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[–] 7 points 3 months ago (1 child)

We'll see how it goes. Politics in Hawaii are very.. different that the continent. There are very entrenched power structures still in place from the kidnapping of Queen Liluokalani. Effectively the same sugar planter families responsible for the coup still largely control business and politics on the islands. And they were eugenics practicing but jobs looking to maintain a plantation system modeled after slave systems in the American South and the Caribbean, complete with racial heirarchies and the Master and Servants act. The impacts of that history get largely glazed over with lei stands and Aloha.

Most people outside of the islands probably don't know terms like "Asian settler colonialism" or recognize that in large part, the modern Hawaiian sovereignty movement is as rightwing and reactionary as the boogalou boys, and as kookie as the sovcits movement. Hawaii might be a blue state but it's hardly a monolith.

Also, Green, Schatz and Case all suck massively. I can't find any one to run to replace Case.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    It's wild how hard the West side of O'ahu went for Trump. I get that decades of Democrats not hardly doing anything for Kanaka Maoli is bound to breed resentment, but I cannot fathom how folks can think that Trump is somehow going to support Hawaiian sovereignty. I mean, da guy is actively trying to cut federal funding for things like Hawaiian Homelands and OHA. Lolo!

    As for Green, Schatz, and Case... we deserve better.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    I'm out here in the thick of it. Bout to head down to Makaha beach and watch sunset and drink a beer. Trump get one "Hawaii Strong" and they give'm plenty votes. Then we get Samantha Decorte, buggah dont do nothin. But I try to not even see how the Kanaka community is a monolith. Plenty ain't down with that "Don't mistake Aloha for strength" angry reactionary politics, but they a minority within the Kanaka community.

    I think the biggest issue we face on the west side is something that even few Democrats are willing to address, which is that people here don't think government can work. They just don't believe its possible because they've never seen it. And fair enough right like I get it because I've also never seen a government that works for its people.

    What I think we need is something like the Mandami race. We need to have a candidate, maybe for governor, but someone who is there to make the argument that Hawaii needs to be affordable so that local kine can stay local. Someone who is committed to the project of making government work for the people.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    I used to be a Libertarian, convinced by the whole idea of "government that governs least is the government that governs best" or whatever. But in that I was also exposed to the US Founder theories about government being a kind of "necessary evil." After awhile I came to realize that, yeah maybe government is a "necessary evil" but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try and make that necessity something can work for us rather than against us. Which helped me see that Libertarianism is basically a grift to let wealth-hoarders maintain their addiction at the expense of everyone else. So yeah, bring on the Hawai'i Mamdani! I mean, the whole ahupua'a concept is based on equal distribution of resources and goods!

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