The historic importance of high places, mountains and tall buildings is in man’s nature to value as prestigious and important monuments in our lives. Not only for the obvious military strategic value established down through the ages but consider for example a city which will create a very tall building as an expression of success and the importance of those who live there, ie. The Empire State Building and the World Trade Center.
Maunakea is the tallest mountain in the world and is positioned with commanding presence with the surrounding air, land and sea. Hawaii’s strategic importance as an island bridging the ocean between continents is obvious and has been coveted by many for hundreds of years.
Considering history, the deep feelings of the people of Hawaii to protect our island and our mountain and our aloha way of life is understandable. To some it’s a religious attachment, to others it’s a deep feeling of admiration for the beauty of God’s creation by which we’ve been blessed with the responsibility to steward this land in righteousness, while we live here together, in a spirit of aloha and unity.
Regarding TMT, if we accept the slogan “culture and science are compatible,” which sounds great, we miss the point that aloha and communism are not compatible philosophies. Putting a huge telescope, largely controlled by communist ideology, on top of the highest most regal and prestigious peak in this land is nothing less than a grievous insult to the aloha way of life and disrespects those people suffering so greatly tyranny in China and around the world.
The Communist Chinese Government imprisons, brutalizes and kills its people for not adhering to their state beliefs. They rule with an iron fist. That government is now also implementing coercion of thought with a social credit scores based on behavior and massive facial recognition and technology surveillance because they fear its people. Everything in Communist China belongs to the Government of Communist China, even science. TMT, the company, in large part is owned by Communist China.
Why would rational people of aloha (meaning any of us who live here and are vested in Hawaii) sell leased ownership of the peak of Maunakea to an adversary, a tyrannical communist nation? The answer: those people didn’t represent the people of aloha, they had other interests. Those responsible for the TMT decision have lost respect for the value of aloha and freedom, not only for the people of Hawaii but for many others around the world who see Hawaii as a beacon of love and hope.
Consider the recent shutdown of many University Confucius Institutes, because of concern over Chinese Communist espionage and propaganda. Communist China is an obvious adversary, an aggressive foe interested in world domination, economic and otherwise. To those with eyes to see, consider the protests in Hong Kong, the aggressive construction of contested military outposts in the Spratly Islands, the dominant coercive behavior toward smaller nations along the way of the Silk Road initiative. TMT on Maunakea is nothing less than a Communist Chinese Trojan Horse!
Overall the University of Hawaii has demonstrated unwise and negligent management of Maunakea and should be removed from any future total management responsibility. The current and future management should be turned over to the stakeholders of our way of life here, people more sensitive to that purpose and wiser.
Personally, I think science can easily exist with our culture, our aloha way of life, just not with the TMT corporation, an ideology totally in opposition to aloha and love.
We are either gathered here in unity in the principals of aloha or we are frauds to that end, in favor of selfishness and personal gain only caring for the sensual gratification of the sun, sand and the commercial fruits derived from the backs of the simpler vested believers.
For those who have already sided with TMT, be it populist, political or commercial, it requires a willingness to think again and the courage to abandon that position at this late date, reflect on our priorities, hopefully choose pono and the values related of aloha. If we choose to be aloha, then let’s act like it.
For better or worse, the old and the new are Hawaii now. The times we live in are becoming more and more challenging, if we try to navigate the future without love, we are destined to fail. (1 Corinthians 13)
Greg Gerard is a resident of Captain Cook.