What would Hawaii look like today if there had been no annexation?
In light of the continuing discussion about the Na’i Aupuni ‘aha and TMT opposition by Hawaiian protesters/protectors, I would like to share a couple of discussions I had last month with young friends.
I was visiting with a young Samoan who had spent his youth in Samoa, then his family moved to the U.S. when he was in his teens. He is now a U.S. citizen. He told me of a conversation he had with a Hawaiian friend who was complaining about the U.S. takeover of Hawaii.
“What, you rather be speaking Japanese?” he said.
“What you mean?” his Hawaiian friend responded.
“Have you forgotten about Pearl Harbor?” he responded.
He then said, “I’m proud to be Samoan, but I’m very grateful to be an American.”
The second conversation was with a young friend who grew up here and is now living in Guam with his wife. He said he was enjoying it there and that the locals love Americans.
He said, “They have never forgotten what the U.S. did for them during World War II.”
These conversations led me to wonder what the Hawaiian activists believe Hawaii would be like today had there been no overthrow and subsequent annexation. Would Hawaii have remained independent – and be much like Tonga today? Would it have become a British or French territory – like New Zealand or Tahiti? Or would it have been taken over by Russia or Japan?
We’ll never know. What we do know, however, is that Hawaii today is seen as the place in Polynesia with the most opportunity. We’ve had many Samoans and Tongans and a lesser number of other Polynesians migrate here (and to the mainland). I’m not aware of any migrations in the other direction, however.
From Captain Cook’s time until the overthrow, the Hawaiian royalty embraced many aspects of the Western culture; not because it was forced upon them, but because they recognized the benefits. What would Hawaii look like today if the protesters could rewrite history?
Bill Hastings
Kamuela
Don’t drive landlords underground
Mr. Yager wrote a good article about tax scofflaws a few days ago. I have a simple proposal that would reduce the number of short-term landlords that don’t file a tax return: Make the tax easier to pay!
The number one thing I learned during 50 years in business is to “be easy to buy from.” Government entities should follow the same rule.
I rented my home out for the first time last Christmas for all of six days. I collected the TAT tax and then tried to pay it promptly. I ran into a labyrinth of tax forms to fill out for two different tax entities. Two different forms for quarterly reports and two for annual reports.
After giving up trying to figure out how to accurately complete the forms, I hired an accountant that specializes in filing the TAT forms. It ended up costing me an additional $180. The preparation fee was as much as the tax.
I’m not complaining about the accountant’s fee. She has to make a living, but why should it be that complicated? (Log on to the state website to see how difficult it is for a layman to understand.)
If the county starts requiring a business license it will just drive more landlords underground. There will always be tax cheats but most people want to do the right thing. Just make it easy.
Ken Thurman
Waikoloa
Don’t undermine medical marijuana with bad leadership
Here we go again. I need a lot of people to question the continuing changes in the rules for the pot dispensaries. Rep. Oshiro is proposing to not let patients grow their own plants, and hand the powers to the police department.
Why? They are not qualified to regulate drugs of any kind since they don’t get the training needed. The question goes from when will the patients be allowed to buy their medicine to who will qualify the purity to giving the powers of regulation to the police. This will encourage corruption, (as if it isn’t happening now) and payoffs. I think that Oshiro seems to be making this problem possible.
Why are the police not policing the pharmacies who sell much more dangerous drugs, in large quantities, and only have to follow the federal guidelines? Now they want to make the patients go back to the black market for much cheaper medicine. Every time they go through another question, it results in more restrictions.
The state is charging usury rates to start a dispensary, and now want the cops to regulate it. My question is, why are the restrictions getting worse, along with doomsday reasons, presented by the cops, who will receive a very large portion of money for their “work?”
The reason is that it will “undermine” the dispensary’s ability to get more money Andrea Tischler points out the same problems that will, not can, happen if this really stupid, overreaction so they can pull in more money to hide, or use for personal projects that they don’t know how to manage, either.
At this point, I would suggest that all the crap that has been called rules will not work. Why don’t the police regulate alcohol since it is proven to cause more crimes than pot would? The arrests for pot are nothing more than a cash cow for the corrupt “leaders” and the police force.
Where are the forces for getting rid of meth? There are practically none, except for a few agents who only go after large amounts, and don’t add anything to the prevention, but adds funds for the cops. So, now the rules are made on Oahu, where none of the people making the rules look at what is going on in the rest of the state. Maybe it would be wise for these lazy, overpaid “leaders” to actually drive around the Big Island and talk to the health community about how many doctors we don’t have, and how many will not write a prescription because they don’t believe in it.
Dismiss the idiots who don’t know anything about medicine and don’t let them make the rules.
Again, you can’t fix stupid.
David Andrew MacDonald
Kailua-Kona
Shame on Bishop
Shame on the Bishop Museum for reneging on their responsibility for taking care of Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden! After all the work she did for and with them while she was alive, it’s unconscionable that they would even consider selling what she entrusted to them so they can pay their debts and fund their Oahu exhibits and renovations.
How about Hawaii Island exhibits and renovations? I’m a longtime Bishop Museum member, but I won’t be renewing my support, small though it may be alongside their big Honolulu donors.
This week I plan to visit the garden one last time for one last look at this community treasure. I’ll walk up to the top of the property to sit awhile on my favorite bench to admire all the native Hawaiian foliage, remembering the outstanding guided botanical tours I’ve taken there over the years. And I’ll feel sad that the institution that Amy served so well intends to withdraw its backing from this beautiful legacy she left us.
Ann Kern
Keauhou