Expat interest in politics in Puerto Rico

I only moved here 4 month ago, so my experience is limited, but I have visited for almost 30 years and my wife is Puerto Rican.  I see many areas where expats could get involved and I plan to do so once my Spanish improves.  On a local level we can advocate for causes we care about, from environmental protection to animal care or road safety.  I see a very inefficient bureaucracy but I understand that some of it is caused by the need to create jobs.  Some of my top suggestions would be to encourage the use of solar power - what better place than P.R., where the sun shines all year round? Also, electric cables should go underground. I help collecting garbage from the beach. I try to support Puertorican businesses over U.S. chains..
May be we can share ideas here on how we can make our new home better. What we should not do is trying to replace Puertorican culture.

Bhavna,

Please clarify Expat.com's policy on political discussions.  I'm a professor of politics at a small liberal arts college, and agree that " day-to-day life in Puerto Rico is impacted by decision-making at the political level in your host country as well as in your country of origin."  I see no reason to ban discussions of political issues so long as they remain non-partisan and are relevant to the lives of those who wish to relocate to Puerto Rico.  However, such discussions have drawn criticism from our moderator, and upon review from Expat staff, the threads have been closed.

According to our moderator's understanding of the site's prohibition against discussion of political topics, an understanding apparently shared by the staff considering the termination of non-partisan and relevant topics, your initial post violates the terms of use.

Please clarify,

Sincerely,

Warner Winborne
Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Government and Foreign Affairs
Hampden-Sydney College
Hampden-Sydney, VA

Hello Warner,

We encourage our members to create political posts/topics which do not demonstrate or promote a specific ideology.

I would like to point out that this topic has been launched in order to allow for discussions around formalities and advice around elections, and their level of general interest in politics.

The only posts which will be removed are the ones where political stances have been taken.

Thank you,

Diksha
Team Expat.com

Diksha wrote:

Hello Warner,

The only posts which will be removed are the ones where political stances have been taken.

I hope that by a "political stance" you mean partisan or ideological, but the term (and the policy) remains unclear.  I concur that the forum is better off without political partisanship, but my experience has been quite different.  I had a post removed and a thread closed because I pointed out that the US Congress passes very few laws in each session, and that many bills which are introduced are symbolic, never intending to be considered in committee.  This is not an partisan point, rather factual.  But because it mentioned the political process, it was removed.

And what of opinions regarding the practice of Puerto Rican politics?  If someone were to use the words "corrupt" or "inefficient" in the description of island government, would that violate the terms of use?  Is the expression of either satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the political process in Puerto Rico a "political stance"?

I promise, I am not trying to be difficult here.  To the contrary, I would like to see this forum provide as complete and accurate a picture of island life as possible, and I agree with Bhvana on the importance of political institutions and practices, both US and foreign, on the lives of expats.  These topics should be discussed, and I would hope that the moderators would encourage such discussions, provided that they remain cordial.  However, that has not been my experience.

Thanks,

WarnerW

In my not so humble opinion, LOL, politics discussion almost always end up in partisan yelling. The same also occurs when discussion of religious and climate change. Somebody is bound to express an opinion as fact and it just goes down hill from there

There is a difference between advising somebody about where to register to vote and telling somebody who they should vote for or getting involved in discussing negatives and positives of a particular law.

people's opinions all of a sudden becomes their Truths and all hell breaks loose.

In my opinion people should read the papers, watch the news, and decide on the politics on their own and not bring them here to the forum, but that is just my opinion.