Which Part Of The US Should Be Granted Statehood?
AnonymousAnonymous
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27 Jun 2020, 1:55 pm
They would have to want statehood to be considered first,as far as I know,no US territory wants statehood,Puerto Rico could have had it years ago but never wanted it.
You also don't hear much from Puerto Rican independence groups like you did in the 70's,it doesn't seem like independence or statehood is of interest to Puerto Rico.
I would have no issue with any of the above listed territories getting statehood but I don't think they want it.
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27 Jun 2020, 2:35 pm
Puerto Rico is most likely out of these, although I'm hesitant to say one way or another since they've been ambivalent about statehood/independence/status quo for decades. I'd love to seem them get some representation in Congress beyond the resident commissioner, but it's up to them. I hate seeing them without more political agency, especially since economic exploitation has hit them like a ton of bricks.
Micronesia probably shouldn't/won't become a state since they're already independent and just in free association with the US, and that's mostly out of economic concerns. The same can be said of several Pacific nations.
Most of the rest of these strike me as either too remote or too small in terms of population to be states in the near future. Guam has considered uniting with the Northern Marianas, so maybe if those combined it could be large enough to warrant statehood? Their total population would still only be about 160,000 though, less than 1/3 of Wyoming's population.
There's also the various state partition movements, but there's not much legal precedent for such a thing outside of West Virginia and Maine, and those both had unique circumstances. So that would include Long Island/NYC statehood, Chicago, Lincoln (north California and south Oregon), Jefferson (east Washington, east Oregon, north Idaho), South Jersey, Michigan's northern peninsula, Baja Arizona, and the various plans to partition California and Texas. I don't really see these movements getting off the ground in the near future though.
DC remains by far the best and most likely candidate in my book. It's a little strange that the US's capital has taxation without representation...
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27 Jun 2020, 3:13 pm
All of oregon besides Portland and Salem. Or make them a state.
Northern California wants to be a state same as northern Colorado.
I feel to give dc statehood is unconstitutional and will open a can of worms
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27 Jun 2020, 3:23 pm
The only purpose of those partition plans is to pack Congress with Republicans.
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27 Jun 2020, 3:37 pm
Queensbridge/QBC.
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Last edited by funeralxempire on 27 Jun 2020, 3:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
27 Jun 2020, 3:38 pm
Micronesia probably shouldn't/won't become a state since they're already independent and just in free association with the US, and that's mostly out of economic concerns. The same can be said of several Pacific nations.
Most of the rest of these strike me as either too remote or too small in terms of population to be states in the near future. Guam has considered uniting with the Northern Marianas, so maybe if those combined it could be large enough to warrant statehood? Their total population would still only be about 160,000 though, less than 1/3 of Wyoming's population.
There's also the various state partition movements, but there's not much legal precedent for such a thing outside of West Virginia and Maine, and those both had unique circumstances. So that would include Long Island/NYC statehood, Chicago, Lincoln (north California and south Oregon), Jefferson (east Washington, east Oregon, north Idaho), South Jersey, Michigan's northern peninsula, Baja Arizona, and the various plans to partition California and Texas. I don't really see these movements getting off the ground in the near future though.
DC remains by far the best and most likely candidate in my book. It's a little strange that the US's capital has taxation without representation...
Even western Massachusetts has a partition movement,although it's been less vocal the last decade.In the last couple decades Bostonians have been much less snobby toward western Mass and western Mass has become less resentful toward Boston,so maybe western Mass partition movement is over.
I would agree about eastern Washington and Oregon,they are ripe for partition,there is a vast cultural differences are significant.Those two states are most likely for new statehoods to arise.I think San Francisco connects northern Cali with southern cali and there are a lot of liberal hippies in rural northern Cali,so I don't that one being an issue.
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27 Jun 2020, 4:21 pm
The only purpose of those partition plans is to pack Congress with Republicans.
Likewise for dc.
Democrats also plan to stack the Supreme Court so they can control it too.
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27 Jun 2020, 4:23 pm
Micronesia probably shouldn't/won't become a state since they're already independent and just in free association with the US, and that's mostly out of economic concerns. The same can be said of several Pacific nations.
Most of the rest of these strike me as either too remote or too small in terms of population to be states in the near future. Guam has considered uniting with the Northern Marianas, so maybe if those combined it could be large enough to warrant statehood? Their total population would still only be about 160,000 though, less than 1/3 of Wyoming's population.
There's also the various state partition movements, but there's not much legal precedent for such a thing outside of West Virginia and Maine, and those both had unique circumstances. So that would include Long Island/NYC statehood, Chicago, Lincoln (north California and south Oregon), Jefferson (east Washington, east Oregon, north Idaho), South Jersey, Michigan's northern peninsula, Baja Arizona, and the various plans to partition California and Texas. I don't really see these movements getting off the ground in the near future though.
DC remains by far the best and most likely candidate in my book. It's a little strange that the US's capital has taxation without representation...
Even western Massachusetts has a partition movement,although it's been less vocal the last decade.In the last couple decades Bostonians have been much less snobby toward western Mass and western Mass has become less resentful toward Boston,so maybe western Mass partition movement is over.
I would agree about eastern Washington and Oregon,they are ripe for partition,there is a vast cultural differences are significant.Those two states are most likely for new statehoods to arise.I think San Francisco connects northern Cali with southern cali and there are a lot of liberal hippies in rural northern Cali,so I don't that one being an issue.
West oregon is mostly republican. All democrats live in Portland Eugene and Salem. 3 cities control the whole state. Demanding the rest of us do as they order, live how they want to live.
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27 Jun 2020, 5:00 pm
(I think I may have gotten Lincoln and Jefferson mixed up since they're close together and share similar grievances)
Northern California wants to be a state same as northern Colorado.
This sort of thing has me torn. On the one hand, those Jefferson and Lincoln would be reliably conservative states, and I would not trust them to respect the rights of queer Americans and Americans of color, especially given the Northwest's history of white nationalism. Consider the Northwest Territorial Imperative: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territorial_Imperative. When you hear people talking about creating a white ethnostate, if they don't have the South in mind, chances are they're thinking of the Pacific Northwest.
On the other hand, the majority of these people are not outright right-wingers, and even if all the racism were taken out of the movement (however much there is), the economic grievances leveled at Portland/Salem would still remain. I'm a damn dirty leftist, but I share many conservatives' disgust with the Coasts' disregard for those of us in flyover country. As rural standards of living decrease and urbanization continues, rural Americans have less and less say over how their states and localities are governed. I would argue that unrestrained capitalism is primarily to blame for rural America being left behind economically (not that they'd agree). The coastal businessmen exploit their faith in the system and ensure that neither party will seriously suggest capitalism is to blame (hence the overbearing mainstream emphasis on culture wars). Jefferson and Lincoln would probably end up as two more contestants in the Race to the Bottom, and the workers in those states would suffer for it.
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Δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν.
Those with power do what their power permits, and the weak can only acquiesce.
- Thucydides
27 Jun 2020, 5:36 pm
I happen to think the US needs a new constitution. That would certainly make this sort of debate irrelevant.
The Federal government is becoming increasingly useless. I would go back to some sort of confederation. The Articles of Confederation may have failed at the time, but we live in different times now. I'm certain people in different parts of Oregon could find a way to co-exist if they could be left on their own. Except for protecting us against foreign intervention and preventing interstate rivalry from getting out of hand, the Federal government really doesn't do much for anybody. Even space exploration is becoming privatized.
By the way, I am NOT a Libertarian. I would be perfectly OK with some state choosing to govern itself according to the teachings of Karl Marx if that's what they want. A Federal government that imposed Libertarianism and Objectivism on the states against their will would be no better than one that imposed Communism. Let the states decide. I am personally much happier with how my state (Maryland) is being run than with how the Federal government is being run. I don't think I'm alone in that opinion.
AnonymousAnonymous
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27 Jun 2020, 5:41 pm
IMO, I think the most likely out of these is Puerto Rico with one recent example being President Trump's poor response to the citizens of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria two years ago.
When reactions began to Trump's poor response to the needs of the people of Puerto Rico, the statehood movement for Puerto Rico picked up momentum almost immediately much to his unsurprising annoyance.
As for Washington DC being granted statehood, its residents finally will be able to pay taxes with full representation in Congress but a problem I see (if DC statehood does happen) is confusion over what it will be called. Obviously, the US cannot have two states named "Washington."
(Not sure about the others.)
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funeralxempire
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27 Jun 2020, 8:06 pm
When reactions began to Trump's poor response to the needs of the people of Puerto Rico, the statehood movement for Puerto Rico picked up momentum almost immediately much to his unsurprising annoyance.
As for Washington DC being granted statehood, its residents finally will be able to pay taxes with full representation in Congress but a problem I see (if DC statehood does happen) is confusion over what it will be called. Obviously, the US cannot have two states named "Washington."
(Not sure about the others.)
Columbia?
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27 Jun 2020, 9:15 pm
These are the real, hard-hitting questions. They can't call it Washington, they can't just call it DC since it wouldn't be a district, and they probably won't want to call it Columbia since public opinion has rightfully turned against Chris C.
So what does that leave? Potomac? Name it after Pierre Charles L'Enfant somehow since he designed it?
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I guess I just wasn't made for these times.
- Brian Wilson
Δυνατὰ δὲ οἱ προύχοντες πράσσουσι καὶ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ξυγχωροῦσιν.
Those with power do what their power permits, and the weak can only acquiesce.
- Thucydides
27 Jun 2020, 10:35 pm
These are the real, hard-hitting questions. They can't call it Washington, they can't just call it DC since it wouldn't be a district, and they probably won't want to call it Columbia since public opinion has rightfully turned against Chris C.
So what does that leave? Potomac? Name it after Pierre Charles L'Enfant somehow since he designed it?
I heard they were considering “Douglass Commonwealth”
I’m surprised Saudi Israelia isn’t a state yet.
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27 Jun 2020, 10:38 pm
When reactions began to Trump's poor response to the needs of the people of Puerto Rico, the statehood movement for Puerto Rico picked up momentum almost immediately much to his unsurprising annoyance.
As for Washington DC being granted statehood, its residents finally will be able to pay taxes with full representation in Congress but a problem I see (if DC statehood does happen) is confusion over what it will be called. Obviously, the US cannot have two states named "Washington."
(Not sure about the others.)
Washington State could be West Washington, and DC could be East Washington.
That’s how they finally solved the Macedonia naming dispute.
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