Are things any different now? A former Hawaii resident considering a return to the Islands recently put that question in an e-mail to some people around town. Like a lot of other folks who left in the past 10 years, he misses Hawaii and wants to come back — but only under the right conditions.
He settled in a Western town with many of Hawaii’s best features: a beautiful landscape, clean air, bright people, an open and welcoming spirit, and unbounded economic possibilities.
He found out, though, that other things are similar too — starting with a political system that can only be described as “cronyism,” a system that compromises all those other good things, a “system that is flawed by unnatural concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few.”
He remembers all the good things of Hawaii: the people, the weather, the culture, the beauty of the land.That’s not enough, though.
He wants to return only if things are really different, if our system truly has changed. That’s what drove him and his family away; that’s what keeps him from coming back.
He thinks change is in the air. He’s heard that the old powers at Bishop Estate have been ousted. He knows the economy has bottomed out, and housing prices have dropped. He has heard about a new crop of politicians taking the reins from the good old boys.
He thinks Hawaii might be ripe for a rebound.
Still, he asks: “OK, Henry Peters is gone, but does the system still function much the same, with different people playing the same roles? Do you think that system in Hawaii holds it back?”
So he’s wondering if now is the time to come home. In short, he wants to know if the change is just skin deep.
I spent weeks considering my reply, but finally I got it down as clearly and concisely as I could in an e-mail:
No, things aren’t any different. There are new faces, but the system works the same way. As far as I can tell, Hawaii’s politicians aren’t better or worse than anywhere else I’ve lived — New Jersey, Chicago, Guam. Most of the politicians I’ve seen are either corrupt or incompetent. Most of ours fall into the latter category. They mean well enough, but they seem powerless to fix the problems we have.
So if that really matters to you, I wrote, stay where you are, at least for now. There’s some hope that we can right the ship and sail off into the new century. But I wouldn’t bet the home, job and family on it just yet.
In short, things are changing. But you know what they say ... the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Mike Leidemann is an Advertiser staff writer. Call him at (808) 525-5460; fax, (808) 525-8037; or e-mail, lmike@hawaii.edu.
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