There's a 51st American State in the Pacific.....
A 51st state for America is out there somewhere in the world. It's not Puerto Rico, It's not Guam, It's New Zealand. I present my proposal on why New Zealand should become the 51st State of New Zealand with a series of rationalised advantages for both the inhabitants of America and New Zealand.
Why it's good for America.
Firstly New Zealand like America has a high standard of living and wouldn't be a third-world state in a first-world country. According to the Human Development Index, New Zealand would have the 11th-highest HDI in the union. Unlike Puerto Rico or Greenland, we share a common Lingua franca of English.
New Zealand unlike the other territories or nations raised for this perennial 51st state discussion has a population that is in the same ballpark as existing states with a population of 5.5 Million people. This would put it at a very middling 24th in the population rankings which is good as it means that its entry wouldn't a) overly muddy the preexisting cultural unity of Americans like the inclusion of Canada may bring about and B) not be an economic drain on resources in order to get it up to speed like Guam or Greenland.
New Zealand has established tourism and agricultural export products with the latter being invaluable considering the current geopolitical tensions right now. New Zealand is a small but good source for high-quality timber, fruit, wine, grapes, dairy, beef and lamb products.
Perhaps most importantly New Zealand has an Exclusive Economic zone of 4,083744 km2 or 1,576,742 mi2 not including our territories which would significantly boost this figure if included.
New Zealand has a long history of cooperation with America working together in both the World Wars and several other smaller conflicts. Scott Base(NZ) and McMurdo base(USA) are just 3km with a long and storied history of cooperation between the two. By annexing New Zealand, America can have its own territorial claim in Antarctica which would be a tremendous asset for environmental research and potentially an economic asset too if guardianship gives way to ownership.
Geopolitically, New Zealand's location in the Indo-Pacific means that our established connections with smaller island states in Polynesia can cut into China's growing influence in the area. This would help control important shipping lanes and continue the western leaning of New Zealand.
Of course, why would New Zealand an independent country just acquiesce to America? Well it's very unlikely but New Zealand is on a perilous journey to becoming the South Pacific Zimbabwe where many Maori have been goaded into hostility towards non-Maori. Over time, it gets harder to see how we'll reconcile our differences with the Maori birth rate meaning radical Maori have an ever-growing influence on the country's politics. By becoming American, the scale of America will diminish these voices.
Secondly, New Zealand sits on many ticking timebombs including the Taupo Super Volcano, the Alpine and Wellington Faults. The Alpine Fault has a 75% probability of going in the next 50 years which will likely be an M 8.0+ event. The Wellington fault which is perfectly placed right through our capital is around 10% likely to rupture in the same time interval. These events would at the very least explode our public debt so it would be better to have a better credit rating when the time does come.
The Alpine Fault in all of it's beauty
Lastly, the integration of New Zealand into America should lead to cheaper prices as trade increases between the two. This means cheaper prices of American goods including Petrol which will supercharge our economy.
What are your thoughts?