Mauna Kea and a third way

[VancouverIslander]

Honestly, I think that TMT is currently bearing the brunt of a long simmering problem going all the way back to the mid 19th century. In the early days of the Hawaiian Kingdom and before it, land ownership was not really a thing. People belonged to the land more than the other way around. Things changed over time with ideas filtering in from newcomers and the idea of ownership of land was initiated. The 1840 constitution tried to embed in law the idea that the land belonged to the people while simultaneously allowing commerce. In 1848, there was an attempt to give the land directly to individual people (the great mahele). Due to cultural and educational reasons, this did not achieve it's goal and created a large group of people who had no land. To this day, this disenfranchisement has festered. DHHL supposedly was created to deal with this issue, but because of underfunding and ineptitude has been almost wholely unable to resolve the problem. This has resulted in a large group of disenfranchised people finally getting to the point where they want to exert some control. I think (possibly in ignorance) that this is a much more important factor than cultural/religious reasons for blocking the project and that the latter are a handy item to hang one's argument upon.

Personally, while I am fully supportive of science and would love to see a telescope built, I completely understand the generations of futility that have led to this impasse. I submit these thoughts with humility and the expectation that both sides will find fault with them.

Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike