Comments by "danusty" (@danusty) on "Joe Rogan - The Minimum Wage Destroys Jobs" video.

  1. I know no one will read all of this but.... for the love of God! Puerto Rico is not a country, it's a US territory! people like me born in Puerto Rico are born US citizens much like the people of Guam (a smaller island where there is also a minimum wage), Saipan (an even smaller island), and others. I'm not trying to defend minimum wage here but the truth is there are various reasons why Puerto Rico's economy failed. 1. the loss of 936, which was established by the US to boost the economy of Puerto Rico while it was in the cold war with Russia, trying to prove the rest of the world that Puerto Rico (with the US backing) would succeed and develop more than Cuba (with Russian backing), by excepting federal taxes in US companies establishing themselves in PR; with the cold war done, so was 936 by the end of the 90s. 2. multi party (from the 3 major parties in PR) decision to kick the NAVY out of their base in Fajardo, PR, and Vieques, after some random puerto rican civilian security, fully knowing he wasn't supposed to enter a restricted area, decided to enter said area where live ordnance was tested and he got himself killed, this became a political issue followed by all 3 PR governor candidates and with that, the NAVY decided to leave the island, this made PR lose the billions of dollars the military economy brought the island every year. 3. the implementation of highly unsustainable social programs like single payer healthcare by the end of the 90s, whereas said Hillary proposal failed federally, it was implemented by the local governor in PR. add to that the subsidies in power, water, housing to "less fortunate people" all for political gain, and the development of very expensive/big projects that in concept are good but in practice due to the way they are implemented, fail. 4. the local government's own decision to take loans ("bonos") to keep running it's huge government as if nothing had happened after the loss of 936 and the NAVY. taking loans with ridiculous fees in them once PRs credit got devalued to garbage levels. taking loans on government retiree's retirement money, none of which can be repayed by the PR government. 5. people in government and private business owners with government associate's corruption. 6. puerto rican's own decision not to want to become a state because they'd rather have no representation, so long as the have no taxation (in the federal income tax sense). every time a status referendum has been made, the puerto rican people have voted for nonsensical options that lead the island nowhere and even during the last referendum, most people decided not to vote on an island that is known for their large percentage of active voters in every election. it is true that in today's global market, having a minimum wage makes PR a less desirable destination for private industry when compared to neighbors like the ones from the Dominican Republic, who may not have as high a level of education as the people of PR but do have a much lower pay generally speaking than even those under minimum wage in PR; but to say that the minimum wage is the reason why PR is fucked is false, PR is fucked mostly due to the puerto rican people's own decisions and political practices.
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