07-26-2008, 12:26 PM
Ya gotta appreciate getting a contrarian point of view, whether you agree or not.
The PCDP may not be a community effort in the pure sense of the word. And it may also represent an "affluent, mainland attitude" (although some of the folks at the gathering voicing support for the plan didn't look at all affluent to me). But moving out of the complaining mode, I want to know how you get the poor, rural, uneducated, and dispossessed involved in the process? And what if they choose not to be involved? Do you just let development in Puna continue unabated at the whims of the mainland AND local developers? And even if you are an advocate for the dispossessed, how would you possibly know what they want? (Especially if you have a "mainland" mindset.)
Some would argue that development in Hawaii doesn't pay a living wage at all, except for the developers who cashed in on the boom. Listening to friends who work in the construction industry, they say that local developers are the worst at exploiting the poor, uneducated and dispossessed. Even the moke lucky enough to earn a decent wage in construction doesn't have much to show for it now. In this sense the boom-and-bust nature of construction is similar to tourism; it gives you a nice, short-term fix, but nothing long-term to hang your hat on.
I'm not smart enough to answer the questions, just throwing it out there for the ones who are...
The PCDP may not be a community effort in the pure sense of the word. And it may also represent an "affluent, mainland attitude" (although some of the folks at the gathering voicing support for the plan didn't look at all affluent to me). But moving out of the complaining mode, I want to know how you get the poor, rural, uneducated, and dispossessed involved in the process? And what if they choose not to be involved? Do you just let development in Puna continue unabated at the whims of the mainland AND local developers? And even if you are an advocate for the dispossessed, how would you possibly know what they want? (Especially if you have a "mainland" mindset.)
Some would argue that development in Hawaii doesn't pay a living wage at all, except for the developers who cashed in on the boom. Listening to friends who work in the construction industry, they say that local developers are the worst at exploiting the poor, uneducated and dispossessed. Even the moke lucky enough to earn a decent wage in construction doesn't have much to show for it now. In this sense the boom-and-bust nature of construction is similar to tourism; it gives you a nice, short-term fix, but nothing long-term to hang your hat on.
I'm not smart enough to answer the questions, just throwing it out there for the ones who are...
Tim
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius
A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions--Confucius