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 Kongaloids: Philosophy
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Deforestation 
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It is a wonder to me that after almost one hundred years of freedom and democracy I still get asked this question. I suppose that having these things does not guarantee that the people will understand the great responsibility that freedom represents. It is not the question that I object to so much as I object to the implied accusation contained in its inflection. The accusation that I have acted improperly and owe the questioner an explanation. This seems to me to be the general understanding among Puerto Ricans of what freedom of speech means: That you are free to say whatever you want as long as you speak only good things of Puerto Rico. In other words: You have an absolute right to freedom of speech, so long as you don't choose to exercise it. It has become almost a general neurosis among Puerto Ricans that whenever Puerto Rico or anything Puerto Rican is referred to, it must be done in a positive, almost reverent way. I am the first person to rhapsodize poetically when it comes to the virtues of life in Puerto Rico, for it is truly a gloriously beautiful island--if not paradise, then the closest thing to it on the Earth. Not only in the majesty with which the morning sun gently parts the veil of the morning mist to reveal the wonders of yet another perfect day, nor the way the chorus of coquíes sing their magical lullaby while I lay down for a well-earned rest at the end of each day, nor the awesome charge I get whenever one of our delicious girls favors me with her smile, but also the great passion tempered with humility for which it's people are known, its music, its colors, its food! Puerto Rico is a land of wonders and splendors beyond the power of mere words to express. Truly, it must be experienced. There just isn't any other way to understand it's mystical beauty. Still, I am not blinded by all of this. Just because I am aware and enjoy the bountiful beauty of "Mi Madre Patria" does not mean that I am bound to ignore those things that are in sad need of attention. I do not believe, as so many of my compatriots do, that the resolution of our political identity is our most pressing concern. Compared to so many other aspects of life in the island that are in need of attention: The wanton squandering of our limited natural resources; The irresponsible destruction of our ecosystem by unscrupulous commercial interests; The unchecked almost meteoric rise in criminal activities (especially crimes of violence), the general almost pathetic ignorance of the masses concerning their rights and powers to take charge and DO SOMETHING about it, really, our political identity can wait. I do not trash Puerto Rico! I adore Puerto Rico. It is because I am so much in love with Puerto Rico that I bring out into the glaring light of public awareness all of the nasty, retched, shameful things that Puerto Ricans are, (because of their ignorant, political zealousness), doing to their beautiful island, which they claim to love so dearly. Puerto Rico is dying of neglect, while her children rally against the sale of the Telephone Company, and pass laws that make it a crime to display the flag anywhere but in official government activities. The water is undrinkable, the unique and irreplaceable flora and fauna of the island is meticulously being decimated, the general dissatisfaction that is not admitted to but nevertheless perhaps subconsciously noted rages inside the breast of the less fortunate, spawning hatred and resentment among the classes, suspicion, fear, violence, crime... It is not the "Yanki Imperialists", (as the independence advocates are fond of calling them) who are responsible for all of Puerto Rico's woes. Our United States brothers are not the ones who dump their old refrigerators, (and other less mentionable refuse), into the river that passes through my farm in Naranjito. It is not the "Americanos" who I see EVERY DAY carelessly tossing beer cans, used diapers, and all sorts of other garbage from their moving cars. In fact it is the American tourists and other outsiders that I do see carefully carrying their garbage along with them until they find a proper trash receptacle to dispose of it. Foreigners have more love and respect for the beauty of Puerto Rico than do the very people of Puerto Rico. Indeed! It is the very people of Puerto Rico, who TRASH Puerto Rico! So get this straight: I trash Puerto Ricans. Not so long ago I had a group of these very same independence advocates visit my farm. They were very impressed with how I had kept the pristine beauty of the place while making it accessible and useful for human habitation and enjoyment. They spouted a constant verbal stream of adoration and reverence for the beauty of Puerto Rico, all the time tossing their empty plastic wine cups and beer cans all over my property. A week later I was still picking up the garbage left behind by these so-called Defenders of Borinquen. When our government decided that the El Yunque National Forest was ripe for harvesting in order to create a lumber industry (gee-ez!) it was the United States of America that told them they were out of their minds and that no such action will be tolerated. It is The Environmental Protection Agency (A whole bunch of Americanos!) who is doggedly on the Puerto Rican Electric Power Authority's case to get them to comply with environmental standards that had been contemptuously ignored for decades. To this very day PREPA is still non-compliant, much to the detriment of the respiratory health of children living near PREPA's installations. (Must I mention Levittown?) And just look at what happens to properties that had been held by American concerns once they are returned to Puerto Rican hands: Military bases and such. While they were managed by Americans they were among the most beautiful pieces of real estate on the island, now they are ruins and deserts or illegal garbage dumps. Yah, we Puerto Ricans really do deserve to be praised for how we love our island! I believe that had it not been for American intervention, and the imposition of American quality and conservation standards, Puerto Rico would be a desolate wasteland today. And thanks to the freedom granted me by the rule of American law, I have every right to speak my mind about these issues. I choose to shame my Puerto Rican brothers for their irresponsible and reprehensible apathy towards their own home. I have had enough of this hypocrisy that is so prevalent among Puerto Ricans, this irrational belief that simply saying a thing means it is so. Actions speak louder than words. Actions are what I judge in people, and from the actions I have seen from Puerto Ricans as compared to those of others, I take sides with the others. They have much more respect and genuine love for what Puerto Rico is than do Puerto Rico's own. Does this make me a bad Puerto Rican? NO! It makes me the best possible kind of Puerto Rican, one who is not afraid to go face to face with that which is wrong and ugly and dirty in order to change it, to make it something right, beautiful and clean; one who doesn't just say that he loves Puerto Rico, one who actually does! Really, honestly and profoundly. Enough to take on the fury of all his contemporaries and brave their irrational rejection, and even be completely ostracized, if need be, so long as the Puerto Rico that I love is saved from their idiocy. I have no shame when it comes to what I do here on these pages, because I know that I am doing the best that I can within this medium to strike a blow against all of the things that soil the face of this beautiful maiden I call my island, "mi patria", my home, my Puerto Rico. Shame is for those who do not act to change the things that are wrong, who do not take responsibility for their part in the slow torture and death of this island paradise. I sincerely hope that those Puerto Ricans who do bother to read my pages, (for, sadly, reading is now generally considered a tedious, time-consuming and even wasteful activity by most Puerto Ricans), are profoundly enraged by what they read here. For they will be finally putting their rage where it belongs, in real issues that have a real impact on the island's future prosperity and health, and not against their fellow countrymen just because they do not embrace the same political ideals. I want to shame Puerto Rico's Puerto Ricans into action. If the horrible things I say in these pages about the island and the people of Puerto Rico are undone or otherwise repaired, I will remove the relevant articles at once. I will be the first to loudly proclaim the praise that these activities merit, and give credit where credit is due. So don't waste your time, (and mine), by lecturing me about how much I am harming the image of Puerto Rico. I am merely reporting what my eyes see and my ears hear. I am speaking the truth! If you don't like what I am doing, or the positions I take, I urge you to call my bluff: Call or, (better yet), write to your senator, your representative, your town mayor, and tell them that you are genuinely concerned about the health and future viability of the island. Better yet, ask how you can help to change things. You, the people, elected them, they are there to serve YOU. The reason they are so clueless is because so many of us leave them to decide for themselves how they should amuse themselves with their petty little power games while they remain in office. Let's give them something constructive to do instead. If enough of us actually do this, we will not be ignored. THAT, my "compatriotas", is what a DEMOCRACY is! Look it up! I want more than anything to have only pages that sing about the beauty of Puerto Rico. Pages that proudly boast my adoration of the awesome paradise I was fortunate enough to be born in. None of this can happen if Puerto Rico is paved over with concrete and air-conditioned shopping malls, if its people are reduced to savagery by the irrational demands of natural needs, resulting from a squandered ecology, if all that is Puerto Rico is allowed to die because its people were too entranced by a foolish reverence for its glorious past beauty to see that it, like all things worth preserving, needs diligent and constant attention. Puerto Rico is not just a political entity, it is not just a geographic region, it is not just an island-economy to be managed. It is a beautiful and delicate maiden that generously gives her love to all who would embrace her. I am sworn to honor and protect her, to preserve her beauty and purity for all times. This is how I achieve this sworn duty, by shaming all of those who would use her carelessly like a wanton tramp, and toss her out with the rest of the garbage like a used rag. You know who you are. Shame on you! You do not deserve to be called Puerto Ricans!
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