The State of Hawaii

One thing struck me from the moment I got off the plane in Hawaii: “WHERE THE HELL ARE THE HULA GIRLS WITH MY LEI?!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I figured starting light was probably best for this entry. Truthfully, the first thing that struck me was a simple and incredibly obvious thought: “This is a different country.” I’ve been to my fair share of foreign countries and Hawaii was no different: poor indigenous class, wealthy foreign class, large tourism sector, heavily marketed “local” culture.

Hawaii is not a part of the United States, and the fact that we call it so is honestly an abomination.

Did you know that Hawaii is the most remote populated archipelago (group of islands) in the entire world? This means that it is the most distant place, really, in the world from anything and anyone. How is that a part of our country? 3,000 miles in the middle of the ocean, and that is a part of America? That doesn’t make sense. To be honest, staring at a map it hasn’t made sense for a long time, but being there called it all to present mind.

Did you know that Hawaii imports 90 – 95% of its food? It has some of the most fertile ground in the world, yet it does not grow its own food. Why? Because the natives are too stupid? Because the natives are too lazy? Because they don’t have a good education? Because the natives rightfully signed away all rights to their own land to the landowners? None of the above. Because wealthy people came and pushed them off their land to grow pineapple and sugar for a global economy. The landowners grow rich, the indigenous people struggle. This is our country? Maybe it is.

The fact of the matter is the United States was faced with a dilemma in the 1950s: it needed Hawaii for its strategic location (it’s a crucial stopping point for all cargo going West to Asia across the Pacific), but it didn’t want to have a “colony” because all the colonies around the world were in revolt. How do we solve this? Let’s make it a state!!! So in 1959, as Cuba, Vietnam, Algeria, etc., were in revolt, Hawaii was busy becoming a “state”. But what makes it a state? The fact that it has McDonald’s everywhere? The fact that it has a Wal-Mart and Costco? Explain to me, what makes it America?

And really, this begs the bigger question: what makes America, America? I’ve been lucky enough to travel this country more than most people. I’ve been to 49 of the 50 states. I’ve slept in, ate in, stayed in every single one of those 49. I’ve driven across the country 7 times and each time I was left with this general feeling: “I love America. It’s amazing how it can be so different, yet still so unified.” That observation, I have come to realize, is a farce.

America is not united. The unification and the “oneness” that I felt with all the different regions had nothing to do with “America” and had much more to do with the commonality and general unity that exists within the human race. As I drove around America I marveled at the fact that we were all so different, yet that we were still a part of this one country. The fact is, however, that we ARE all so different, but our unity is not in our country, but rather in the fact that we are all human beings.

What makes America, America? What makes a nation a nation? How can a government 3,000 miles away from me, represent me and provide for me? How is that logical? Why should that be the goal? How am I a part of America? Am I truly an American, and what does that mean?

These are the questions we must ask ourselves. What is the nation-state? I believe it to be an illusion, but what do you think? We can only manage so many relationships in our lives, so how can we believe that a government governing hundreds of millions of lives can govern honestly and effectively? And if it can’t, what are the answers? Where do we go from here? Is the development of the nation-state, the way that it exists, real progress? I live in a community and I don’t believe that Washington can represent us, so why shouldn’t we have our own government? Why is bigger better, and if bigger is better, then at what point do we stop?

Hawaii is more than palm trees and Waikiki. Hawaii is a microcosm for some of the world’s most important questions.