Puerto Rico, Colonialism & Cryptocurrencies

Instagram photo @ jibaro_manicato | https://www.instagram.com/jibaro_manicato/

Several years ago from 2014 - 2016, I found myself on an organic off the grid farm within the tropical mountains of San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. It was for me an opportunity to explore the conditions and possibilities of sustainable agriculture within an unfamiliar and at times unwelcoming environment for organic farmers. Often times, the question would run through my mind, if farming could be done year round then why was it that 85% of the islands food needs are dependent on imported goods and what are the causes of such a low number in national production? As a Puerto Rican returning to my homeland of birth, these questions seemed very much personal to me. Ultimately, the conclusion would come down to three things, colonialism, colonialism, and colonialism.

When we look at the historical relationship that Puerto Rico has with the United States we can see in many aspects a relationship based on dependency. Well, obviously, from a colonial perspective in which Puerto Rico must look at things, it makes sense that the colony must be dependent. In regards to food and agriculture, it is not that our soil is poor and we cannot grow food on our own, but a relationship with US agro-chemical companies has been built with the collusion of both governments that incentivize use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides. For the farmer looking to feed his family and run a business, this means becoming dependent to this system. Of course we now know that chemical fertilizers degrade the soil over time requiring more chemicals or total abandonment of an area in order for the land to reclaim and heal itself from the damage that has been done and years of researching the effects of these chemicals on the farmer show increase cases of illnesses such as cancer, respiratory problems, birth defects, and many more. Fortunately the attitude of many has changed, and organic farming is beginning to be seen as the best solution to the problems of production and autonomy of the production. Although, big agro-chemical companies have a strong footing on the island and this remains one of the biggest colonial hurdles to overcome.

It must be said, colonialism plays a disastrous role in Puerto Rico and most people know this. Especially in regards to agriculture, where if the island where to produce a surplus amount of food enabling it to capitalize on an export market, it will still have to endure the heavy cost of the Jones Act. Ultimately the high price in shipping will restrict opportunity for international trade as the cost for goods will skyrocket thus discouraging international buyers. The Jones Act, the strings that attach the colony to the empire is quite possibly one of the largest obstacles to overcome. It strangles the island of development across all sectors of the economy and forces Puerto Rico into this relationship of economic dependency to the US but when you analyze the situation closely, it becomes apparent that the empire is dependent upon Puerto Rico to provide it with its billions each year by extracting the wealth from the island and sending it off too the mainland where it stays.

This background brings me to my third point of thought on colonialism, the US dollar. Due to the fact that Puerto Rico is not an independent nation, it does not have a national currency of its own. It is dependent on the US dollar for its business transactions. Now I wont touch on volatility of fiat currencies, its not a road I want to get side tracked on but I would touch on the fact that to be dependent on the dollar also means one must use the tools of exchange in place for transfer and trade of the dollar. In other words, if I wanted to send money down to the island via an electronic money transfer to the island, it would come with the high cost of fees to do so. If my business on the island wanted to accept credit cards, it must do so accepting the mounting fees associated with each transfer. Colonialism has a far reach, in this case it reaches into the pocket and bank accounts of every Puerto Rican. Aside from combating this reach with a national currency, we can look to cryptocurrencies as a means to new financial opportunities.

At the time of my off the grid adventures in Puerto Rico, I would connect to my laggy internet connection and read up on developments on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, Bitcoin, PoW/PoS and many of the developments of the time. It wasn't so much anything new to me, I had heard of it before, but diving into the subject had me hooked, confused but enlighten. It would then cross my mind, what if I could sell my fruits and vegetables via Bitcoin or an alt-coin of choice, surly it could be done, but who had Bitcoin to trade with, who where familiar with alt-coins, wheres the best internet connection and well first and foremost, who wanted to buy organic fruits and vegetables. This thought led me to a broader exploration of how everyday financial transactions can change for the better on the island with greater adoption to cryptocurrencies. At the same time, this lingering thought also evolved to broader questions such as how to maintain network security in the event of a natural disaster such as hurricanes, where entire infrastructure on the island can be destroyed leaving you cut from your electronic assets; and even if you did have a satellite internet connection and an off grid solar connection to access your electronic wallet, chances are the physical places where you could use your cryptocurrency would be down along with everybody else, at least till the lights come back.

Of course, that is the question today, when will the lights come back? In some places right now in Puerto Rico, there are people still left without electricity and clean drinking water. But this is not the fault of the internet, or blockchain, or any other coin. Sure, these are systems that may be vulnerable to an EMP, but I guess we can look at it in the same way as a stock market crash, or government collapse. Its an extreme situation, but its not to say it can't happen. In Puerto Rico's case, colonialism once again has a large part to play in the case of vulnerabilities within the islands infrastructure.

But back to the point, cryptocurrencies are not backed by a central government yet they can be used internationally. This may help small businesses in Puerto Rico, farmers, coffee shop owners, internet cafe's, tourism, especially with tourism as people from all over the world visit the island! Who is to tell me that I cannot sell my farm fresh coffee in exchange for a cryptocurrency? I think it would be great, I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe in a national currency and national store of wealth aside from the US dollar for Boriken (the de-colonized name of Puerto Rico) but until we get to that point where we can celebrate our own independence day, crypocurrencies seem like a great opportunity to explore. To explore it is to seek new horizons and there is freedom in that. It would also force us as Puerto Ricans to look over our infrastructural problems, invest in sustainable energy, prepare ourselves to take on the next natural disaster and be prepared to brush off the wounds and get back on our feet. Peoples homes where destroyed and to many, that was the most of an asset that they had.

Throughout my experience I faced many challenges in growing and selling my own food, but regardless of the roadblocks and success, there was many things that I learned, many questions that I was left asking. I would like to see my homeland break the chains of corruption and colonialism just as much as I would love to see my island produce 85% of its food instead of depend on 85% of its food. One day I hope to open up my own crypto-coin accepting organic coffee shop with wi-fi and delicious home made munchies, that would be nice.