• ‘We the people’ need more ‘self help’ • Wrongly listed as DUI • Look to the future ‘We the people’ need more ‘self help’ David Thorp’s letter “Government is us” on Jan. 12 is an honorable defense of government.
• ‘We the people’ need more ‘self help’ • Wrongly listed as DUI
• Look to the future
‘We the people’ need more ‘self help’
David Thorp’s letter “Government is us” on Jan. 12 is an honorable defense of government. I agree partially with his core argument. Plenty of government officials have honored their oaths — in many regards there are brightly shining examples of government service.
But consider the following perspective: Governments, including our own, from federal to local, contain inherent corruption and are harmful in service to protect a status power. I’ll briefly mention later my personal experience. It goes without saying how easily one can find thousands of documented examples of direct wholesale government fraud. Common knowledge affirms this and the list of historical government crime and corruption is far too long for this column. Naturally, the people have shown their disapproval in widespread protests and disavowed their legislators. Yet, folks continually blindly vote into office the same two parties.
We have been represented by cons, pitchmen characters bought and sold by the same power brokers that revolve into top government slots out of global corporate headquarters. How many times have you heard this? Look at the list of their campaign supporters over decades to see our true leadership organizations akin to secretive mafioso.
Locally it is virtually the same idea, just follow the money. Most of these cats think they are doing the right thing, so how did they become sociopaths?
Human nature is no different be it on the national scene or at home. Locally, as a former Board of Ethics member sworn to uphold the laws, I can testify in a small way to this theme of corrupt government.
Doing good by obeying my oath got me exiled. Kaua‘i County officials accused of blatant ethics violations in 2009 were vehemently protected by our County Attorney as reported by TGI’s Mike Levine and Nathan Eagle. The violators were connected insiders. So what, some said, that’s the way the island-style cookie crumbles.
But that’s manini stuff compared to, for example, machinations of Hawaiian movements and the state; or dirty dealings within the pages of Anthony Sommer’s book KPD Blue; or the shameful non-accountability to come in the James Henry Pflueger trial.
Ethics-schmethics.
Dozens of reports through the years show Kaua‘i County complicit in impropriety. We are not extraordinary and the cookie crumbles pretty much the same everywhere. Perhaps you have your own story to tell.
If you are still not convinced perhaps like Mr. Thorp, read more TGI.
So please, Mr. Thorp, you are correct that ‘government is us’ but you will not convince me this is party politics or that government performs good enough. Throwing a bone to the good ole USA is quite OK, but know when failure runs rampant then “we the people” need to clean off those crumbs and get some “self help.”
Rolf Bieber, Kapa‘a
Wrongly listed as DUI
On Dec. 19 I was a victim of a false arrest. I was falsely accused of driving under the influence. I was tested for alcohol and the test showed negative. I was released and no charges were filed against me.
My name appeared twice in the police blotter.
I am writing this letter for several reasons:
My personal life has been greatly affected, I’ve been bombarded with questions.
I’m humiliated at the treatment that I received from the officer.
I want to clear my name publicly and let everyone who knows me of my innocence.
Marylou Balisacan Iglesia, Kapa‘a
Look to the future
I dream of a sustainable Kaua‘i, one where we grow our own food and produce our own electricity, where we live with the resources we have and without having to import those we don’t.
Then I wake up. I read the letters in The Garden Island and I realize that it’s not going to happen. Depending on the month, all we can talk about is the greatness of our cars, the sleaziness of a co-op that explores renewable energy, the inefficiencies of solar water heaters or the health effects of smart meters. We are looking backward at a time when we need to look forward.
Smart meters are not some evil conspiracy for world domination by our local energy cooperative. We have the potential to revolutionize our inefficient and outdated energy infrastructure. Yet, we are stuck debating whether the occasional burst of information from a smart meter is going to kill us or whether Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative is going to sell our energy use information to the highest bidder.
Smart meter technology is the first step toward a smart grid, which is one huge step toward energy independence. Energy supply will accurately meet demand, but demand will be tempered by accurate pricing. Those who use energy wisely (off peak) will be rewarded, while those who don’t will pay the actual costs of that electricity generation.
We can live in the past, when oil was cheap, climate change a myth, jobs plentiful, homes worth something and government worked, or we can look to the future.
Luke Evslin, Kapa‘a
