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Probably true, but I wonder in the new economy if Hawaii couldn't be a center for non manufacturing related high tech (software, design etc...) given its geographical attractiveness. That kind of work can be done anywhere, so why not in one of the nicest places on earth? You wouldn't think it would be that hard to attract folks with the promise of a good job and year round stable warm weather. Cost of living is high in San Jose and San Francisco as well, California has high taxes like Hawaii, yet they still manage to attract many of the worlds best and brightest. Sure, the universities in HI aren't even close to the ones in California but it still might be feasible. I dunno, just kind of thinking out loud.
That would be ideal, wouldn't it...
However, I suspect there is a reason it has not happen and will not happen. A hi-tech economy needs scientists and engineers....and they come from graduates from universities. Hawaii does not have that. Yes, UH has engineering, but one engineering dept is not enough to create an entire industry. It's no accident that Silicon Valley (Apple, Google, Yahoo) and Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA...are all in California.
I.e., I met a PhD in physics guy who worked at Maui's Haleakala Crater, on a project contracted by the Air Force. He came from the East Coast. You'd think they'd just find someone local to fill that job -- nope. They look at ALL applicants, nationwide. Not everyone wants to relocate to Hawaii -- the costs, housing prices, groceries, educational standards for their kids -- all impact the person making the decision about moving here.
If all one wants to do is to live a sunny life in a mild climate and do whatever for that goal, then these concerns do not apply. But for a lot of professionals, those concerns are completely relevant and make or break their decision.
I see 2 main reasons why unfortunately, Hawaii cannot become a hi-tech Pacific Silicon Island:
1. Difficulty attracting top talent (just like attracting top doctors if you ever read the medical/hospital thread on Hawaii) due to the stated reasons above.
2. Not having top-tier universities to draw research talent from.
I've taught a college class here....felt like I was teaching at the 8th grade level. Yes, it's THAT bad.
Ultimately, we do have enough land in Hawaii to grow all of our own food, and there are a whole lot of people on Molokai doing just that.
But local agriculture is discouraged and sabotaged by the import of low-quality, cheap mainland produce and by economic incentives given for people to use Hawaiian land to grow commodity crops like coffee and macadamia nuts meant for export. With a change of policies, with community gardens, with educating people on how to use the land they have to grow food instead of just ornamental landscaping, we could go back to the time when Hawaii fed and clothed itself. In traditional Polynesian culture, a breadfruit tree was planted for each child born, because that tree would grow up to produce an immense amount of food all throughout the year for the child to live off of. If you planted just breadfruit and avocados, with pipinella vines growing up them, you would have a lot of food right there.
Oahu has of course gone down an unsustainable path which would need to be changed drastically, probably resulting in some people who just want to live a mainland city lifestyle leaving to pursue that in a mainland city. And while there are organic farms on the islands producing foods like broccoli or peaches, some people would also have to change their consumer taste index to accommodate what can easily be grown here in high amounts.
Global warming and peak oil are real, and they are here today. Digging up such massive amounts of oil and coal from the ground and piling them up into the atmosphere has serious consequences, and is more than our volcanoes could ever accomplish. These consequences are coming faster than originally predicted. Our great grandchildren will come off of several generations of having to face a difficult survival on a planet not what it used to be. The status quo can not go on indefinitely, if we are going to talk about electricity, we need to begin with accepting the fact that we will have to use a lot less than we do now. And if we currently can't go on without massive supplies sent in from the mainland, then we need to change that, because that will not last forever.
Beyond Molokai, there are small Pacific island nations that have never been colonized and which are self-sufficient regarding their food supply. It's doable.
Doable yes, but everyone has to be willing to do it for it to work on a continual, effective, and widespread basis. The current system we are in is something that most people -- 99% pretty much -- are participating in. To undo the system and change it into what you are describing can only work if everyone is willing to have less, use less, own less. Buy what you need, not what you want. How many people have that discipline? People confuse needs and wants all the time, hence our consumer-based economy that create demand for all kinds of manufactured stuff. It was only about 5 years ago that I realized the difference and lived accordingly. Even then, sometimes I'm lured into buying something I don't need -- and won't end up using. Which becomes waste and one day, ends up in the landfill.
One person can't make a difference on a wide scale when it comes to sustainable living -- it takes a majority of the people. I can recycle my stuff all my life and grow my own food. But if my neighbors accumulate tons of trash, poison the soil, and shop at Walmart....how much of an impact can I have except on myself?
Your description would be nice if it could come true. Perhaps in 100 years it will be, hopefully!
A hi-tech economy needs scientists and engineers....and they come from graduates from universities. Hawaii does not have that. Yes, UH has engineering, but one engineering dept is not enough to create an entire industry. It's no accident that Silicon Valley (Apple, Google, Yahoo) and Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA...are all in California.
A 'hi-tech economy' in Hawai might be great for people who have skills and knowledge in hi-tech, and who want to live in Hawaii.
But, for everyone who isn't into hi-tech, and wants to live in Hawaii...it just makes it more difficult to live there.
They get higher salaries than everyone else, and therefore drive up the cost of living that much more.
Doable yes, but everyone has to be willing to do it for it to work on a continual, effective, and widespread basis. The current system we are in is something that most people -- 99% pretty much -- are participating in. To undo the system and change it into what you are describing can only work if everyone is willing to have less, use less, own less. Buy what you need, not what you want. How many people have that discipline? People confuse needs and wants all the time, hence our consumer-based economy that create demand for all kinds of manufactured stuff. It was only about 5 years ago that I realized the difference and lived accordingly. Even then, sometimes I'm lured into buying something I don't need -- and won't end up using. Which becomes waste and one day, ends up in the landfill.
One person can't make a difference on a wide scale when it comes to sustainable living -- it takes a majority of the people. I can recycle my stuff all my life and grow my own food. But if my neighbors accumulate tons of trash, poison the soil, and shop at Walmart....how much of an impact can I have except on myself?
Your description would be nice if it could come true. Perhaps in 100 years it will be, hopefully!
Yes, you're right, it would have to be a collective thing--if someone is standing by shrugging their shoulders and saying "more for me!" then it doesn't work. Consumer culture does encourage people to view the world through the mirage that everything is infinite, including the capacity for waste products. I'm sure if corporations were made ultimately responsible for all the packaging they sell their products with, as well as the the disposal of these (often laced with toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, mercury...)products when they stop working, then things would be quite different.
To limit oneself to only needs, and not wants is to deny humanity. We are about excelling, not just getting by, about pushing the envelope, not being contained by it, to reach the pinnacle of Maslow's hierarchy - self-actualization.
Maslow's hierarchy? ... Maslow didn't intend that people should live materialistic lives of waste and destructive habits ... the pyramid addressed the issue of supporting curiosity and self-realization/actualization -- not shallow consumerism as a lifestyle. Self-realization/actualization can be more readily found through minimalistic life than through worthless economic bondage to baubles and trinkets and all manner of unnecessary ownerships.
Maslow's hierarchy? ... Maslow didn't intend that people should live materialistic lives of waste and destructive habits ... the pyramid addressed the issue of supporting curiosity and self-realization/actualization -- not shallow consumerism as a lifestyle. Self-realization/actualization can be more readily found through minimalistic life than through worthless economic bondage to baubles and trinkets and all manner of unnecessary ownerships.
Can't give you more rep until I spread it around again...
I don't believe he "intended" anything. He merely observed and quantified. Sounds like somebody could do with a few more baubles and trinkets - way too much resentment over other's success, IMHO.
I'll keep my baubles and trinkets and the true meaning they give to my life - you can keep your absence thereof. I've tried both, and baubles beats no-baubles hands down - way down.
Aloha
Define success ...
Maslow "intended" to have his presentation understood ...
Success is "to accomplish". I can mean many specific things to many people, but to be as little and inconsequential as possible is to squander your gifts, and, IMHO, anything BUT a success. In fact, it is the ultimate in abject failure.
Well, I see ... then you have yourself a grand old time getting the universe to acknowledge your "consequential-ness" and "gifts", whilst I remain in the "abject failure-ness" of my non-arrogance ...
Now, meanwhile, back at the "critical state of paradise" calling all you consequential and gifted people to arrive without space or employment to put you ...
I recommend people moving to Hawaii when they feel they're not going to make it where they currently live because if they become homeless, they won't freeze their butt off. The social service is similar to California, only if they can't accommodate you for a night or so, you can sleep outside without desperation like you would in the mainland during the winter time. Kauai and North Shore Oahu are best place to be homeless since there are churches and social services, and people are cool and helpful. Most likely, you'll be set up in comfortable living situation at some people homes or even some cheap housing that are recently available in Kauai. Kauai housing has gotten relatively cheap due to poor economy and the glut of affordable housing thanks to Lingle's Administration. You most likely be homeless for a brief time, and people there will fix you up especially in N. Shore Oahu or Kauai. The same can't be said in other parts of Hawaii since there are chronic drug addicts and homeless people not wanting help or just in the wrong area. You just need to know where to go. I'm not trying to advertise Hawaii a good place to go if you're homeless. It's reality. It's either certain part of Hawaii as mentioned above or being in Norway, Sweden, Austria and other European countries. There prison system is really like 5 star hotel. Nothing can go wrong unless you're deported.
It's either certain part of Hawaii as mentioned above or being in Norway, Sweden, Austria and other European countries. There prison system is really like 5 star hotel. Nothing can go wrong unless you're deported.
More like being locked up in the the most overbearing, controlling, single sex boarding school ever. Sure, pretty pictures on the walls, and ok rooms, but no freedom, and only about 2 hours per day to your own thing.
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