The Value of Hawaii: Reinventing Hawaii by Tom Coffman

University of Hawaii Press

As we in Hawaii start the next “X” number of years of U.S. statehood, most will agree the original invention is in trouble. We hear cries of pain throughout the state of Hawaii, but we hear no real discussion of how we got to this pass or how we might find our way to better times.

We have a resource management crisis, an energy crisis, and a crisis of leadership so pervasive in all sectors that it goes unremarked. (Quick. Name today’s three great leaders of business. Name two great leaders of unions. Name one great leader of the legislature.)

Since we are arguably as well-intentioned as the statehood generation, how do we account for the present state of our State?

In its early years, the new State government prided itself on leading the way nationally in health care, labor legislation, streamlined state-county government, women’s rights, and land use management. All occurred with astonishing speed — in less than a decade. It is little wonder that many people initially were exhilarated by statehood.

An economic development boom likewise happened quickly. We liked the income and the revenues but not the construction cranes and congestion. The impact of rapid development on people’s lifestyle and on the landscape itself created the first big fork in the road of statehood.

In only a few short years, an intense political clash set in over development and growth. At the heart of the famous conflict between John Burns and Tom Gill was a dispute over the pace and scale of development — over transforming sheltered bays into destination resorts, and open spaces into subdivisions.

It is within the phenomenon of development shock that the story returns to native Hawaiians. Although most had previously lost their traditional land and water use rights, many still connected themselves to various small kuleana, to places in the country, streams, beaches, and near-shore waters—and these were being used up and closed off. A mixture of active frustration and latent pride rose quickly to the surface and became more pronounced year by year, forming the basis of the Hawaiian movement. One of the sayings was, “We have to look back to go forward.” Another was “Go back to get back.”

In her study of Hawaiian enclaves (kipuka), the Hawaiian scholar Davianna MacGregor has most effectively described how the social and cultural roots of today’s situation are not only political and national, but also tied inextricably to living space, lifestyle, and the sustainability of resources. The clue was the combination of initial, almost reflexive anti-development protests and the much longer-term set of issues arising from the Hawaiian community around population, land, and water. In these terms, the far-reaching amendments of the Constitution of 1978 prescribed an idealized, self-sufficient, and environmentally sensitive approach to government that we have not been able to implement.

The shift from plantation agriculture to plantation tourism is a central reason. From statehood forward, the Hawaii Land Use Law was supposed to guide and control development on all islands. It resulted from a coalition of the ILWU, the Big Five corporations, and liberal Democrats. They boldly sought to protect prime agricultural land as well as the upland watersheds that replenish our aquifers, while encouraging compact urban growth and discouraging suburban sprawl.

Yet even as the public sphere struggled with mechanisms to achieve a sustainable existence, plantation agriculture was going down — plantation by plantation. The unions were blamed, but the underlying truth was more complicated. Sugar was always a substantially political undertaking, and in the mid-1970s, the federal government changed the quotas, subsidies, and tariffs that previously had supported the plantations.

Think of the impact of high-fructose corn syrup and the making of ethanol from corn. In a sense, the plantation interests who wanted statehood to gain the security of the protected U.S. market were betrayed — and left to become land developers and seekers after urban zoning. The organizing basis of the statehood land use planning system progressively fell into disarray, and we now are fighting with one another over suburban sprawl across the entire Ewa plain of Oahu.

In the course of our population doubling, the original 117,000 acres of urban-zoned land has grown to nearly 200,000 acres. By almost any standard, the goals of compact development and the preservation of prime agricultural land have not been met.

As a consequence of the national economic meltdown, the State budget is so out of balance, the programs of government cut so precipitously, that it will take many years to figure out how to mitigate the damage. We more than have our hands full. We might want history to leave us alone, but it won’t.

In the press for a system of reconciliation and redress for native Hawaiians, we will sooner or later establish a native Hawaiian governing entity. There will be a necessarily contentious negotiation of the associated issues of land and water — specifically those that belonged to the Hawaiian kingdom and the Hawaiian monarch.

Resources and the monetary rewards of access will be at issue. The meaning of opportunity and equality will be debated anew. There will be many issues of governance, rooted in arguments as to the meaning of autonomy and sovereignty. The weight of all those other economic, educational, and political issues will be tugging at us, and from all of this will result a redefinition of what we thought of as the State of Hawaii.

But God, we love Hawaii. A recent national survey of the residents of the fifty states found that despite our problems we still ranked ourselves highest in our sense of well-being. So if we think about attempting a reinvention of ourselves, we can look to our abundant well-being as a starting point. As when we spoke optimistically about the noble possibilities of statehood, in that same spirit we can engage optimistically in a search for how a reinvented Hawaii might work. The project called the State of Hawaii in its present configuration is temporal, but Hawaii is timeless.

DISCUSSION: This essay is part of a 14-week series of excerpts from the book, "The Value of Hawaii: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future." What do you think about Tom Coffman's take on what's happened in Hawaii since statehood? Do you have any questions for him? Join the conversation about the future of the state in our online forum dedicated to the book.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BOOK: The Value of Hawaii: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future

ATTEND A FORUM WITH THE VALUE OF HAWAII AUTHORS: We're also discussing our series on "The Value of Hawaii" in person in Beatups at Civil Beat headquarters. You can come and meet Charles Reppun and talk to him about his essay on agriculture. You'll also be able to meet Ramsay Remigius Mahealani Taum, who wrote the essay on tourism, and Sumner La Croix, who wrote about the economy. The Beatup will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2 at 3465 Waialae Ave., Suite 200. The sessions are free and open to the public. But please RSVP to beatup@civilbeat.com so we can plan to accommodate the number of people who'll attend. You'll also be able to buy the book and get the authors to sign it. To learn about our previous Value of Hawaii Beatup with Craig Howes, Jonathan Osorio and Chad Blair, check out this summary and video.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tom Coffman is an independent researcher, writer, and documentary producer. He moved to Hawaii in 1965, and began his work as a newspaper reporter, first for the Honolulu Advertiser and then the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. He also worked as a field coordinator for the Honolulu Community Action Program. Books by Tom Coffman include Catch A Wave, Nation Within, and The Island Edge of America. Films include O Hawaii, Nation Within, and First Battle: The Battle for Equality in Wartime Hawaii. A written biography of the labor lawyer Ed Nakamura, And Justice for All, is soon to be released by the University of Hawaii Press, and a new documentary film, Ninoy Aquino and the Rise of People Power, is being distributed nationally by PBS.

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