(Net surfing is fun, you will never know wat you will find!)

Then I came across this site-> Guyana, USA

It is a web site that states that Guyana should be emitted as a state, or commonwealth into the U.S.

Topic of debate: Should Guyana be admitted as a state in the Union??

As a Guyanese American I guess I am qualified to comment on this one.

Guyana has been in a depression ever since they achieved their independence. They have a vast resource of bauxite which is a main mineral in aluminum, although they do not refine it into aluminum which would create jobs and sell for significantly more. It also has vast amounts of timber from the rainforests. I think this sums up the good points about Guyana.
Currently there is a racial civil war which is tearing the country apart. During colonization the British imported black slaves and Indian indentured servants to the country. After the the British left the population was around 45% black and 45% indian. I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that the indians only shop at indian stores and that makes the black economy suffer. (Although when they reach the states they are all friends again.) Tourism suffers since the economy is so bad that they have resorted to robbing the Americans that return to see their family. Most tourists go to Trinidad and Tobago instead.
Next is the dispute with Venezuela and Suriname. Venezuela claims that a large portion of Guyana actually belongs to them, as well as the coast which is laden with oil. Suriname also claims the Guyanese coast for the same reason.
If Guyana were to become the 51st they would have to resolve these problems first. If you asked many of the Guyanese in the United States whether or not they would go back, the majority of them would respond negatively. (Although after a few drinks my family likes to conceive a "plan" to return and "save" it.

Edited to add link to Guyanese Civil war:

Joining the U.S. would be advantages for their economy.
And them joining us would be advantageous for us; I.E. oil, bauxite, timber, military.

Although we would inherit their problems, we could handle them.

First of all, military advantage? The Guyanese military consists of guy with machetes.
Back to the point, yes Guyana would benefit from getting money from the US, but this can be done without becoming a state. I think the major problem is that there is no capital investment going into Guyana. Back when Burnham was ruling the country they were closely aligned with the Soviets, and the received substantial investment into the infrastructure. At one point the Guyanese dollar was trading at $2.50 to the American dollar, which was astonishing compared to the other caribbean and latin American countries.
Another major problem of Guyana is the immigration situation. If some of the Guyanese were to go back and fill the holes in the education system it would be monumental for the advancement of Guyana. Right now there is only one university in Georgetown, and a lack of schools in the south or "interior." I know the people of Guyana are intelligent because when the come over here they flourish. I don't have a link to prove it, but if your ever in NY on your way to JFK, stop on Liberty Ave. and count the numbers of luxury vehicles.

In short, the people of Guyana have the power to change their situation, all they need is a little capital investment to build refineries to process their raw material. Instead of shipping bauxite sell Aluminum, instead of sending lumber sell wood and paper. This would create enough additional revenue to invest more into the infrastructure besides the current welfare state.

As you know, I am not a fan of Imperialistic America or the current Pax Americana philosophy coming from this administration- conversely, any country that WANTS to adopt our constitution voluntarily - sure, bring us thier tired, thier hungry and thier down trodden! LOL

Looking at natural resources, location for advantage to the US, and the obvious benefits of the US for Guyana- if they are for it, we should be for it!

This organization is nothing short of a hypocrisy. Look at its major concern.



How is becoming part of another country supposed to preserve its national identity?

It looks to me as if this is the lesser of the two evils agrument.
By allowing Gyana to enter the United States, they can curtail the loss of culture (state history courses) and national identiaty (dual citizenship--citizen of the U.S. and the citizen of the state I reside). This would allow them to mass imigrate to the U.S. (by saying Gyana is apart of the U.S.) and keep some of their identiiy is a differnt people.

If Guyana really wants to do this, they should get together with Puerto Rico and give it a shot. By that, I don't mean coming in as one state, but rather, coming in as two.

The problem from the American standpoint that I see with doing this is geographic. Guyana is not contiguous with the existing United States, and it is surrounded by populated nations already, as opposed to being a batch of islands or hanging up in the wilderness. There are a lot of other nations between Guyana and the US, securing the borders of Guyana would present an even bigger challenge than our southern border currently presents, etc. Venezuela, Brazil, and Mexico would FREAK OUT if this happened. If we didn't have the Islamofascist threat, then I'd say go for it, but Guyanan statehood would be too distracting.

The best route for improving Guyana would be for the Guyanan expatriates here to do the investing themselves, and to back reformers down there.

They have quite the snazzy website, gotta give them that much. I must admit that at first, I was a bit skeptical about possible statehood for them, but the reasons given for statehood are quite convincing. Being a former British colony, 99% enlighs speakers(which is more than Hawaii or Puerto Rico can say) as well as being an area that would provide us with bases and a good military establishment in South America-I'm all for it! The fact that they only have 650,000 people doesn't bother me at all. At least Wyoming will have someone to compete with for population. Maybe we could build nuclear reactors there or something.

Also, because of its relative closeness to the equator, allowing Guyana to enter into the union would be advantageous for the U.S. in the aria of space exploration and satellites. And it would be advantageous for them because of the new jobs needed to support the space related industry. Clearly, it would be in the best interest of Guyana and the U.S. that Guyana join the U.S.

If a majority of Guyanans want Guyana to be a state of the U.S., then yes it should be a state called New Guyana. Those that don't want to be a part of the new state could stay as Old Guyana. New Guyana could be taxed - this would benefit the federal government.

Very interesting, and thought provoking question. (Or maybe it's the Friday beverages.)

My first thought, one that I cannot justify, was Heck No. The United States are the United States. If you Guyana needs assistance, than we can provide that, but becoming a State. No way. There is no more room for added stars on our flag.

But I Flip-Flopped. Or I should say, I thought about it. Considered the ramifications, and came to the conclusion that if we are going to assist, if we are going Nation build, let us build OUR nation.

Any country out there that wants to adopt the Constitution of the United States and become a part of One nation under God, MORE POWER TO THEM.

Instead of coming HERE, join the United States from right where you are. In return for their tax dollars, they get US rights and protection. Spread the word.

It would give the countries that we currently use/manipulate/intimidate to get our way, representation.

What a great concept. Come join the United States of America.

Why does the US need to be centralized in terms of geography?

If the people of Guyana really want to be part of the U.S. then let them. Not only will it help them but it'll help us too. This might also allow us to have better relations with the South American countries and become more involved with South Amercia.