A
Well probably more on, in terms of the U. S. Um, you know, I'm, I'm not quite sure how the U. S. copes with this sort of thing. I've live abro-, abroad most of my life, so, I guess I, I've been very cut off. I lived actually in Lebanon, so, I was very cut off from the, the press as I, you know, and be, was becoming an adult. So, I don't know how the U. S. would cope with, uh, a new state that is so very, very poor.
B
Uh-huh.
A
Um, I guess, you know, we'd have a lot of aid, if, if you consider the inner cities of like New York and, and how much aid it needs. I suppose the whole country, or the whole, um, new state would require such aid.
B
I guess, um, we're assuming that, that Puerto Rico would be per capita significantly more poor perhaps than, than say Mississippi or,
A
I think so.
B
Okay, that's something that, that I guess I have not much of an image of other than, than Puerto Rico as a tropical island and consequently large numbers of barefoot natives or something not in a perjuritive sense but in a, in a carefree sense, I guess. Although I'm aware of the political problems and unrest, and, and also difficulties they have. Um, I don't know whether state woul, statehood would improve their economy. I don't, I don't know that the ve-, the act of being a state would have any impact on, on them. Uh, I guess they would have the ability to do some taxing that they don't have now. But of course if their economy is weak the-, there is not much of a base on which to tax. I don't know if they suffer in a sense of income loss as being, since they aren't a state, whether there are monies that escape them so to speak because they aren't able to tax like a typical state would be. How do you feel, though, about, well I guess it's to their advantage to be a territory, but, um, I wonder how have, having been in a territory but only as a young student and my parents were in the military at the time so they didn't have ready negative feelings about being in, in Alaska at the time since they voted absentee. I, I would imagine that it must be a little bit of a se-, feeling of second class citizenry, uh, to be in a territory that large and not being able to vote. The District of Columbia people, for instance are quite frustrated, I think, at times in their not having a Senate representative.