With the highest unemployment rate in the U.S. and a mountain of debt, the island is facing a declining population. But those who stay insist they're there for the long haul.
Kendra King's insight:
I chose this article with the Somalia Refugee BBC pod cast on my mind. The pull factors for leaving a country are always obvious to me. Once again, there is a poor economy that isn't able to provide enough economic opportunity for its citizens. Also, there is an increase in crime that worries the population. Both of these reasons harm the future of citizens and as I mentioned in the Somalia article, leaving an area that provides little hope for a good future just makes sense.
What I don't understand is why someone stays in an area when the pulls to leave are so strong. As I said in the Somalia article, I thought staying was because of a sense of duty. Yet, I am finding from the grandmother mentioned in this piece that pride is another factor. It seems like her pride isn't causing her to fix the problems rather the pride just makes her stay. It is almost like in gentrification where the new project will probably be better for the economy of the area (at least that is often the intent), but people are just too emotionally attached to want change. They really should given the cost benefits, but they don't. So I think I have issues grasping both of these reasons to stay because I have always analyzed a situation from a logical lens rather than an emotional one.
Another aspect of the article that caught my attention was the comparison to Greece. As we learned about during the section on the EU, Greece's economy. The United States isn't entangled in PR's economy in quite the same manner as the EU is with Greece. However, the article did mention how their are American citizens with investments in this area. So if Puerto Rico's economy does fail, just how much of an impact would this have on the United States and the rest of the global economy?