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<\/a>And, as a person commenting on a Civil Beat column that I wrote<\/a> six months ago about leaving Hawaii put it, \u201cloving something is dangerous, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\nI was lucky enough to get a large collection of such stories in these comments. They are very different from ordinary readers\u2019 comments. They are longer and mostly not pro or con. People took the time to write long, rich and thoughtful stories about their lives. They are miniature autobiographies.<\/p>\n
They are also very diverse. One talks of his parents\u2019 decision about whether to send him to private school. Another tells of his stepfather moving from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest to be a truck driver.<\/p>\n
Others discuss what it is like living far from their children and grandchildren.<\/p>\n
A person who grew up on the Big Island moved to the continent, then after many years moved back, then left again because he couldn\u2019t stand the Big Island\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n
Many others talk about their decision to stay in Hawaii and how that has worked out for them.<\/p>\n
All in all, they offer an enlightening picture of what people think of Hawaii\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
These stories show that people generally are not optimistic about the future. But they are really not pessimistic, either. Their attachment to Hawaii leads them to think about the future in a different way that demonstrates both love\u2019s power and its danger.<\/p>\n
Little Optimism<\/strong><\/h2>\nOnly a couple of stories are straight out optimistic: \u201cI\u2019ve been reading these doom and gloom essays about Hawaii for decades. I\u2019m not buying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One commenter said, \u201cPersonally, I think Hawaii will pull through just fine,\u201d but then went on to add, \u201cFact of the matter is, regardless of where you are, things are going to be rough for the next several years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2021\/01\/30152210\/diamond-head-kaimana-aerial-640x427.jpg\")
Those with big plans for Hawaii don’t want to hear that people love it and accept it as it is. <\/span>Nathan Eagle\/Civil Beat\/2021<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThere was only one comment that was kind to state government: \u201cWe should applaud the State for starting to take even baby steps to diversify the economy (build the TMT!), provide job training for those that have lost low paying tourism jobs and build affordable housing. These are key to keeping young families here in Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s as enthusiastic as the stories get. Most people, even those who are rooted and never think of leaving, are not at all upbeat.<\/p>\n
As one commenter put it, \u201cTourism-based jobs will be replaced with higher paying teleworking jobs. People call for job diversification in Hawaii and that is coming soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut,\u201d he went on to say, \u201cit’s going to be upsetting to many because those jobs are going to be filled by people from around the world, not just locals … The future will hurt worse than it does now for a lot of people who think of Hawaii as their home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only one person was more of a visionary, seeing the pandemic as an opportunity to break with business as usual: \u201cLet’s try a new narrative based on us being part of an island and indigenous society.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most common view is this: Whether they think that people living here should stay or leave Hawaii, most feel that Hawaii is not going to change dramatically.<\/p>\n
It is not so much that people explicitly deny optimism. It\u2019s as if a sense of optimism and pessimism is not a key part of the equation.<\/p>\n
In fact, it isn\u2019t. A sense of attachment is far more important. It is a special kind of attachment, and that\u2019s where love comes in.<\/p>\n
The Dangers Of Love<\/strong><\/h2>\nSome commenters criticize the idea that Hawaii is a special place: It\u2019s no longer special, lots of places are special.\u00a0 I grew up in Hawaii, moved away, came back to live, discovered things have changed for the worse, so I moved back to the mainland.<\/p>\n
The attachment people feel, however, is deeper than a sense of place. \u201cIt’s much like an emotional infatuation, that can’t be explained intellectually,\u201d is the way one commenter put it.<\/p>\n
More like love.<\/p>\n
Even people who have left and do not plan to return say they feel this sustained infatuation: Hawaii will always be my home even if I never return. I have a good life on the mainland, but I still think of Hawaii as my home. I carry my culture with me.<\/p>\n
What makes this love, as that earlier commenter put it, dangerous?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s dangerous because in the words of that same person, if someone feels this love, \u201cone accepts the consequences, limitations, and the responsibilities of sustaining a place that has chosen you.\u201d<\/p>\n
It encourages acceptance rather than hope, responsibility rather than activism or optimism. Your deep attachment leads you to settle, to accept the flaws of a place because you love it so much and you filter your feelings about the changes Hawaii needs to make through this infatuation.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not what optimists want to hear. It\u2019s certainly not what those who advocate big changes want to hear either.<\/p>\n
But this infatuation is deeply rooted. That\u2019s why it is so important to understand it and not simply demean it as giving up or giving in.<\/p>\n
But it is also what makes this kind of love so dangerous.<\/p>\n
In that earlier column, I wrote that Hawaii is an easy place to love and a hard place to leave. The readers\u2019 stories show that Hawaii is also a hard place to change because it is an easy place to love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Love is at the heart of people\u2019s views of what post-pandemic Hawaii will be like. It is a special kind of love with special kinds of risks. And, as a person commenting on a Civil Beat column that I wrote six months ago about leaving Hawaii put it, \u201cloving something is dangerous, isn\u2019t it?\u201d I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6197,"featured_media":1377353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2021-04-15T13:12:38Z","apple_news_api_id":"b3e8fcd4-3d62-4b1a-9d5f-517282c62c91","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2021-04-15T13:53:07Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/As-j81D1iSxqdX1FygsYskQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"middle","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[184,183],"tags":[38456],"post_format":[],"project":[],"coauthors":[205],"class_list":["post-1437888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-column","category-commentary","tag-civil-beat-app"],"slp_mobile_featured_image":{"id":1377353,"href":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1377353","image_path":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2020\/04\/01162848\/Hilton-Hawaiian-Village-Dark-at-6am-Coronavirus-COVID19-2020-scaled.jpg","caption":"Hilton Hawaiian Village in the dark at 6am April 1, 2020. Coronavirus COVID19 2020"},"acf":[],"slp_coauthors":[{"display_name":"Neal Milner","user_nicename":"neal-milner","author_link":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/author\/neal-milner\/"}],"slp_acf":{"post_twitter_card_type":"summary_large_image","post_twitter_card_description":"","legacy_facebook_comments_url":"","ideas_featured_selection":"Show Featured Text","ideas_featured_text":"","cb_excerpt_type":"","breaking_news":false,"custom_label_link":"","cb_article_type":"ideas","cb_related_logo_image":false,"cb_related_logo_link":"","cb_related_sponsor_logo_image":false,"cb_related_sponsor_url":"","cb_related_sponsor_text":"","cb_article_footnotes":"","dynamic_html":"","shins":false,"email_title":"","cb_inc_byline":false,"email_thumb":false,"email_thumb_style":"full","cb_custom_thumb_caption":false,"email_excerpt":"","cb_author_contributor_type":"internal","enable_comments":true,"subscribe_insert_when":"none","subscribe_insert_title":"Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.","df_title":"","df_message":"","df_link":"","incsides":false,"include_donation_footnote":true,"inctimeline":false},"slp_primary_category":{"id":183,"name":"Commentary"},"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Neal Milner: The Peril Of Loving Hawaii Is Accepting Its Flaws","url":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2021\/04\/neal-milner-the-peril-of-loving-hawaii-is-accepting-its-flaws\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/2021\/04\/neal-milner-the-peril-of-loving-hawaii-is-accepting-its-flaws\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2020\/04\/01162848\/Hilton-Hawaiian-Village-Dark-at-6am-Coronavirus-COVID19-2020-150x150.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/d1l18ops95qbzp.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/2020\/04\/01162848\/Hilton-Hawaiian-Village-Dark-at-6am-Coronavirus-COVID19-2020-scaled.jpg"},"articleSection":"Column","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Neal Milner"}],"creator":["Neal Milner"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"天美视频","logo":""},"keywords":["civil beat app"],"dateCreated":"2021-04-15T10:01:12Z","datePublished":"2021-04-15T10:01:12Z","dateModified":"2021-04-15T13:52:57Z"},"rendered":"
There was only one comment that was kind to state government: \u201cWe should applaud the State for starting to take even baby steps to diversify the economy (build the TMT!), provide job training for those that have lost low paying tourism jobs and build affordable housing. These are key to keeping young families here in Hawaii.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s as enthusiastic as the stories get. Most people, even those who are rooted and never think of leaving, are not at all upbeat.<\/p>\n
As one commenter put it, \u201cTourism-based jobs will be replaced with higher paying teleworking jobs. People call for job diversification in Hawaii and that is coming soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut,\u201d he went on to say, \u201cit’s going to be upsetting to many because those jobs are going to be filled by people from around the world, not just locals … The future will hurt worse than it does now for a lot of people who think of Hawaii as their home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only one person was more of a visionary, seeing the pandemic as an opportunity to break with business as usual: \u201cLet’s try a new narrative based on us being part of an island and indigenous society.\u201d<\/p>\n
The most common view is this: Whether they think that people living here should stay or leave Hawaii, most feel that Hawaii is not going to change dramatically.<\/p>\n
It is not so much that people explicitly deny optimism. It\u2019s as if a sense of optimism and pessimism is not a key part of the equation.<\/p>\n
In fact, it isn\u2019t. A sense of attachment is far more important. It is a special kind of attachment, and that\u2019s where love comes in.<\/p>\n