It's fun to be condescending to my readership.
Anyway, that trip was something magical. I still need to travel to other parts of Turkey, but that will come later.
OH! I forgot! There was a coup attempt! Fuck you, America. I knew it was going to happen, but I wasn't sure when. I was ecstatic when it failed. Turkey is my home. You don't fuck with my home.
Home? But, isn't the US your home?
No. This will be a little hard to understand for my white readership, so let me explain. Home is where you feel comfortable. It is where you feel safe. It is where you feel welcomed. For a lot of you, the States have been the only place you've lived. As white people, America is for you. No one really seriously challenges your American-ness or right to be there. Sure, you occasionally have to look at a meme where there are Native Americans saying that you're an illegal immigrant, but that's a fuckin' meme, man. Not serious political action. You feel bad for like 5 minutes and then go on being happy or whatever white people do. I find it interesting that at this point, one of my friends would burst out "BUT YOU'RE WHITE!"
Ah... I forget on the count that when I have to fill out job applications that I can't honestly check that little box that says "White (Non-Hispanic)."
When your complexion and your ethnic group contradict.
Sure, my complexion is white. I'm not arguing that. But, let's get one thing straight; my skin has nothing to do with my culture or ethnic group. What's worse is that, as a Latino that passes for white, I get to hear all the fucked-up things people think about Latinos. I would put Mexicans, but honestly, most people don't know the difference. Do you? Can you point to Puerto Rico on a map? Don't google it. Right now... point to it on a map... I'll wait.
So that was fun, wasn't it? You might be saying, "Why should I need to know where Puerto Rico is?" Funny you should ask that. You see, we are a colony of the US. Sure, it's called a "commonwealth," but the Democratic Republic of Congo is called a "democratic republic," too. See how words are fun? See how this is a segue to a whole other topic? Aren't I a cheeky little bastard? SEGUE!
I got no time for pussy when I'm on my segue!
Now, Puerto Rico has been a colony since aboooooout 1898. Now being a Spanish-speaking island under the US during the early 1900s wasn't necessarily the best position to be in. A lot of fucked up shit happened. Believe you me. After completely destroying our independence movement and buying up most of our agricultural property through one-sided deals with a select few locals who sold out the future of our island, we are faced with a slight inevitable problem. Government funding. Puerto Rico can't choose who it trades with. It can't openly compete with American companies. It exists as a source of resources for American corporations. Oh! And it is a tax haven also. Don't forget that. Convenient.
Now, the government of Puerto Rico is in a temporarily-halted massive debt spiral of doom. I think it's the US's responsibility to pay it off.
WHAAAAT?!
Hear me out. The system in place is because of our "special" relationship with the US. We've given so much to the States (resources, people, soldiers, culture, tax havens, visa-free Caribbean getaway). We are in around 70 billion dollars of debt. Plus, you give Israel billions every year in free aid. Israel isn't even your fucking country. You know what that says? It says that you prefer to support an apartheid state than aid American citizens, which Puerto Ricans are. I say Puerto Rico gives its debtors the US's number and tell them that the US has the money. Apparently it does if it can continue to send billions of dollars to Israel simply for existing. Why doesn't the US make Israel the colony and let Puerto Rico go? They keep giving us the "opportunity to become a state," but that will never pass Congress.
Anyway, that's it for now. There'll be more. Meehhh
