It Was the Best of Times…

Most in attendance at the Hawaii Republican convention, observed that it was the best ever -- with most of the presentations being inspired, authentic, and extemporaneous. And when there wasn’t programming, there wasn’t a lull for the lack of an engaging conversation or discussion to erupt. The good feeling and high spirits was palpable.

The major caveat was not to get overconfident and complacent of too certain a victory in the pivotal governor’s race, which the strategists hope this time will also have long coattails.

While much has been made about the overwhelming odds against the Republicans in the legislature and attempts to suppress and frustrate them in presenting alternative viewpoints, they seemed to relish their gadfly roles and rise to every occasion allowed them. And if that was the “worst,” they’re looking forward to even better times -- with an unmistakable mood of euphoria just thinking about the coming elections and prospects for sustained improvement.

The Governor has a way of making anything seem possible -- and if she says something, it must be true. And so as proof that things have changed greatly even without the “emerging Republican majority” in the legislature having manifested yet, the progress in the administration and management of key departments (in social services most notably other than education), are very encouraging. They seem to have turned around the whole human services paradigm in a single term! -- to where it may be a model for the rest of the nation. When did we ever hear/say that before?

The presentations and panel discussions were very lively and informed. I’m sure that in typical fashion, the Democrats will accuse us of all being actors hired by a public relations firm because they cannot accept that it could actually be authentic. That’s what we hear all the time about the Lingle Administration -- that all the good news is just the product of the best public relations manufacturing possible -- because that‘s what they would do to get those same “results.”

Perhaps we all need to act more cynical, dejected and dispirited for the Dems to be able to relate to people like them as credible. Having been in attendance at one, I was told that the televised differences in the spirit and mood of both, was a sharp contrast between everything that could go right, and everything that could go wrong. The tension and depression at the other was palpable -- even to people not normally sensitive to such nuances. At one, people were all smiles and good feeling; at the other, everybody was angry and determined to oppress all those not in conformity with their own dictates of moral (political) correctness.

It was not the “contact high” we had participating in a model of goodwill and civil discourse at the Sheraton. Reports would filter in about the unfolding debacle at the Hilton -- which seemed to announce that the mighty Democratic Party had fallen from any semblance of grace. They thanked the two people who stepped up to run in the governor’s race.

The new chairman said unconvincingly but hopefully at the end, that the Democrats have always banded together in the past after bitter fights -- and hoped this time would be the same. Maybe it’s different this time. But we have our own party to tend to -- and they have their work cut out for them, doing what they do best, blaming somebody else for actually doing something.

It Was the Worst of Times…

It’s unfortunate for the Democrats in Hawaii that they’ve characterized the major challenge of their party as merely the challenge to age -- rather than an issue much more fundamental to the survival of every organization. That is the quite legitimate challenge of the new to the old -- in every culture throughout time. When the new wins out, those individuals and their society is reborn, renewed, recharged; if the old wins out, it retards, cripples and eventually extinguishes that society -- from the face of the earth. It’s never failed.

The dying to the old is what makes evolution and progress possible -- and not just calling themselves “progressives,” while resisting, denying and fighting every change, every deviation, every exception from business as usual (and expected) as a mortal enemy, until their final battle is the one they wish they had not won -- for it brought the buildings down on their heads.

Everything changes to stay alive; once it cannot change, it’s no longer alive, and whether they are dead or alive, no longer matters -- as one cannot tell any difference. That was the final obstinance that proved to be fatal.

The new is not just that which is younger. Much more relevant is whether it is better -- and not simply more or less. A bad young guy is no better than an old bad guy; he merely prolongs the cycle of bad guys. Much more relevant is whether there are “good guy” alternatives. But of course, they don’t want us to see things that clearly. They will throw up all kinds of “red herring” issues to ensure we never see these things clearly.

Of course the easiest thing to do is blame somebody else for whatever goes wrong in the world. That is much easier than ever having to feel accountable and responsible for anything happening. Instead of actually doing anything, it is sufficient to just convince people that one is doing something -- making public service announcements to that effect, because the capacity to actually do anything, has long been lost. The only thing they can now do, is try to convince others that one is doing something by blaming somebody else.

Entire industries are devoted to that end. Rather than run for president themselves, they self-promote themselves to chief advisers, and berate the president for being stupid for not paying attention to them. They interpret the term “public servant,” to mean “personal servant,” who they feel entitled to abuse and harangue endlessly. These are the same people who take every opportunity out in public to humiliate all those they feel are restrained from answering back. They are the bullies and tyrants who regard democracy as the right of the majority to impose their will on the minority and everybody else not in their clique, or not in a position to defend themselves effectively.

That display of brutal, naked power, reveals what they are all about -- for all to see. It is the beginning of the end -- the long descent into the abyss. Their society and culture is no longer viable. Any association requires the willing consent of its participants. Enforced obedience to conformity leads to a widespread rebellion among its most intelligent, sensitive and fair. The final battle is the one they wish they had not won. The seeds of resentment they have sown ensures their end. Something better takes their place. They become entirely irrelevant -- which is far worse than getting old.

BREAKING:

Preliminary Report from the Hawaii Democrat Convention:

"Governor Lingle is actually a Democrat."

"Congressman Case is actually a Republican."

My Unique Blog-Style

My unique blog-style is that I post a new entry (original idea) about once a week and add comments subsequently in further development on that theme -- rather than just jumping from one finished, unchanging idea to the next -- searching for somebody who hasn‘t heard it before. This reflects the dynamism of an idea in the process of development, rather than as we have been accustomed to seeing them -- as a completed idea for which the purpose of the publication is to convince others of the superiority of that idea -- typical of most commentary one sees in conventional publications.

That was the limitation of the medium of the printed word -- not allowing for the possibility of a continuing, evolving dialogue, both within and with others. That is the source of much of the arguments in society -- that discussions originate from these fixed positions and all one can hope to do is to convince the other to one’s point of view, often destroying the other in the process. That is a tremendous waste of human resources and capacity.

The interactive medium of blogs allow for the evolution of an idea into a better one -- taking in and processing new information in whatever manner and form it comes. It may be from my own further readings and other experiences just in the course of normal living -- but always integrating it to the wisdom of the whole, and not simply as isolated fragments that are accumulated without context, meaning and significance.

This is how the new media is not just the old media made available to the masses -- but allows for the possibilities of information and communications not possible before because this technology and capabilities were not available before. Undoubtedly, many will continue using “old media” as a model for their publications -- without realizing the greater possibilities old media doesn’t want you to know about. If they did, it would speed their obsolescence -- if they are insistent on maintaining the old ways rather than they themselves realizing their own greater capabilities and evolution.

Many will undoubtedly simply retrench to the old status quo hoping against hope that they will come back into fashion again -- just as buggy whips undoubtedly will also. But a few will recognize their own opportunity to differentiate and excel; these winners may come from nowhere -- to lead the new standards of their industry, leapfrogging the traditional leaders of the past, who are less nimble to adapt.

These are the inflection points of history in which the first become the last, and the last move to the head of the class. When those moments will occur is not known before -- or after, but are recognized by the right person, at the right place, at the right time.

That is why the quality of having an unfettered mind frees one to see the opportunities -- while those “too busy,” may not know that these opportunities come and pass them by. Then, ironically, they get even more busy, thinking that is their lack.
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Good Things Happen Because People Make Them Happen (District 21/22/23 Newsletter)

One of the great chronic problems of the elections in Hawaii, is staffing the polling places on those designated days, Saturday, September 23 for the primary election, and Tuesday, November 7, 2006 for the general election, 5:30am-7:00pm, and this year is no exception, so party headquarters, has requested that as many as can work either or both of those days, notify them at 593-8180 or eliza@gophawaii.com
by Thursday, May 25 at 12 pm, and thereafter, the Office of Elections, 453-VOTE(8683). The pay is at least $75, and nominally more, if one is the precinct chair or vice-chair, (Voter Assistance official).

They’ll be recruiting workers up to the day of the elections, and even out of the voters lined up to vote that day, usually complaining what the problem is that the process isn’t moving faster and smoother, yet few willing to step forward and volunteer to work that day to make it happen -- as they think it ought to. Many of these people don’t have anything else (better) to do that day, but it never occurs to them to help in this manner.

In many communities across the country, staffing the polling places is a great tradition -- with those regularly working those days, providing few openings for newcomers -- whereas in Honolulu (I don’t know about the other islands as well), any continuity of staffing has been a problem for quite some time now. The apathy and indifference is quite impressive in light of the fact that many are quick to complain that government doesn’t work as well as it should -- and government, they are used to thinking, is somebody else, somebody getting paid a lot of money -- to do as little as possible.

But the fact of the matter is that a large part of government (and politics), are simply what citizens make it to be -- and there is no machine making it happen, automatically, impersonally. Yet despite that, elections run exceptionally well and reliably because there is this great tradition of free elections in the USA so that everybody who participates, ensures the integrity of the process. That is, the elections are fair because everybody has that expectation and desire, and does their best to ensure that -- regardless of whether they are working the polls as paid officials.

That makes the job somewhat easier, because as voters in the past, we know what to expect, as well as we are familiar with the procedures and the protocols. Even the schools usually have variations of elections at every level. So the major part of the job is just setting things up to make them work as well as they do -- and then letting people do their own thing.

There is a training class to familiarize everyone with the latest information on what they need to know to work the elections, and an additional class for those who will either be the precinct chair or voter assistance official (vice-chair), so there is at least one person who knows the big picture of what needs to be done. After the elections are over, there is a debriefing meeting for the precinct chairs at the Capitol to learn how the elections can be done better the next time. This is an excellent opportunity for those interested in getting to the heart of involvement in civic life without a too regular commitment of time, to step up and make it happen.

Party headquarters is requesting notification by Thursday, May 25 at 12pm, of those willing to work, so they can fulfill their own statutory requirement of providing a preliminary list of those suitable to act as precinct officials and officers, after which date, the Chief Election Officer fills these positions at his own discretion, regardless of party affiliation and balance. So what we are trying to do is ensure that there is at least one Republican at each polling place by so designating ourselves at this early date.

So if there is the slightest possibility one is able to work the polls on either of those two days, or even attend the training to learn what is involved, please call the Republican Headquarters at 593-8180.

Also, it is not too late to attend the Hawaii Republican Convention at the Sheraton Waikiki, May 26-28. You can download the registration form at: http://www.gophawaii.com/images/HI/2006%20Convention%20Registration%20Forms.pdf
And deliver it to the office to preregister before May 26 or bring it to the convention door. The convention registration fee is $50 -- with an additional late charge of $15. While the convention is for members of the Republican Party of Hawaii, one can attend as a self-designated guest if one is not a predesignated delegate because the party is always open to new members in this way. You get to see what the principals are really like, and whether these are the people one feels comfortable affiliating with, and choosing to represent them.

I personally think the era of overly contentious partisanship is over -- and the major parties realize that the winning hand is having the biggest tent in town -- and not excluding affiliation by ideological purity tests -- while maintaining true universal core values. High among those values should be that they are people we like and respect as good people. Otherwise, their words have no meaning, and there is no substitute for seeing and hearing with one’s own senses and trusting in one’s own judgment about people. The Republican Party is not the party that insists on doing your thinking for you; that is clear in the diversity of opinions that are expressed. There is nobody enforcing political correctness here. And that is the clear advantage.

“The goal of Hawaii’s Republicans is to create a vibrant multi party system of moral, ethical and law-abiding leaders who restore integrity to government and unleash the powerful reforming influence of checks and balances that America’s founders worked so hard to establish. Doing so will create an open, honest form of government free of cronyism and favoritism where every citizen can expect equal opportunity and respect and have their faith in government restored.

E Komo Mai!”

-- Preamble to the Hawaii Republican Party platform

Aloha Everyone,

I realize this is short notice, but the deadline for submitting names for precinct officials is on May 25. This is not the same thing as a poll watcher, but it is very important. Please send a notice to your districts informing them that the opportunity is available. We would like to receive the names by Thursday, May 25 at 12pm so that we can pass this along to the Office of Elections. We would like to have one for each precinct if possible. If you have an organization this volunteer effort can also be used as a fundraiser. Please see attached for more information.
Please contact Eliza to submit names or for questions at 593-8180 or eliza@gophawaii.com.
Mahalo!
Eliza

Entitlements, Appreciation, Gratitude

One of the great problems of living in paradise, and maybe the only one for a fortunate few, is taking it all for granted, so that no matter how much they have, they always demand more, rather than appreciate what they already have. The great gift therefore, is to have very little yet to think one has everything.

When people first arrive in the Islands, they are appreciative of everything -- the sunsets, the rainbows, the clear skies, the birds chirping, green all around -- but if they choose to remain, or have always been here, that is no longer enough but they demand the nicest house, the biggest car, the best food, more money than everyone else -- as their entitlement.

So how does their tranquility and sensitivities so quickly degrade to the incessant whine for more? It is the popular culture of the media, schools and universities (all union people not coincidentally), that have convinced them that no matter how much they have, they need to demand more incessantly -- which also drives up the cost of living -- as now, we all have to pay more for the same, or more likely, less product, goods and services.

But many do not see this connection and think that the answer is to demand even more pay -- for less work, convinced that that is the only solution to the high and ever-increasing cost of living. In this way, they create their own self-fulfilling problems -- which of course get worse. It may even be forgotten that the reason for their jobs may have originally been to get rid of the problem -- instead of perpetuating it, increasing the demand for more highly-paid experts, as well as many more lowly-paid ones to actually do the work.

So I think that if we can just see things clearly, the problems are already on their way to being solved -- but without that clarity, the problem must get worse. Therefore, understanding, intelligence, is the key, and not just more of the problems, thinking MORE is the solution. That is the unfortunately lesson of the media, schools, universities; anybody who suggests that things should be done differently, are suppressed, oppressed and repressed, while those with only one answer for everything, “More,” become the union, organizational president or highly-quoted expert.

The MORE mentality makes us insensitive to everything else -- and even those who are proud of proclaiming, “Diversity,” often mean only, “More of the same.” Political developments and changes are just the tip of the iceberg in the much broader and deeper cultural and intellectual underpinnings that have to be addressed if any real and lasting changes evolve society onto a higher plane of functioning than the always more primitive past understanding.

The objective is to create a more perfect society -- and not just keep repeating the patterns, the habits, the customs, the obsessions of the past -- which was always the acquisition of more, or at the very minimum, more than every other person or group has, before one can be satisfied, which assures that nobody can ever be.

Why I’m a Republican

My natural inclination is to be resolutely nonpartisan, but that doesn’t mean that when I recognize a clearly superior candidate, I will think like misguided “politically correct” editorialists, that I shouldn’t make any such discriminations, but should treat all candidates equally as though one was no different than the other -- giving them an equal chance for elected leadership.

But in 2002, just a month before the elections, I thought I’d congratulate Linda Lingle at one of her Talk Story meetings for building up the Republican Party and running for governor again, the former which she said she’d do when I ran into her for the first time, shortly after she moved to Oahu after her narrow defeat in 1998. I expected her to be crestfallen, but quite the contrary, she was excited and enthusiastic with her plans. So I made it a point to avoid being involved in that reclamation project, but inevitably ran into others who had a Linda Lingle encounter, which seemed to be invariably to comment about how “brilliantly competent she was but was way too nice to win the governorship.”

Politically savvy people would insist that in order to rise to the highest office in Hawaii, one had to play the “old boy” game more ruthlessly than the other guy. It was a very cynical period in the history of Hawaii and a sad commentary on the state of politics. Sheer dominance was what people were used to as “leadership,” and the then current governor was proud to warn, “I shall punish my enemies, and reward my friends,” as the ultimate statement of his rule. Hopefully, that was the last of that kind of feudalistic thinking -- that leadership was merely to serve one’s own ends.

That kind of political culture and climate caused a lot of people in Hawaii to despair that politics was something they wanted to be involved in anymore or again. But I had spent 30 years on the Mainland beginning in 1968 -- and missed that rise and fall of Hawaii during those years of boom and then bust. The bust is what drew me back here -- because as the ‘90s unfolded, the depression and despair that are now already forgotten memories, made Hawaii an environment few wanted to be in.

In the span of one term, Linda Lingle as governor, has presided over one of the great turnarounds ever. That’s what very positive leadership can do -- and a “never say quit” personality will do. That’s the reason there are no long lines to take on Linda Lingle for the governorship this time. Everybody recognizes that if it means having to outwork her for the post, she’ll run anybody ragged and into the ground. She’s got an incredible energy level that few people on the planet can match; she’s always on -- sharp, alert, ready to take on the next challenge.

If the fate of mankind rests on the watchfulness and competence of one person, you can’t have a better person “taking care of business,” for the people. As the chief representative of the people of Hawaii, locally, nationally, globally, I’d like people to think we’re all as articulate and brilliant -- just like our leader, who we’re smart enough to elect and re-elect as long as she’s willing to run. I thought the first time she ran that she was way overqualified for the job, but has elevated the office to one of the most respected leaders of anytime and place.

That’s why I’m a Republican; I can tell that difference.

Study: Most People Weary of Media Manipulation, Self-aggrandizement, Demagoguery

Ever since the days of Watergate, every journalist dreams that if s/he could write just one article to bring down a sitting president, their glory, fame and legacy would burn brightly in the hall of American Idols. In this way, every reporter, no matter far removed from the White House, is detailing the every move and nuance of the President, as though they were eyewitnesses to history rather than a “lifer” at third rate newspapers far removed. It never occurs to them that they could write about something they actually know something about instead of speculating like the Big Boys who do so because they AREN‘T privy to what is going on and think they should be, because they are the self-anointed watchdogs for society.

And that is the real value of reporting and journalism -- not writing fifth-hand speculations about opinions speculating on opinions conjecturing on every imaginable variation of a non-fact. People no longer have the time and interest for such things -- particularly when the writing is so obtuse and obscure that nobody can really understand what is being discussed beyond the bold headline. In fact, the story could be just about anything else, because it won’t get read -- beyond the inflammatory and accusatory headline. That is the purpose now of that kind of writing -- to imply what is known and to obscure what is not known, and so the writing lacks that clarity.

It still remains true that the simple truth is simple to understand -- and is not rocket science of hack writers trying to make rocket science out of nothing. That is the impression one gets reading the Sunday papers anymore.

The New Information/Communication Paradigm (The Power of Ten)

The old mass media communication style was to broadcast to millions -- appealing to the lowest common dominator of fear, anxieties, prejudices, while the new style targets the highest common denominator of equality. That is the well-proven strategy of finding those who understand what one is talking about -- rather than trying to persuade those who have no idea what one is talking about, and could care less. So it is important that the proper audience self-select themselves for this effectiveness. Otherwise, like so many times in the past, one is forcing an audience to listen to a rant they don’t want to hear -- as though the speaker alone, could determine that appropriateness for the audience.

That is the tyranny of mass communications, and not the freedom of speech, and listening, which is real communication. Often in the former, the audience has to be tricked and deceived into continuing to listen -- rather than knowing from the beginning, and at every point thereafter, that they wish to continue that participation willfully. Often in reading, as well as in listening, one may read (listen) endlessly with no idea where it is all going, and whether it is worth the time and energy to continue. One is advised that if one simply endures, some purpose will be made manifest and apparent. Most of the time though, there is no point other than to consume one’s time, energy and attention -- as an exercise of the power to do so, since no greater insight is forthcoming.

Tyranny and terrorism is very easy to see as an abuse of physical power -- but oftentimes, as a psychological abuse, is greatly admired -- especially by the intellectual class -- those who pride themselves on their largely imagined superiority in such abilities, expressed in these communications. People who are just a little bit more clever with language skills, find it easy to intimidate those less so. But when communications become a universal field of participation instead of just the province and jurisdiction of a self-designated, self-appointed, self-anointed few, society has been transformed and liberated.

When everybody can play, the game is no longer who can speak to the largest captive audience, but who can find his proper audience and reach it best -- no matter what the size, because the ability to replicate that successful prototype, is not a limitation. It doesn’t matter how large an audience one can address ineffectively; it only matters how well one can reach any audience -- even of one. That is the computer model -- that a problem only has to be solved once, definitively well, in order for it to be replicated as many times as one wants/needs to.

One used to be the virtual captive audience whenever someone from the broadcast media spoke, as an implied authority by virtue of that visibility. That was the tyranny of information and opinion -- in the old days. Some still practice it -- and wonder where all the people have gone. The quality and integrity of the communications and information is the only thing that matters now. When that is achieved, the ten can reach the ten, that reaches the ten, that reaches the ten…

That is the improvement of targeted communications over mass communications, whose inaccuracies and distortions are excused by “deadline pressures.” There is no going back. But they are still lamenting their own passing for as long as they can.

The “Problem” of Information

From: http://www.goodboysnation.com/

“* Mike Hu’s Thinking Hawaii appears to be a conservative blog in a pretty liberal state. Keep up the good work, Mike! “

I’d rather be thought of as the thinking person’s blog -- rather than a conservative or liberal one -- implying as it does now, that one has fixed views that he desires to impose on everybody else as his political correctness. Rather, I think of my discussions as being a “looking together” through common experiences to reveal the universality of those experiences before the point of divergence that divides us into ideological camps. So I think using such terms as “conservative” or “liberal” is for each individual to determine for themselves (if they still wish to) rather than to label/categorize any other, which as you know, becomes a self-fulfilling expectation.

If I’m conservative in any sense, it is because I don’t regard my own writing and thinking “liberally” to be brilliant and readable when they are not. I leave that judgment up to each reader to determine “conservatively” -- that I have passed their most rigorous tests for intelligibility and clarity.

I think that is what the best of the new media (communications) is all about, rather than the old media (control) model that is oppressive to any freedom-loving individual. It just wasn’t so obvious before because there were very few alternatives -- rather than being limited only by one’s own creative capacity and initiative. Early on, many would give advice that my blog was not like everybody else’s -- offering tips on how it could be like everybody else’s. Of course such people usually were protecting the status quo’s belief that the only thing anybody could do was slavishly and fawningly imitate what they were doing -- as though that was the height of communications and information that they would remain in control of for perpetuity.

However, old media made the critical mistake of unionizing and creating the arbitrary rules that snuff out creativity, innovation, and initiative. So lacking any true sense of meaning and purpose, all such people can do is demand more money for even less productivity. There’s no way out of that death spiral; they have to keep the best out while keeping those who not only not produce, but discourage everyone else from making positive contributions as though they were fools since many are now in the editorial (supervisory) positions -- where they can suppress all the new information they don’t understand and are overwhelmed by -- thinking that is enough to make it go away.

Such people like to write about the Iraqi war as though it is the Vietnam war, and every economic shift is the coming of The Great Depression -- always fighting the last war (and winning!) in their own minds. But the reality is that they’re has-beens who never were -- because what they were trying to be was merely an illusion in the first place. Their entire lives were consumed in manufacturing and imposing the Unreal -- rather than the universal participation of the Real that is now possible to the many -- and not just the self-designated, self-appointed, self-anointed few.

They just look awfully foolish now -- huffing and puffing, threatening to blow everybody else’s houses down, when everybody else is gasping, “The publisher (superintendent, professor) has no clothes!”

The "Problem" of Education

The most damaging lesson of the present education methodology is to make learning as difficult, complicated, onerous and traumatic as possible -- rather than to make it easy, effortless and the natural function of living. Instead, people are taught to compete unrelentingly against one another -- to despise another’s success and to feel deeply ashamed of one’s own failings, and all that other baggage that should have no place in the joy of learning and discovery. Educated in that manner -- of torments, humiliations, embarrassments, constant harassments and judgments, it is no wonder why there is aversion to learning, rather than the joy of it every day.

To further complicate matters, there are applications, enrollments, fees, tuitions and credits before one is allowed to learn the most treasured gems of knowledge, diligently maintained by a priesthood of lifetime job security for the intellectual virgins who never challenge the cherished order and traditions of the few thinking for the many -- as God intended. Of course, that was how it was in the medieval universities whose traditions must be passed down to every succeeding generation -- unmodified, unquestioned, lest the gods be angered.

True knowledge and wisdom means banishment from the heavenly gardens forever -- from a vengeful, petty, unforgiving God. And thus He ordered that life must be a veil of tears -- and those who seek the easy way, tempt eternal hellfire and damnation. Thus the road to Heaven, must be paved with many thorns, trials, tribulations and deceptions, or mankind will not know it as the true and noble path, and will slide down the easy path of perdition and ignorance.

So there is this “intellectual” tradition of making that which is simple and easy, hard and complicated. And that was the path of civilization and society until a few heretics wondered, “What if we made everything easy instead of hard?” Civilization and society has not been the same since. Now, one doesn’t need a Ph.D. to operate a computer. One can prepare gourmet meals with a touch of a button. And exercise, rather than being hard, is knowing how to make every effort easy.

Do we see a pattern emerging? Increasing benefits-to-cost is good; increasing costs-to-benefits is bad. Not being aware that there’s a difference between those equations, is the confusion and dysfunction of one’s life. That is the simple mathematics one must master early on, and then when there is an urgent need to learn anything else, it can be learned just as easily and quickly -- not requiring a BS or MS first as proof that one is deserving, and has duly “paid their dues.”

It is a whole new world entirely -- co-existent with the old. The new is a world of “can-do,” while the old resides in the world prohibiting and prohibitive to most things -- and "can-do," is the licensed exception rather than the norm of life for most who merely realize they have that option. At the present time, there are those torn between that old world and the new -- mainly by their own thoughts, education, indoctrinations, conditioning, that that is the only way things can be -- and they can learn no other.

Notes From Reality

It’s good to see so many people riding bicycles these days; it should be regarded as an act of intelligence and patriotism to do so -- as well as walking and all the many other exhibitions of ingenuity and efficiency. Most people’s lives could be greatly enhanced not by government edicts and programs -- but by exercising the road not taken.

There’s something wrong when people think the government must solve all their problems for them -- rather than being the solution of last resort. If the people are intelligent, it doesn’t take laws to do the right things. But in order to do the right things, they need to know what all the choices are -- and not just what the political establishment wants them to know, as the only way they can do things. Then of course, intelligence cannot be manifested because intelligence is that exercise of choice and freedom -- and not merely repeating the answers those in control want them to give.

So all these deviations from the norm, breaks from the conventional, are a very promising sight -- that people aren’t just going to lament the passing of the old and hope for its return but have decided to adapt to the present circumstances in whatever matter is best, given knowledge of the options. And that’s what the media, schools, universities should be doing -- making known the new alternatives, and not just their old one in which they control the information so there need not be any choices.

Then politics/government is no longer about showing who is boss -- but the leadership of the wise, fair and honest. Leadership should be of the most creative, resourceful, innovative -- and not those who think that maintaining the status quo with themselves at the top is the whole purpose of human striving. That’s just a waste of energy -- ensuring that nobody can get ahead but themselves -- and why nobody moved ahead, because all the energy was consumed in seeing that nobody got ahead of themselves.

So the understanding of human purpose must be clear -- before any effort becomes meaningful. If the design for a mass transit system is for everybody else to take, in order to leave the roads clear for oneself, then such thinking will obviously not be the answer. But if one is the first to take the bicycle, he is already the solution.

If one travels anywhere in the world, he would shocked to discover that bicycling, walking, alternative forms of transportation are so underutilized here in Hawaii. The lack of individual initiatives is mind-boggling. There is this culture in feeling that nothing can be done unless it already has been done -- or that government must pass a law to do what makes sense doing, sanctioning intelligent action or it is wasted, for naught.

This is particularly troubling in learning (education) in which people will not do anything unless they are rewarded by somebody else to do so. Learning must be rewarding in itself -- as the greatest gift one can give to themselves. That spirit of learning is what education is about -- and not about teachers salaries relative to those on the mainland or compared to whatever other group they should be respected as much as. Where does all the money go?