• Is the aloha spirit dead and gone? Is the aloha spirit dead and gone? May it flow through these words to our hearts and minds for the benefit of all. You remember the feeling that we all lived in
• Is the aloha spirit dead and gone?
Is the aloha spirit dead and gone?
May it flow through these words to our hearts and minds for the benefit of all.
You remember the feeling that we all lived in a relationship culture — one where our relationships with each other and with the land, and with the spirit of life that infuses all living things, those relationships were the most important principles guiding all our actions and decisions?
I couldn’t help but notice the gap between the top and the bottom of the front page in (a recent) Wednesday issue of The Garden Island. At the top, how developers were asking the county for permission to increase the profits they could make from selling land, by allowing them to alter the agreement they originally made with the county.
At the bottom of the same page a chilling article describing how more of Kaua‘i’s residents were falling into the poverty range and needing to secure food from the Food Bank. One out of six, nearly 17 percent of our friends and neighbors.
Doesn’t this reflect the gap between values? The profit motive, squeezing more dollars out of Kaua‘i to ship out to off-island interests, rather than producing a harmonious, economically sustainable community.
Corporate and business owners might consider reading Paul Hawken’s book, “The Ecology of Commerce,” for further details on why informed, intelligent business interests do not destroy their support base in the process of growth.
Regarding the potential approval by the Planning Commission to allow developers to downsize the number of lots for homes and increase the acreage designated to build timeshares and super-luxury visitor developments, I wonder who will benefit?
What happened to the notion of providing more land for local home ownership, one of the original arguments used by developers for the development?
Do you suppose our children, and our children’s children, down to the tens of generations removed, will benefit from this? Who will benefit? And is this the Aloha Spirit?
Does this enhance the future quality of life for those living on Kaua‘i, now, and in the future? And isn’t this the question we should be asking when we make decisions which will impact the quality of life for everyone on the island?
I don’t presume to know the answers. But I do know that asking certain questions can help build a future that allows for a more generous and harmonious way of living. And a more peaceful community.
Watching the paths of growth in our community, and the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots, is like watching a freight train headed straight for a cliff where the bridge is gone. This widening gap is what fuels the increasing tensions in intercultural relations and social dynamics, in addition to increasing poverty, crime, and drug use. These tensions impact every person in every social bracket.
Rather than spending millions on programs to try to bandage the bleeding wounds of drug use and crime, and having to fund more elaborate jails and judicial systems, why not address the causes by building a future community that is sustainable?
The many people working two and three part-time, “no-benefits” jobs and still not keeping up or owning a home, are ample evidence of limited futures that are unsustainable.
This growing gap is what fuels increasing despair of young people and those who turn to alcohol and drugs, in resignation, and as an escape from the pain of being unable to participate in, or keep up with, our economy. Or keep up with the growing emphasis on money and material objects as the most important factor in our lives and our decisions. Is this the Aloha Spirit?
Recently, an expensive car in Lihu‘e was seen flaunting on the license-plate holder, “It’s all about me,” as though this is a useful model for living.
This widening gap in values fuels the gap in the economy, and is the source of financial and social pressures on our young people and our elderly. The measure of intelligent planning is that it allows for the system as a whole to work, not just portions of the system.
This gap in values creates the very real necessity for people needing to earn far more than their parents ever dreamed of earning in order to ever own a home, or keep it. Or stay in their own community.
This emphasis on money makes our children believe it is our most important value. Is this the Aloha Spirit in action? Is this what we are thinking of as we plan the future for our children’s children? Is this how we teach children the Aloha Spirit?
We are all passing through time together, on our way to a future which will either provide opportunities for our children or else see a more sharply divided community; a community with even greater divisions than race, although at first glance, if you don’t look carefully, it will appear to be between ethnic or racial groups.
But it won’t be race. It will be between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”
Every time we raise the cost of living, the cost of housing for the wealthy, in order to profit some development corporation, we are also increasing the costs for our children, our young people, and our elders. We are increasing the financial pressures on a fragile economy and low-paying job-holders. Increasing poverty has horrendous social costs.
We cannot mortgage off our children’s future to gain money today and think that we will be providing lasting peace and happiness for anyone involved.
I wonder how long the wealthy in their luxury condos will want to be here, when they are surrounded by escalating poverty, drugs and crime? And how long will this be satisfying, even to those who live here and are working to make their families and communities successful? Is this the Aloha Spirit in action?
To ask ourselves and our leaders how the decisions made today will help build a more peaceful and drug-free community for our children is not unreasonable.
Otherwise, we will continue to ship our decision-making power, our values, and our land ownership off-island, along with our two most-valuable possessions — our children and our peace of mind.
May we be guided by the Spirit of Aloha as we make our decisions.
Aloha,
Virginia Beck
Kalaheo
