Every so often, the news reports on people who deny the legitimacy of the government we have here in Hawaii. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not subject to those laws,鈥 they say, 鈥渟o we don鈥檛 have to follow rules or pay taxes.鈥

It pains me to read stories of people after being told that they didn鈥檛 have to pay back their mortgages because the laws under which they were made were invalid in Hawaii.

It鈥檚 true that the path from Kingdom of Hawaii to Territory of Hawaii was peppered with events that were morally questionable…of course, depending on your morality.

Some people value strength 鈥 鈥淢ight makes right!鈥

Some have ideas of a moral objective, and the path to get there isn鈥檛 important 鈥 鈥淭he ends justified the means.鈥

What is legitimacy?

I鈥檒l start with the first clause of the first article of the Hawaii Constitution: 鈥淎ll political power of this State is inherent in the people and the responsibility for the exercise thereof rests with the people. All government is founded on this authority.鈥

That sounds a lot like “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government,” Article 21(3) of the United Nations鈥 1948 , or 鈥淕overnments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,鈥 from the 1776 document that the United States celebrates this month.

So I propose that legitimacy of a government comes from the consent of those governed.

There are, of course, those in the 鈥淗aole go home!鈥 camp who may say that the only voices who matter in Hawaii government are those of the kanaka maoli, perhaps meaning 鈥渁ny descendant of not less than one-half part of the blood of the races inhabiting the Hawaiian Islands previous to 1778,鈥 as section 201 of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act defines 鈥淣ative Hawaiian.鈥

Are we talking about a favored race here? They are entitled to their opinions, but they appear to be in the minority.

In 1959, the U.S. Congress passed our Admission Act. One unusual thing about this act was that it wasn鈥檛 a declaration like most laws are.

Rather, it was an offer. If the people of Hawaii, at a referendum election, accepted statehood, then the United States of America would welcome us in. That鈥檚 what section 7 of the Admission Act says. The Act specified three questions to be put before the voters, and if any one of them were not approved by a majority of the voters the Admission Act would have no effect.

On each of the three ballot questions, more than 132,000 people voted in favor while fewer than 8,000 voted against. There were 155,000 registered voters then, and the voter turnout we have ever had. When we became a state, sirens blared, horns honked, bells rang, fireworks were launched, and there was literally .

Will Of The People

We accepted statehood and all that came with it, including submission to the federal government of the United States. We accepted it even though our history with the United States included an unprovoked attack on the Queen of Hawaii, Japanese internment, and 60 years of being an 鈥渋nsular possession鈥 (a second-class status that no one should have to endure for that long).

The acceptance was not unanimous, but it was decisive. It was a clear expression of the will of the people. That鈥檚 why I conclude that our government is legitimate.

In no organized society can everyone do what they want, when they want, and where they want all the time. We have a set of rules that all of us must follow.

We have a set of rules that all of us must follow.

We can鈥檛 just walk into a random person鈥檚 property and pick their mango tree bare because we happened to be hungry. We can鈥檛 expect to borrow money from a bank and then forget about repaying it.

We can鈥檛 just accept the benefits of government and force the rest of us who pay taxes to pay more to make up for those who refuse to pony up. Those who have a different opinion can have it, but acting upon it may land them in the hoosegow.

Instead of having that happen, let鈥檚 work together, even with our differing opinions, to make the best out of our civilized society.

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