The premise of the OP is patently absurd and shows a total lack of economic knowledge. The Per Capita GDP of the U.S. is around $48,000. The Per Capita GDP of the Dominican Republic is around $9800. The US is about 5 times as large and more productive, per capita. I don't know what other metric would show otherwise. But I also agree with M-D: Dominicans are better prepared to live a primordial existence than Americans are should the world economy collapse. Well, except for survivalists in Montana and Idaho.