Will Puerto Rico ever become the 51st State?

[W00lygimp]

Don't they vote every 4 years for their introduction into the Union? If so what would the American flag look like since they have to fit in 1 extra star...I just dont think it would fit.

[Dynasty]

I believe future flag star configurations are already made nade and probably available on the net if you want to search for it. But, they probably aren't official.

Puerto Rico always votes this down. They don't want to be a state.

[W00lygimp]

Eventually they will become a state. Puerto Rico would rather be a state than become an independent nature, and the only reason they aren't a state is they don't want to pay taxes.

[BonJoviJones]

http://www.steve4u.com/usflag/designer.htm

[Toro]

Every time this comes to a vote it is roughly 1/3 for Statehood, 1/3 for leaving it as it is and 1/3 for independence.

[Blarg]

I grew up in Guam and Hawaii, both places that have felt exploited by the U.S. One is now a Trust Territory and one is now a state. Both are virulently racist(except to tourists, who are sometimes but not always "off limits") because of that feeling of exploitation and expropriation. I'm not sure making a place officially a part of America is a good idea when so many people there want otherwise. That feeling doesn't go away, not in 50 or 100 years, and leads to a great deal of anger and violence, and a draining and permeating sort of low level hum of resentment and unfriendliness that clouds all normal interaction between people. A feeling of not belonging tends to devolve into a greatly increased level of poverty, too, as citizens "opt out" of a society they feel no part of.

Unless an overwhelming majority votes to become a state, making a new state is a bad idea, I think. You don't want it to be a close vote. Guam and Hawaii have enormous military importance to America, so incorporating them into America whether the natives liked it or not was done, but it's not the way we normally incorporate states(talk of stealing from the Indians, who became very small minorities, aside). I don't think making a state packed with people who don't want to be Americans is a good idea at all. Seems anti-American even, in a way.