10-30-2008, 03:05 PM
punafish, I had a chance to mull all the available info and this is my belief
Military.
Billy will put out the welcome mat, sell maps to the best mountaintops, sell snacks and refreshments to the military, and sell tickets to tourist to watch the military blow the tops off the mountains. He will charge the military a use fee but they can blow the tops away all they want. He will charge them a cleanup fee but the mountains will be gone.
Angel will erect a barrier to keep the military out, will organize community opposition and sit ins at the tops of mountains. He will rally the people to oppose blowing the mountains away. He will also refuse to take a penny from the military.
The military will come, they will blow the tops off if they want and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Do we make some money or do we make nothing off the destruction?
Government:
Neither can do anything about it. On the flip side, if any of them moves to reduce the size of government workforce it will be popular until someone is, knows, or is impacted by that job loss. At that point no matter who the person is, people will raise a stink and consider that person the devil. It's only popular until it impacts a person after which it will be viewed as a bad thing
Tourism:
If they want more resorts in Konafornia, let them have it. Nothing we can do abut it.
Angel will probably work to balance tourism with the environment. He will most likely attempt to diversify the tourist trade into a more evenly dispersed industry through specialized tourism aimed more at nature and environment versus beaches, hula girls, and luaus. I believe this will not increase the economic impact by much and the jobs will be too limited to make any impact.
Billy will just aim for jobs and tourist dollars. He will probably concentrate on large dollars on the west side and hope it has a trickle down effect to the east side.
Hawaii as Hawaii:
The island is a remote rock in the ocean. Neither can expect much in the way of real industry. Even Kona coffee isn't on the mainland scales anymore. Gee there are over 50 Starbucks in the state; do you really think the people care anymore if something is local or just cheap? Nobody cares anymore if the sticker says “Product of Hawaii” or “Made in China” The only sticker mainlanders and many Hawaiians care about is the price sticker. Neither candidate can do anything about Hawaii's remoteness so they can't offer anything. But if industry does want to come, the candidates may just abandon their election position and let them do what they want, even if it's not the best. Angel will be tortured by it, and Billy will just say “what the heck”, but both WILL let it happens because there is nothing else viable in the wings. Would the people rather have a pristine tropical island producing welfare checks or a job even if it's not the best environmentally for Hawaii? This is evident in the feelings towards the SuperFerry. Use to be the majority opinion was the people don't want it. Now, all you hear is when is it coming and bring the tourist dollars with it?
Military.
Billy will put out the welcome mat, sell maps to the best mountaintops, sell snacks and refreshments to the military, and sell tickets to tourist to watch the military blow the tops off the mountains. He will charge the military a use fee but they can blow the tops away all they want. He will charge them a cleanup fee but the mountains will be gone.
Angel will erect a barrier to keep the military out, will organize community opposition and sit ins at the tops of mountains. He will rally the people to oppose blowing the mountains away. He will also refuse to take a penny from the military.
The military will come, they will blow the tops off if they want and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Do we make some money or do we make nothing off the destruction?
Government:
Neither can do anything about it. On the flip side, if any of them moves to reduce the size of government workforce it will be popular until someone is, knows, or is impacted by that job loss. At that point no matter who the person is, people will raise a stink and consider that person the devil. It's only popular until it impacts a person after which it will be viewed as a bad thing
Tourism:
If they want more resorts in Konafornia, let them have it. Nothing we can do abut it.
Angel will probably work to balance tourism with the environment. He will most likely attempt to diversify the tourist trade into a more evenly dispersed industry through specialized tourism aimed more at nature and environment versus beaches, hula girls, and luaus. I believe this will not increase the economic impact by much and the jobs will be too limited to make any impact.
Billy will just aim for jobs and tourist dollars. He will probably concentrate on large dollars on the west side and hope it has a trickle down effect to the east side.
Hawaii as Hawaii:
The island is a remote rock in the ocean. Neither can expect much in the way of real industry. Even Kona coffee isn't on the mainland scales anymore. Gee there are over 50 Starbucks in the state; do you really think the people care anymore if something is local or just cheap? Nobody cares anymore if the sticker says “Product of Hawaii” or “Made in China” The only sticker mainlanders and many Hawaiians care about is the price sticker. Neither candidate can do anything about Hawaii's remoteness so they can't offer anything. But if industry does want to come, the candidates may just abandon their election position and let them do what they want, even if it's not the best. Angel will be tortured by it, and Billy will just say “what the heck”, but both WILL let it happens because there is nothing else viable in the wings. Would the people rather have a pristine tropical island producing welfare checks or a job even if it's not the best environmentally for Hawaii? This is evident in the feelings towards the SuperFerry. Use to be the majority opinion was the people don't want it. Now, all you hear is when is it coming and bring the tourist dollars with it?