I’m not insensitive toward personal suffering. I feel compassion for people who lose everything due to a natural disaster. So I don’t want you to misinterpret what I’m going to say. And it is this: The hurricane that struck Puerto Rico may be the best thing that ever happened to that island. Remember, PR was on the brink of bankruptcy before the hurricane. If you’ve ever been to Puerto Rico (I have – twice) you may have observed what I did. What I saw was a population that had a cavalier attitude toward “work.” I’m sure there are exceptions, but the general attitude I noticed was not what I am used to on the mainland. Here it’s something that I call “American Initiative.”
So, what happens now? The American tax payers are going to foot the bill to rebuild Puerto Rico, from the ground up and you can be sure that those who were living in ghettos of cardboard shacks will have nice houses to live in. Thousands of American soldiers, FEMA workers, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and other charities have been working there 24/7 from the moment the hurricane winds died down. And yet the Mayor of San Juan, instead of being grateful, spends her time finding cameras where she can complain that Donald Trump isn’t “doing enough” to help the citizens of Puerto Rico.”
In our country the comparison between what the people in Houston and Biloxi did when faced with a catastrophic hurricane situation, and what the citizens of Puerto Rico didn’t do is startling.. The PEOPLE in Houston and on the Gulf coast didn’t wait for the government to do everything for them. They banded together and helped each other. Politics, religion, sexual orientation, race, nothing kept the people from helping, not only their neighbors but complete strangers. They even risked their lives to save people’s pets. In contrast, from what I have seen, the Puerto Ricans (generally speaking) are sitting around whining because nobody is doing everything for them.
The “new” Puerto Rico, after American taxpayers have paid the bill to rebuild it, is going to be a shining example of what pouring unlimited money and resources into a country can accomplish. What will be interesting is seeing how long it will take for the population of Puerto Rico to turn it back into a cesspool again.
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