San Diego was long an economic underachiever, despite its port and superb climate, but in recent decades its northern suburbs have become extremely prosperous (Rancho Santa Fe is said to be the highest average income community in America), driven by communications and biotech businesses.
In contrast, Hawaii's economy, while certainly not impoverished, has never really developed beyond tourism, pineapple, and the military.
A reader writes:
"Business gurus have long predicted that Hawaii would become a high-tech powerhouse due to its central location between California and East Asia, but that has never happened. I spent one year at the University of Hawaii. Hawaii is a very Leftwing state. The largest employers are various Federal government entities. Many persons are immigrants who do not work, but just hang out and live on family money. The state government has very generous benefits, including health care. The entire atmosphere is one of relaxation. Even the East Asians in Hawaii lack their stereotypical hustle and drive."
Along the same lines, here are excerpts from the:
HAWAIIAN DRIVERS LICENSE APPLICATION
(pidgin kind style)
Please try to complete dis as best as you can.
Last name:________________________________________
[if your last Name no fit, continue on da other side of da page.]
First name:
[ ] Junior
[ ] Junior Boy
[ ] J.B. (short for Jr. Boy)
[ ] Honey Girl
[ ] Tita
[ ] Sistah
[ ] Braddah
[ ] Sistah-Girl
Slippah size____ Left ____ Right
Weight:
[ ] Shmall kind
[ ] Mejum
[ ] Shmall kind big
[ ] Momona
Occupation:
[ ] Construction workah
[ ] Sanitation Engineer
[ ] Surfah
[ ] Lei greeter
[ ] Waitress
[ ] Stripper
[ ] Un-employed
[ ] Bishop Estate Trustee
Spouse's Name: ______________________________
2nd Spouse's Name: __________________________
3rd Spouse's Name: __________________________
Lover's Name: _______________________________
2nd Lover's Name: ___________________________
Nationality:
[ ] Hawaiian
[ ] Popolo
[ ] Japanee
[ ] Filipino
[ ] Haole
[ ] Portagee if yes; explain why:
[ ] Pake if yes; explain why:
[ ] All da above
Numbah of children living in household: ____________
Numbah of children living in your household das not yours: _____
Numbah of children thats buming off of you das over 23 years old: _______
Edumacation:
1 2 3 4 (Circle highest grade completed)
What year you wen grad: ____ (if unsure, try guess)
If you obtained one higher edumacation what was your major?
[ ]5th grade
[ ] 6th grade
How many times have you gotten away with a DUI this year because you were related to da policeman? ____
[More]
By the way, Hawaiian Pidgin is actually a full-blown creole language with a complex grammar that evolved about a century ago among the children of immigrant plantation workers. The immigrants themselves, who spoke Portuguese, Tagalog, Cantonese, Japanese, English and so forth, developed a simplified pidgin language so they could communicate with each other and with Native Hawaiians, but their kids turned it into a full language. This is one of the stronger pieces of evidence for Noam Chomsky's theory that a "grammar instinct" is hard coded into humans.
Here are more Hawaiian Pidgin phrases, with recordings.
Whether the widespread use of Hawaiian Pidgin contributes to the poor test scores in Hawaii is a controversial question within the Islands. It's hard to see much evidence for that view from the NAEP scores. Hawaiian 8th graders average 11 points below the national average on reading, but 12 points below on math, which suggests that language is less of a problem than lack of effort or lack of brains. Hawaii's performance is pretty bad for a state where blacks and Hispanics make up only 7 percent of the population in the public schools.
A former resident of Hilo explains local terminology:
"Steve, folks in Hawai'i with even one drop of Native Hawaiian/Polynesian blood are deemed 'Hawaiian' or other words from the Hawaiian language depending on amount and political leanings nowadays, but ANYONE born and raised there for generations who does not have any amount of such racial stock is deemed both Local and one of the 'Hawaii people' as well as kama'aina. It's an ungainly way of speaking/writing but is done because the folks there are hyper sensitive/conscious their state is named for their ethnic/racial grouping. Here on the mainland after living in Hilo for seven years, I notice this misidentifying faux pas still.
"Barack Obama is certainly NOT 'Hawaiian,' though he is one of the 'Hawaii people.' Anti-White bias is rampant there in 'Paradise,' by the way, it's just well concealed unless one lives there."
My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer
22 comments:
Steve,
I grew up in Hawaii. You would love it! People openly talk about race and ethnicity as a central social driving force in society. This easy parlance totally diffuses any tension. Invariably, though, some white or black person from the mainland will play the race card and get offended while the rest of Hawaii just shrugs their shoulders at this alien concept. I hope the future multi-ethnic America resembles Hawaii's attitudes rather than the lightning rod white/other dichotomy we have now.
As for lack of ambition. Every year in Hawaii, there's a front page article about "Brain Drain" because all the ambitious young people leave. Ambition just isn't as admirable a quality in Hawaii. People are more focused on their families, just like they are 50 miles out of any other major metropolitan area.
Hawaii sounds like the one place where the One Drop Rule exists *other* than in a black/white context.
Is one racial/ethnic group the dominant one in Hawaii?
Peter
Peter,
The one drop of Hawaiian blood isn't taken that seriously. It entitles you to some advantages set aside strictly for Native Hawaiians, but people certainly don't label you a "Hawaiian" just because your great great grandmother enjoyed the company of a missionary. Hawaiians with an actually significant quantum of Hawaiian blood even have a term for these one-droppers, "immitation crab Hawaiians".
No group makes up the majority of Hawaii. Japanese-Americans used to be the largest ethnic group but migration out of and into the islands makes whites the largest group now (Hardly a majority, though).
Politics in Hawaii become very interesting because candidates make a big effort to name drop all their ethnicities to appeal to as many people as possible. I remember one guy who ran for mayor of Honolulu, Arnold Morgado, who looked anything but asian and he appeared in commercials in karate pajamas talking about his Japanese grandpa.
Steve: I'm one of a hell of a lot of people who have found Hawaii and Hawaiians racist jerk offs and their racism spreads to most conversations because they don't bother to hide it. And if any of your readers are good surfers and go over to Hawaii to ride some waves, they better be able to fight because if you are white and alone those guys will gang up on you big time. I now go to Pacific Mexico rather than Hawaii: better surf (believe it ot not on a day to day basis, with Costa Rica numero uno in the world), much nicer people, and one hell of a lot cheaper.
I found that blacks in the military were the least likely military people to like Hawaii. Blacks are a small minorities in an island of minorities. There are fewer black owned business and virtually no business caters to Hawaii. Blacks from the mainland are not exactly the core of the surfing, wind surfing, scuba diving, big game fishing industry.
There is also no support mechanisms for blacks in Hawaii and is said before, playing the race cardjust does not work.
The one exception for blacks not likely Hawaii are those in mixed marriages. Hawaii has to be the most accepting of "mixed" marriages.
Question from a mainlander:
How bad is anti-white racism in Hawaii?
I hear conflicting reports. Some say it's barely noticeable unless your hypersensitive, and I've heard other people say it's virulent. Is it a major barrier to whites seeking good jobs, or a barrier to white upward mobility? Or is it mainly the province of surfer thugs?
Grew up in Hawaii again.
Anti-white racism is "barely noticeable unless your hypersensitive."
Virtually everyone has a white relative and if anyone makes a comment regarding being "Haole"(non-derogatory term for whites) it's usually in reference to their mainland value system, ex: racial hypersensitivity.
White racism (actually anti-nonlocal) bigotry expresses itself in employment. In Hawaii certain industries or fields are limited to a certain ethnic group such as masons are always Tongan.
Whites from the mainland take a long time to realize this. However, if jobs dealing with mainland tourist, whites can get jobs and sometimes the better jobs.
With regard to Hawaii's relatively poor economic performance, could the psychological effects of isolation factor be a major cause? A close friend of mine just moved back to the mainland after 6 years in Honolulu. She and her husband loved the climate and relaxed pace of life (the latter being a product of the non-ambitious economy, right?), but they got sick of traveling hours and hours by air to visit family members, sick of being so geographically confined on one island, sick of the general lack of standard US amenities (apparently, there's no Target, which is frankly astonishing), and basically just sick of the feeling of being cut off from the mainstream of American life.
That "cut off" feeling can be seductive and appealing if you're not ambitious (or have already enjoyed a successful career and are ready to retire), but in the long run it will turn off those who seek high achievement.
When you combine the isolation with a climate that encourages recreation - who wants to stay inside and slog over the books when you can be playing outside in gorgeous weather EVERY DAY? - it's not surprising that Hawaii is not a hotbed of entrepreneurialism. And that means, in the modern economy, that it will not be likely to enjoy significant material success.
Full disclosure: I've never lived in HA. To those who've lived there - am I misinterpreting the reality of life in paradise?
anon 1:03 -
you are dead accurate about the isolation (at least for transplants from the mainland).
The time and expense of travelling to the mainland is a large hurdle for visiting - or even being visited by - friends and family.
One other wrinkle of the isolation is the 5 or 6 hour time difference with the east coast. If you want to call a relative after work during the week, you can try calling at exactly 5pm in Hawaii, and maybe catch them at 10pm or 11pm right before they go to bed. The crazy logistics make spur of the moment calling practically impossible.
And forget being a football fan in hawaii - Monday night football might be time delayed, but the results are already plastered on the internet late monday afternoon. And weekend games? Get used to getting up at 7am to catch those afternoon games live.
Seems to me someone is remembering the past a little too rosy. I went to high school as a white kid in Hawaii. Wasn't fun at all. This notion that Haole is non offensive is rubbish, I heard "Hey Haole boy you got quarter?" so many times usually accompanied by a punch that I have not forgotten it. Course the Teachers were racist too. I'll never forget a favorite social studies teacher lobbying to keep the military dependent kids from being eligible for homecoming king/queen. Oh lest we forget what was the last day of school called? Kill a Haole day. Hmm no not offensive at all O
Watch Dog the Bounty Hunter and listen to how the local speak. I can't understand some of them a lot of the time. As far as I'm concerned, everything other than the tourists spots look like dumps. And listen closely at night in Hawaii. In the background you can hear coquis, which are these really loud tiny frogs that somehow transplanted themselves to the islands.
Hawaii is far away from the rest of the U.S. That would explain why it doesn't have much high tech or high finance. It's a long flight away from financial markets and high tech areas.
In order to have high tech, you need a large enough pool of highly trained workers, and you need to be near suppliers and customers. Hawaii's remoteness dooms it as a high tech hub.
-John
Mike,
No local ever punched me or asked me for a quarter in a threatening way and I went to school near Waimonalo.
Maybe you were just a victim of bullying not racism.
Kill Haole day is just an urban legend people tell new transplants to scare them.
To the person who said that every place other than the tourist spots in Hawaii looks like a "dump", congratulations for getting your information and basing your opinions on "Dog: The Bounty Hunter". Hawaii is just like any other place with a higher socioeconomic class, and a lower socioeconomic class. I am a woman of mixed (Hawaiian-White-Latina-Asian-Native American) descent who was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. I grew up in an upper-middle class household, attended private school, etc., all in a place where a decent home will run you at least $1,000,000 in Honolulu. In actuality, the "tourist" spots,in my opinion, are some of the most unattractive areas of Hawaii. Also, if you can understand Standard American English, I trust that you would be able to understand my speech. I'm aware of the fact that many people in Hawaii may not speak English "properly", and that many of us are from poor backgrounds, but it's ridiculous to stereotype, especially if your stereotypes are based on a show that's basically a better developed "Cops".
Ah, da braddah is homesick for Hawaii. So sad. Lucky I live Hawaii.
But what Mike says is true. I've heard that from lots of people who went to school here.
Of course most whites send their kids to fancy private schools like the one Obama went to.
It is a shock to experience anti-white racism, but of course racism is what non-whites experience every day of their lives, so the one time someone made a racist remark to me, I wasn't really upset.
The key is not to come across as a big shot. Work in the community. Be friendly. Then you have no problems. Guaranteed.
Hawaii is like anywhere else: complex, good stuff, bad stuff. So what? That's life.
Thassal.
--Old Hauli Lady
Racism is prevalent in Hawaii, not just to the people who are hypersensitive. Yet, it's not normally going to amount to violent attacks. And not everyone is racist, but the ones who are voice their opinions loudly, and often. Yes, there have been some widely publicized incidents of violence -- and that's a real shame. Most of the time, however, you'll get an ignorant comment -- "f-ing haole." Or maybe a "stink eye." Whites and blacks get it the worst, but it's not unusual for a NATIVE HAWAIIAN to be called "f-ing haole." I know. I am a quarter Native Hawaiian -- which is a whole hell of a lot today. Yet, I have very fair skin, and I can speak proper English due to my private school education. It's really ironic when I hear those words said to me by someone who has a much lower blood quantum of Native Hawaiian, but darker skin. And it's even more of a biyatch to know that some of my family does not like me, simply because my mother is white; and that my brother was not allowed to receive his full Hawaiian name, which is his birthright -- just because his mother was white. That happened thirty something years ago, when my brother was born. No lie. Stupid racist bullcrap.
I forgot about "kill Haole Day"... dudes it was tough, last day of school at Radford. Thank God that I tann well, my name is Antonio and that since I lived there before Julio Iglesias got famous no one knew what I spaniard was... so I was a portagee and the mokes left me alone.
I do miss Oahu though. Given the chance, I'll sell my house in OC and move there.
Of course, my wife is Okinawan and my kids happas... so we'll just join an Okinawan Club and eat lots of Spam. ;-)
When my boss lived there it wasn't called "kill haole" simply, beat up haole day. And it is not a myth, all white kids would run from school when the bell rang, and the natives would beat them if they could catch them. I've been to hawaii twice, and the racism is quite prevalent. Not just hawaiians hating whites, but the japanese aren't too fond of the round eyes either.
Racism is real in Hawaii. But its not something as concrete as racism in the mainland. I think the thing is that you don't have defined persecutors and victims like the one quarter Hawaiian woman was talking about. You have people that have tan skin and live in Nalo with their grandparents and therefore aren't reprimanded by their fellow peers for calling someone a f'ing hoale. Even if they themselves are part white. Can you imagine the cops arresting someone who was part Japanese, part Hawaiian, part Filipino and part white for a racist crime against a light skinned Caucasian? Of course not, it wouldn't happen. If it did it could never be classified as a hate crime. Yet racism continues to be prevalent in Hawaii still today.
There are many variables that go towards getting singled out. Such as; not being born in Hawaii, having light skin, being of Caucasian ancestry and the lack of a family support system. On the other side if you have those things you are more likely not to be picked on and rather you more of a right to be racist against others. Kill haole day is not a mith even though no one ever gets killed, but it is a perfect excuse to get into trouble and beat up some kid without repercussions. Bullies can thrive in this setting. I remember when i was in a private high school and there was a fight. The teachers came out to see what was going on and were told by the students that it wasn't their business. The teachers turned around and walked off. That was mind-blowing. Hazing was also very popular and if you were white, you were a much bigger target than anyone else. Birthday hazings are very popular and guess what, if you are white you better not let anyone know its your birthday.
I’m done raving and ranting for now. Of course this is all in my opinion and all based on my experience. It saddens me to see Hawaii dip in and out of economic slumps and see people of all races and cultures struggle in a some time backward society. There are great things about Hawaii and I want to return after I get my degree. But there are many factors that promote hate in Hawaii; poverty, high cost of living, a melting pot of cultures and races and over population.
Hawaii is a very racist state, and racism has become ingrained in the hawaiian culture. Whites are deemed deserving of racism due to history. Most haoli's ignore it, not really caring what the local opinion of them is.
If government institutions in the lower 48 were as blatantly racist as they are here all, Al Sharpton would never be off of the air.
This might be a good state for Bill O'Rielly.
I was in lahaina for the summer in 2007. it was great fun. But Racism was unbelievable bad there!! philipinos would gang up on white guys, and tongan thugs would hit white guys just for them being white!. It was unbelievably bad!!! I mean there was one club in lahaina called "paradise" and if you were white and went in there you got beaten up!!! i was there with a group of girls and even the girls got hit!!! oh and as for their education, lets just say it was non existent!!! they are horrendous a maths and english!!! all they give a damn about is "surfin, smokin weed and mayonaise!!" they love mayonaise!!!! but man i gotta tell ya it shows!!! they have to be some of the fattest people in the world!! i mean the REAL hawaiians and tongans are HUGE!!! anyway, maui is a hate filled place. They think that the white man stole their lands etc!! SMALL PLACES BREAD SMALL MINDS!
Post a Comment