A previous article of mine was titled "Stop Whitewashing 'Despacito,' It's Not A Justin Bieber Song." It was mainly a subtle argument that isn't important in the grand scheme of things, because both versions of the song are deservedly popular. However, one small detail in the beginning of the article may stick out. Just several weeks ago, I wrote that "The song and video take place in Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking American neo-colony." I kind of shrugged it off at the time but half-promised to revisit it later. I didn't know that I would be able to revisit it so quickly, because little did I know that in just one month, that statement has proven damningly true.

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. $95 Billion dollars have either been lost or will be lost trying to recover from the storm. The death toll is at least 16 and increasing: that is 16 families who have lost love ones. ALL three-and-a-half million Puerto Ricans lost power and most still don't have it back. One in four "might" get in back within the next month. Vital supplies have been running short, everything from Food and Water to Medicine and Gasoline. Luckily, according to the island's governor, relief is starting to be revived by the people. To make what was a horrible situation even worse, the injured island has been kicked around.

For better or worse, the United States Government is responsible for the recovery effort in Puerto Rico the same way that it would be responsible for a hurricane in Louisiana or earthquake in California. US land has been hit by three major hurricanes in 2017, and unfortunately, the Federal Government's response to Maria in Puerto Rico was simply not up to par compared to Harvey in Texas or Irma in Florida. The Jones Act, a 1920 law that restricts foreign shipments into American ports but can help disaster recovery efforts, was temporarily waived for Texas and Florida but kept in place for Puerto Rico for weeks, because government officials are often looking for financial gain for themselves and their supporters in the shipping industry. And according to WXIA-TV, no funding for aid has been or will be passed by congress, and only 4.1 million meal kits have been sent. In comparison, 25 million meals were sent to Louisiana along with over 10 million dollars.

But this is just indicative of a larger issue. Puerto Rico is relatively poor, at least by American standards. The island's people have to pay taxes through Social Security and Medicare payments, which is fine in and of itself, but the problem is that because Puerto Rico is not a state, the people have no representation is the federal government that is levying the taxes on them. For a country that was founded on "No taxation on representation," this is hypocritical. Puerto Rico's people are willing to pay taxes to support this great nation, but deserve a voice in Washington.