• Let’s get used to it • Slap on the wrist Let’s get used to it In response to Mr. José Bulatao’s Nov. 26 letter on his concern about the expected disappearance of federal support I can give only this
• Let’s get used to it • Slap on the
wrist
Let’s get used to it
In response to Mr. José Bulatao’s Nov. 26 letter on his concern about the expected disappearance of federal support I can give only this advice: Get used to it!
Don’t consider it a multi-dimensional catastrophe, but rather a prelude to independence. And independence is the secret of success. The end of federal funds should not be the end of the world. It should actually motivate people to use their mental, natural and material resources to re-learn how to share old values and produce what they need. Look at the world!
How many nations became independent since World War II? 125 exactly. And so many of them are doing very well while long established bastions of capitalism like Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, USA (these were all colonialists) are shaken by a financial and economic crisis.
Will it hurt to give up some of the unneeded but expensive conveniences? Will it hurt to learn not to waste? Will it hurt to re-learn common sense and self-reliance? Will it hurt to give up hoarding? No!
Can we grow what’s needed here on these islands? Yes, of course. Go to the store and see all the imported food items! We can grow almost all of them, and what we cannot, we don’t need. And that’s self sufficiency. We don’t need the corporate decision makers in New York or Chicago who instruct their hotel and restaurant managers in Hawai‘i to order foods from the mainland instead of buying it locally.
Transportation. Who needs so many cars? Limit their numbers! Bermuda could do it. We can do it. Reorganize public transportation. We would not even need school buses. Public buses with good scheduling could transport the children just like in other countries. And many of the kids can walk to school. Just like in other countries.
Defense. Get rid of all the U.S. bases from Hawai’i. They are the threat, not the protection. The North Korean, Chinese, Iranian threat against Hawai‘i is all made up to justify the budget for more money for military hardware. If we don’t have the military bases here that other nations would consider a threat, nobody would want to attack a tourist paradise or an agricultural area in an independent nation. When long range missiles start to fly, their targets are military installations and crucial industrial facilities in their vicinity. So, the further from us they are, the better off we are.
Education. Only the Lawful Hawaiian Government headed by Henry Noa has the vision to have the best education system in the world by attracting the best teachers and educators to our islands from all over the world. They would decide jointly with our local talents what our children should learn. They would teach them to think and work not only for themselves, but for their ‘aina as well. We don’t need the instructions and guidelines from Washington.
Representation. True representatives who are carrying out the will of the people instead of telling them what they have to want. Their most important task will be listening to and acting accordingly.
Moneys. Instead of individual income tax a general consumption tax would provide for steady revenue. No exemptions and no tax cheating.
This is just an outline and not instant panacea. The transition will require hard work from everybody who wants to live here, and I firmly believe that there are plenty of Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians who could transform Hawai‘i into a prosperous and peace-loving country of happy and educated people. And those who think that happiness can only be found in the industrially most developed country, they can enjoy it some 3000 miles east of our islands. We prefer to stay and create ours here.
János Keoni Samu, Kalaheo
Slap on the wrist
Congratulations to TGI for their outstanding editorial, “Punishments need to fit the crimes” (In Our Opinion, Dec. 4).
Something is very wrong with our judicial system when sexual predators are allowed to plea bargain their heinous violations of the law into what amounts to a slap on the wrist in many cases.
The editorial cites a glaring example of this type of behavior here on Kaua‘i but this horrendous act with inappropriate justice being metered out is way too common all over the U.S.
I believe that the judges in these cases have the authority and responsibility to set punishment standards to fit the crime. But, when, as the editorial stated, “ruined lives, wrecked futures or a need for victims to spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on counseling to return to some sort of normalcy” maybe never, then the penalty faze is terribly inadequate.
And, no one more than our county prosecutor, Shaylene Iseri-Carvalho, is more aware of the fact that certain technicalities in the law make far stiffer penalties impossible. Or that some time sensitive delay in the process can lead to a guilty person walking. As long as a person’s rights are not compromised then these laws certainly need changing.
I know that she and her very capable deputies are doing everything in their power to prosecute and keep these predators behind bars but judges must step forward and law changes must take place.
As the editorial states, “Kaua‘i residents deserve a legal system that delivers justice. The community should expect nothing less.”
Glenn Mickens, Kapa‘a
