4 hours ago
. Sure, I'm all for peace, love, and understanding, but hippies with I-Phones are really starting to annoy me. If I had 10 million followers on Tic Tok, I know what I'd tell them: If you're a white person who came to Puna after you turned 18-years old, please don't comment on social media about how the coastline should be left just the way it was when you got here.
One way or another, development is going to continue. The goal is to steer it in a way that most benefits the most people without destroying the environment. And creating a tiny enclave of underemployed Caucasians on the coast of what some people regard as an independent nation is not "living with the aina". And trying to keep the locals out so you and your tribe can get naked on the only accessible beach on the coast is just plain selfish.
I understand that compared to where these phone-addicted eco-warriors arrived from, Puna looks like paradise. But they should have seen it forty years ago! The huge beaches at Kehena, Kaimu and Kalapana were usually deserted, the surf spots empty, the native forest barely touched by invasive species, and every day was bright and sunny. Of course, there were also pervasive infections and diseases, Coleman lanterns, rampaging mokes, deplorable roads, scary cops, no TV reception, no VCR's, and interminable boredom when there were no waves. But it still looks like the good old days now.... Anyway, the point is, things are going to keep changing, no matter what.
And for people who think putting a parking lot and restrooms at Kehena will destroy it, I'd remind them of the hepatitis outbreak that forced the Health Department and DLNR to shut off access to the beach for two weeks. And with the crowds who now throng there on pleasant days, the next epidemic is just lurking in the open-air latrines.
So what would I tell the organic, on-line shack-dwellers who make a hobby out of posting anti-colonial rants and disparaging comments about anything that alters the world as they found it? Don't waste everybody's time by trying to stop progress. Instead, try to help guide development in the right direction.
Have a Nice Day!
One way or another, development is going to continue. The goal is to steer it in a way that most benefits the most people without destroying the environment. And creating a tiny enclave of underemployed Caucasians on the coast of what some people regard as an independent nation is not "living with the aina". And trying to keep the locals out so you and your tribe can get naked on the only accessible beach on the coast is just plain selfish.
I understand that compared to where these phone-addicted eco-warriors arrived from, Puna looks like paradise. But they should have seen it forty years ago! The huge beaches at Kehena, Kaimu and Kalapana were usually deserted, the surf spots empty, the native forest barely touched by invasive species, and every day was bright and sunny. Of course, there were also pervasive infections and diseases, Coleman lanterns, rampaging mokes, deplorable roads, scary cops, no TV reception, no VCR's, and interminable boredom when there were no waves. But it still looks like the good old days now.... Anyway, the point is, things are going to keep changing, no matter what.
And for people who think putting a parking lot and restrooms at Kehena will destroy it, I'd remind them of the hepatitis outbreak that forced the Health Department and DLNR to shut off access to the beach for two weeks. And with the crowds who now throng there on pleasant days, the next epidemic is just lurking in the open-air latrines.
So what would I tell the organic, on-line shack-dwellers who make a hobby out of posting anti-colonial rants and disparaging comments about anything that alters the world as they found it? Don't waste everybody's time by trying to stop progress. Instead, try to help guide development in the right direction.
Have a Nice Day!
