What it is
The idea: Puerto Rico doesn’t have a representation problem, it has a fragmentation problem. The system survives because each group explains the collapse in a way that preserves its own self-image. Nobody has to change if the failure can always be blamed somewhere else.
The same test applies to every group, including the ones who see themselves as the conscious, critical ones. They have their own fragmentation problem.
The risk is that people keep confusing identity with action.
How it shows up for me
I wrote it about my island, but I see it in companies and families too. When every team has a story where someone else is the problem, nothing moves. The first step is checking which story I’m telling.