Guam: Why America's Most Isolated Territory Exists

This video was made possible by Squarespace. Start building your website for free at squarespace.com/wendover and then when you're ready to launch, use the code "wendover" for 10% off. If you were dropped into this place with no prior knowledge, where would you guess you were? Maybe Florida, California or Hawaii, somewhere tropical, but we are definitely in the United States. It just looks like America. From the style of the signs to the look of the roads and the stores that line the streets, you can say it's America, but it's not Florida, it's not California, it's not Hawaii, it's not even on this side of the world.

It is the

most

isolated

territory

in the United States. It's Guam. The United States has five inhabited territories: the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam itself. Guam is the furthest of these five from the continental United States (nearly 8,000 miles from Washington, DC), making it the

most

isolated

. Beijing, Delhi, Cape Town and Buenos Aires are closer to DC than Guam, and yet the island is a full-fledged

territory

of the United States. It's the U.S. Guam has been inhabited for thousands of years by the native Chamorro people until the 16th century, when Spain first claimed it as a territory.

Centuries later, after the American victory in the Spanish-American War, the territory was ceded to the United States along with Puerto Rico and the Philippines. Aside from a brief and brutal Japanese occupation during World War II, the island has remained part of the United States ever since. Many Americans had never even heard of Guam until the summer of 2017, when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened to launch a ballistic missile at Guam. The threats may have diminished since then, but the effects of that summer have not. The island stretches less than 30 miles from top to bottom, making it smaller than any other US state and territory, yet it is home to more than 160,000 people in that small size.

In fact, it is more densely populated than all but five U.S. states or territories. Meanwhile, it is by far the most developed place in Micronesia. To put it in perspective, Guam's neighboring islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, which are also part of the United States, have a GDP per capita of $16,800, while Guam's is over $35,000. Meanwhile, Kiribati, the most populous county in Micronesia, has a GDP per capita of $1,500. Guam is an outpost of the modern, developed world in one of the poorest regions in the world. Its location, however, is its greatest advantage. Its economy

exists

because of where it is.

The island is three hours from Tokyo, four hours from Seoul and five hours from Hong Kong. It's close to Asia but still the United States, unequivocally. You see American license plates, American school buses, American-style ambulances, they have American post offices, they use the American dollar, they have American stores, American hotels, American national parks, American airlines. There is no compromise on the Americanness of Guam because it is the United States. They fly the American flag and for tourists, this is a draw. Instead of flying seven hours to Hawaii or ten hours to California, Japanese tourists can fly three hours to Guam to visit the United States.

The malls, which look identical to any in Virginia, Kansas or anywhere else in the United States, are very popular with Asian tourists, as they can buy American products for a fraction of what they would cost in Asia. About 1.5 million people visit the island of 160,000 inhabitants each year, but what is not good for tourism are missile threats. “Last summer, when they were playing 'who's the biggest missile', we were the ones who suffered, you know, our tourism plummeted that August. “We never saw so many news agencies coming to Guam from countries that didn’t even know we existed because suddenly Kim Jung Un was threatening American territory in the Pacific.” (17:39) This is Benjamin Cruz, Speaker of the Guam Legislature.

As he said, the island's economy suffered immensely from the North Korean missile threat. Many visitors to Guam come as part of school groups or corporate retreats, and these groups in particular have almost universally canceled their trips. “We lost, that is, almost all of Japan stopped coming. In other words, everyone was afraid to come, the only ones who came were the media.” (28:00) Fortunately, the effects were partially mitigated by an increase in visitors from South Korea who were less concerned about missile threats as it is a reality they live every day at home, but for an island so focused on tourism, being dragged into Politics is never good.

However, despite being part of the United States, Guam functions politically differently than any other part of the United States. Benjamin Cruz, along with the other 14 senators, are Guam's legislators. They can legislate like any state legislature, but the main policy difference for Guam is at the federal level. All the federal laws of the United States, those enacted in Washington for the entire country, all those laws apply in Guam. What Guam doesn't get, however, is a vote. Their representatives in Congress do not get a vote, so, by extension, the people of Guam cannot vote on the laws that apply to them.

Furthermore, unlike Washington, DC, which also receives no vote in Congress, Guam, along with the other US territories, cannot vote for its president: the president of the United States. This presents a problem not only because of the lapse of democracy, but also because many American laws that may make sense for the continental United States simply do not make sense for a territory on the other side of the world. “We would like to be able to invite people to the island and to industries and not have to worry about whether the SEC would approve it or the FCC. “We would like to be able to have control over our skies so we can invite airlines to fly without having to clarify with the FAA whether this or that airline can fly or not.” (13:10) The process for a foreign airline to obtain approval to fly to the US is often long and laborious and there are a number of special security and immigration rules for flights to the US.

This does not It's a problem for large intercontinental airlines or Mexican or Canadian airlines for whom flights to the United States represent a large part of their market, but for small Asian regional airlines, they might skip flights to Guam just to avoid having to make money. FAA approval. Another problem for Guam is the Jones Act. This law prevents ships built, owned or operated by foreigners from transporting cargo or passengers between US ports. This may make sense within the continental United States. Just as we wouldn't want a foreign airline to fly domestic cargo routes, we wouldn't want a foreign shipping company to take over cargo routes like Houston to Charleston or Seattle to Oakland, but Guam is a different story.

Cargo ships generally make many stops along their routes, so it would be perfectly normal for a Taiwanese ship, for example, to go from Oakland to Hawaii to Guam to Osaka to Taipei, but it can't do that because then it would be transporting goods between US ports. Instead, only U.S. ships can bring goods from the United States, where most of Guam's goods come from, to Guam. Other US territories such as American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands are exempt from this rule, but Guam is still subject to it, making shipping to the island more expensive. Despite the problems the US federal government may cause, the people of Guam are in no rush to distance themselves from it. “I think if you asked most people on the island, they would like to have a closer union with the United States and some might even want statehood.

In fact, most of them would like to see statehood.” (5:00) In many ways, Guam is one of the most patriotic areas of the United States. The U.S. military liberated Guam from a brutal and deadly Japanese occupation during World War II, which many of the oldest residents still remember. Meanwhile, younger residents often work for the United States. "Almost every family on this island, I'm sure almost every family on this island had at least one member of their family serving in the military." (11:40) One in eight Guam residents serves or has served in the United States armed forces. It has a higher enlistment rate than any US state, but this is helped by the fact that a quarter of the island is US military bases.

The island is one of the most strategic assets of the US military. Of course, the United States has many bases in Japan and South Korea, but Guam is American soil less than four hours from North Korea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, all potential flashpoints for American conflict. The US military is the largest employer on Guam and its economy depends on the military. While tourism may have suffered recently, military business is good. The number of military personnel stationed in Guam is expected to double over the next decade, which will undoubtedly stimulate the economy.

This is not without concern, Guam has a limited amount of land, but all things considered, Guam is on the rise. Guam is truly a unique place. Many countries have territories far from their continent, but few are as developed and similar to the rest of the country as Guam. If Guam were just off the coast of the continental United States, it wouldn't matter at all, it would just be another part of the United States that looks and acts like the rest of the United States, but isn't. It's on the other side of the world. Guam is a relic of colonialism, but today it is a prosperous and developed place.

It may not even be treated like the United States by its own government, but in every other way, Guam is the United States. One aspect of Guam's history that this video didn't cover is how they are trying to grow their local small businesses to make the economy more self-sustaining. Squarespace helps with this too. They help small businesses create what was previously only available to large companies: a great, beautifully designed, professional-looking website. Small businesses are not necessarily physical stores. Whatever you do, whether it's photography, podcasting, YouTube, anything you hope to make money from is a business and therefore you need to make sure people can find you.

If you're like me, the first place you go to find something is the internet, so it's absolutely crucial to have an attractive website as that's your first impression. With its beautiful designer templates, customizable website builder, fantastic 24/7 customer support, and reasonable prices, Squarespace is absolutely the best place to build your web presence. Best of all, you can try Squarespace for free by visiting squarespace.com/Wendover and then when you're ready to launch, you can get 10% off just by using the code "wendover" at checkout. Squarespace is a big supporter of the show and makes ambitious videos like this one, which was filmed in Guam, it's possible, so at least check them out at squarespace.com/Wendover.

Also, for those of you who are still here, I want to mention that there is a behind-the-scenes video on my personal channel of Brian from Real Engineering, Joseph from Real Life Lore, and I filming this video in Guam. Thanks for watching and we'll see you again in three weeks for another Wendover Productions video.