Advantages and disadvantages of a restored Kingdom

[Rob Tucker]

I am curious what a list of advantages and disadvantages of the Hawaiian Islands being restored to a kingdom would look like.

Any thoughts?

[SBH]

Don't have to fly to Vegas any more for casino action. Just fly on Ali'i Air (formerly Island Air) to the Manele Bay Grand Casino on Lanai (former Four Seasons Lanai Resort).

[kalakoa]

If the Kingdom were an independent political entity, it would need national defense, internal security, and the ability to enter treaties, issue passports and mint currency.

Could they do this at a lower tax burden and/or with less corruption?

[Kapoho Joe]

how many kanakas get pilot licenses? a handful? enough to run an airline? dont act like foreigners would take a job here if they cant be a citizen or buy property.

[MattKarma]

Independent Hawaii, form of gov't YTBD.

[Rob Tucker]

I assume a kingdom would have a king. The king would have an heir. Everyone else would be subjects with some subjects being more equal than others.

[kalakoa]

I assume a kingdom would have a king. The king would have an heir.

Unlike the US democracy, where you can choose between a Clinton or a Bush.

some subjects being more equal than others

We already have that now; new leadership would merely be a reversal of fortune.

[pahoated]

Hopefully, this can be kept civil but interesting topic, Rob.

This depends on what timeframe the kingdom resets to or if it resets to the present in some form.

One thing that doesn't change either way is the Hawaiian monarchy always allowed foreigners to buy land and become ohana in their view.

The other thing about sustainability, the monarchy from Kamehameha were never sustainable. This was a civilization that never invented money because they never had any need for it. Suddenly, they needed money, lots of money. So what did they have that they could sell off? Kamehameha started by selling off the sandalwood. He needed the money because all the ali'i had been introduced to rum and they were nonstop partying. In a few decades, the islands had been totally stripped of sandalwood and Kamehameha realized what a mistake he had made, and seeing his whole ohana had become alcoholics. He was able to go sober later in his life and returned his ohana to sobriety. That didn't stop the lavish spending. That is what started the need to sell off land. So, owning fee simple land is owning a piece of the kingdom.

There is no way to return to a pre-contact environment which was sustainable. Hawaii has been totally dependent since contact and being totally dependent on outside money, outside food sources, outside energy, etc. is not sustainable. A kingdom means a monarchy, and quite frankly, royals and commoners. Royals own land, commoners don't. That's the way it is.

"Aloha also means goodbye. Aloha!"

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

A look around at other Pacific Island nations might give us a pretty good indication of what an independent Hawaii would look like.

As far as I know, Hawaii and Tahiti are the only two large island archipelagos aligned with a larger nation, Hawaii with the US, and Tahiti with France. Both have a considerably higher standard of living than any other island or group of islands in the Pacific.

I think a restored Hawaiian kingdom would in a decade or two instead look like Fiji, New Caledonia, Western Samoa, or the Cook Islands. Beautiful places to visit, but every one of them struggling to survive on their own. Look at the recent hurricane in Vanuatu, it will take years for their islands to recover, and that's with international assistance. A hurricane strike on the Hawaiian Kingdom would meet with the same impossible odds toward the reconstruction of homes and infrastructure.

Another example is American Samoa. A small beautiful island, somewhat independent as it it very difficult for foreigners to buy land. It is however a US territory, which allows a majority of the Samoan population to live in Hawaii or California where there are many more opportunities available to them. It's difficult to open and operate a business in American Samoa. As an example, Bank of Hawaii closed their branches a few years ago stating "...we felt we could deliver the appropriate level of service. However, it’s become increasingly difficult to maintain that strategy in American Samoa due to its geographic isolation from our other markets.” This would no doubt happen to many exiting businesses in Hawaii should the islands revert to a geographically isolated kingdom.

One more example is Fiji. It's an independent nation. There is a large Indian population often frequently at odds with the Fijian residents. This has resulted in numerous coups over the years and serious disruptions in the day to day lives of the population. There is no stability in the government or for it's citizens. In Hawaii there are numerous claims by people calling themselves the rightful heirs to the Hawaiian Kingdom. It's possible those claims will be resolved, it's also possible the losers in that process will always lie in wait for the next opportunity to take what they consider rightfully theirs.

[opihikao]

Could we please add a side question:

Restored Kingdom, or "Nation within a Nation" status? I believe there is a very big difference.

The USA will never leave Hawai'i, thus, the Kingdom won't work within the USA confines of today. We need to look for middle ground.

JMO.

ETA: Mahalo dakine, great info to peruse. Ka Lahui was formed right here on Moku O Keawe, and the documents drafted for the Constitution was done right here in Keaukaha. Great references.