This is true, you didn't say that and I apologize. But I live here in Puerto Rico, and the notion that our stable economic future has to be a handout from the United States rankles a bit.
After all, Hawaii's economic stability doesn't seem to be questioned very often, and they're even more susceptible to Jones Act problems than we are - after all, the Act only regulates shipping between American ports. Plenty of non-American ports just hours away by ship. We don't have to ship everything by barge on the four American-owned, American-flagged, American-built, and American-crewed shipping lines that service the island, two of which are embroiled in a price-fixing lawsuit and the third of which somehow managed to go bankrupt.
> But I live here in Puerto Rico, and the notion that our stable economic future has to be a handout from the United States rankles a bit.
I'm not sure what you're referring to as a "handout". The Jones Act itself is, if anything, outright theft by the federal government. Eliminating it isn't a handout.
I guess it's uncomfortable to say that the fate of Puerto Rico is in the hands of the US government, but on the other hand... that's exactly what colonialism is. The US has colonized and pillaged Puerto Rico for decades, and it's an ugly truth, yes, but it's the truth nevertheless. As long as that systemic exploitation continues, it doesn't really matter what Puerto Rico itself does.
> After all, Hawaii's economic stability doesn't seem to be questioned very often, and they're even more susceptible to Jones Act problems than we are
Well, that's not true - Hawaii suffers immensely from the Jones Act as well, and if you talk to people from Hawaii (people who've grown up there and spent their entire lives there, not transplants), they'll be able to tell you these Jones Act horror stories firsthand. Hawaii is overall in a better state that Puerto Rico, yes, but that's due to other factors which mitigate the effects of the Jones Act; it doesn't mean the Jones Act isn't still a crushing burden for them.
After all, Hawaii's economic stability doesn't seem to be questioned very often, and they're even more susceptible to Jones Act problems than we are - after all, the Act only regulates shipping between American ports. Plenty of non-American ports just hours away by ship. We don't have to ship everything by barge on the four American-owned, American-flagged, American-built, and American-crewed shipping lines that service the island, two of which are embroiled in a price-fixing lawsuit and the third of which somehow managed to go bankrupt.