07-01-2018, 05:56 AM
quote:Hey!
Originally posted by JimHAPuna
Hey glinda...
Gender? Nah, I just appreciate Papa Baum and the wonderful world in which my namesake is blessed to be a part.
I too must admit a bit of a shock of how what I started as a generalization became otherwise. I certainly never meant to offend and if I have I am sorry.
I have also been imposed upon by government's intrusion and mismanagement of situations I was involved in. But, conversely, I have a lot of respect for HVO and believe in their sincerity and the process by which they come to their conclusions. I also worked directly with Harry Kim in the days of Kalapana and understand at least some of the forces at play and admire the way he has woven through them all then, and now. And, as ironyak has pointed out, I believe we’d all be a lot less happy with the policies imposed if it weren’t for his first hand knowledge and compassion. Not that I agree with all of their policies but rather I try and understand the forces that cause their implementation. Alls to say I hope I can empathize with all the sides of the issues 1V1 has experienced, though I suspect my detractors will be quick to point out my utter failure at doing so.
As I suspect you realize, this is a much greater societal issue. One that I still believe now is the right time to discuss. It’s been 28 years since Kalapana was destroyed and our land use policies haven't budged. We have not once revisited this issue. There has never been a community wide discussion of our policies, land has been bought and sold and there has been a population boom right here in the middle of a place that we all know should never have been.
Had the government not foisted HPIA on us things would be a lot different. But they did and here we are. Are we really not to discuss the results of our failed policies out of some respect for those effected by them? I think not. I think now is the perfect time to point out how those policies are effecting people. Now, while the images are raw, real. Seriously, how much is the actual cost of this one? Puna doesn't get the roads it needs but the state demands that insurance companies underwrite policies on properties they had already deemed to be too high a risk. Do we really, collectively, agree to this? To a way of government where we don't have a plan to face our potential disasters but we have policies that create them? Keep in mind, an eruption out back somewhere is an act of god, an awe inspiring thing of beauty. It is only when it is in someone’s yard that it is a disaster. Government created this disaster.
And what is HPIA really, if not a tax levied on every homeowner in Hawaii through higher premiums on their policies? Premiums inflated to offset the cost of the insurer's participation in HPIA. All so that we can create a false sense of security, so that folks can fall in love with and invest their heart and soul in a place that is destine, flat out guaranteed, to be overrun by lava. Is that really what the people of Hawaii, not just the people of the effected areas but all of Hawaii, want? Is it not prudent to take this opportunity to spur on a discussion of these facts?
And I get it. My sense of place is as great as the next persons. I love the land I call mine, and will hold on to it in the face of all sorts of adversity. And yes some people gravitate to the fringes and that's all fine and good. But man, at some point, somewhere, there's got to be a line, and, imo, our government crossed over it when they allowed subdivisions to be built on the rift zone. And, they continued to do so with HPIA. If it all was left alone, if the folks that fell in love with Leilani had that love tested through not being able to get financing and insurance, through a socially conscious bombardment of the fact that LZ1 was destine to be overrun, through the fact that there was limited resources in Pahoa because it is too dangerous to allow for commercial development there, because it is inappropriate to build and maintain public schools there, because the services we have willy nilly been encouraging be developed there don’t exist. Then hey, if you want to be there, cool. Though dude, when the lava flows it’s your kuleana, right? But no, instead it’s as if Leilani, and the entire Pahoa area, is as kosher as any other community. Which we all know it is not.
I could go on, obviously, but it’s enough to say I do get worked up about this issue but will be eternally sorry if I allowed any of my emotions to be directed at individuals who are effected by the current situation.
But to be clear, I would rather a viewing area, several of them, and everyone having a great time viewing, being in, hearing, smelling, feeling, truly grokking, this incredible act of creation. Visiting God’s country, Pele’s domain, whatever you want to call it. Feeling, really feeling in their souls how incredible this all is. After 35 years of Puu Oo being all those things to so many people now it’s a disaster. A man made, government perpetuated, disaster.