07-17-2013, 11:37 PM
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I'm not especially a "proud to be ha'ole" ha'ole, but I'm smart enough to know that the ha'ole's are generally getting richer in Hawaii while the Pacific Islanders are, (am I wrong?), at or near the bottom. We ha'oles brought to these islands a basically alien "European competitiveness" ethic where those that are good at the making-money game get the nice houses and where those not so good at the making-money game get public housing. The ha'oles had the sugar cane and pineapple plantations and now they're planning to build dozens of new Condo towers in Kakaako.
(Please, I'm not attacking ha'oles, I'm just pointing out the basic reality.)
I have GREAT RESPECT for these islands where the "this is mine" and "that's yours" idea wasn't a big part of the culture and where people DID sit by the beach all day and ... just do nothing. You can still "hear" these things in Hawaiian music.
(Yeah, yeah .... I know that Hawaiian culture was not perfect.)
I'm not especially a "proud to be ha'ole" ha'ole, but I'm smart enough to know that the ha'ole's are generally getting richer in Hawaii while the Pacific Islanders are, (am I wrong?), at or near the bottom. We ha'oles brought to these islands a basically alien "European competitiveness" ethic where those that are good at the making-money game get the nice houses and where those not so good at the making-money game get public housing. The ha'oles had the sugar cane and pineapple plantations and now they're planning to build dozens of new Condo towers in Kakaako.
(Please, I'm not attacking ha'oles, I'm just pointing out the basic reality.)
I have GREAT RESPECT for these islands where the "this is mine" and "that's yours" idea wasn't a big part of the culture and where people DID sit by the beach all day and ... just do nothing. You can still "hear" these things in Hawaiian music.
(Yeah, yeah .... I know that Hawaiian culture was not perfect.)