgeable indulge me the obvious question: Why is Puerto Rico not a state while e.g. Hawaii is? Is it the language -- a Spanish-majority state would not get the approval from other states to join the union? Or something less obvious?

It's hard to become a state when the majority of the population only speaks Spanish and the island has its own constitution.
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