Im just asking a question if Hawaii really is a U.S state technically yada yada?

 

Is New York really a state? NJ? Maine? California? What the hell is Montana? No one lives there. What about New Mexico? I heard it's in Mexico! And Alaska is in Canada or Russia or something, crazy.

 

Yup, granted statehood in 1959. 8 months after Alaska.

 

What OmegaTaco said. Without it we would only have 49 stars on the flag, and I have one of those from before Hawaii was added.

 

One with a better education system than South Dakota, apparently

 

A better question is: Why is Guam NOT considered the 51st state?

Guam is the red-headed stepchild of the US. Plus, they don't want 51 stars on the flag.

 

On top of that, Yakko would have to find something else to rhyme with “San Juan”

 

It looks more like the citizens of Guam just don't care. "We're an American Territory? Are you going to eat that? Let's play some basketball!"

 

Yeah, I've always wonder that about Guam -but also Puerto Rico too...

"Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since 1917, and can move freely between the island and the mainland. As it is not a state, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950."​

If Hawaii is counted as one of those flag stars, it makes sense that Guam & Puerto Rico should be there too.

As a Canadian, I can tell ya that the entire country has always been playfully "pissed off" at the Alaska situation. There was a chance to literally buy it from Russia back in the 1800's or somewhere, but they wouldn't sell to us because we were part of the British colonies whom the Russians hated, so the Americans scooped it. *

* the extremely paraphrased version

 

Puerto Rico doesn't want to be. That's the long and short of it.

 

Yes.

 

Yes (just like Alaska)

 

Everyone is replying to this thread with facts. But, what about your gut. It doesn't feel like Hawaii is a U.S. state.


/s, just in case you were wondering.

 

Yep. Basically Hawaii, California and Washington State are the only US states I go to for vacation.

 

Hawaii is our 50th state, while Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington, DC are our territories. Yes, our US capital is not in a state, and like all the other territories, its population has no voting representation in Congress and thus no power when people in our government decide to screw them over. If they were made states, then they would have the same rights to sue as states do, and wouldn't get treated like Puerto Rico was after Hurricane Maria.

--Moony

 

Couldn't have said it better myself

 

Huh, that's all pretty interesting.

 

You couldn't pay me to go visit Hawaii or Alaska, let alone live there. It must be depressing. Then again, I live in Washington state. So I guess it wouldn't matter.

 

Mostly correct. D.C. is not a U.S. Territory. It's a Capital District. It's special in that Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over the district (although some responsibilities are mitigated to a mayor and a special Congressional Council) whereas territories are not. Also, citizens of the district are subject to all Federal taxes whereas territories are not. That might also explain some of the reasons why many politicians in D.C. don't go out of their way to help territories, since they are technically not paying for it. Not saying it's right or wrong...just saying it's a thing.

As for Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria, I think we can sufficiently say politics were played on both side of the Gulf and leave it at that.

Regarding Guam, there has been some lazy efforts to educate the island about options for decolonization. The efforts have not been as much suppressed by the U.S. as Guam residents seem content with the status quo.

 

Unsure if you are serious???
Depressing to visit or live in Hawaii? Never heard that one before. That's literally the only place in the country besides FL (Ma lives there) that'd I'd wanna go. Try living in MN, you wanna talk about depressing  

It's freezing here 6 months or more out of 12. When it's cold it's brutal. This was a pic I took a few years back. That's the ACTUAL temp, not even counting wind-chill, can get -50 with the wind-chill. I absolutely HATE the weather here, not to mention some other things about this state.