Teetering On the Edge of Chaos

One wonders how much longer the so-called “democracy” will last in Hawaii -- after the latest scandal at the elections filings, in which candidates are now allowed to be selected by one party, if they do not have a candidate validly filing for that office in the regular manner. Then, apparently, all the rules and regulations are suspended to achieve the result that one party wants.

It’s kind of hard to deal with that kind of insanity on a daily basis for too long a time, and so it is no wonder that the best and the brightest have to leave the Islands to go to bigger and better things -- leaving behind all their classmates they vowed to stick together with through the best and worst of times.

But at times, things get too far out of hand, and a shock of reality is needed to allow such organizations and individuals to “bottom out,” as happened before in the terrible slow death in paradise of the ‘90s into the new century that finally ended, ironically enough, with the climatic act of terrorism on 9/11/2001.

It was the recovery from that malaise, anxiety and uncertainty that something dramatically horrible could occur at any moment, anywhere, that put a damper on the joy and celebration of living, that eventually resulted in the excesses of too much traveling, partying and thoughtless extravagant spending as though there would never be an end.

But there always is -- as a fact of life, and how one deals with the bad as well as the good, is a testimony to the value of that society and culture. When that response is for everybody to grab the money and run before it dries up, it creates a panic in slow-motion as the newspapers record daily now -- of one institution after another failing to meet the challenges for which they were created and maintained for.

So at the Elections Office, it was not surprising to hear, that the party chairman was telling the office of elections what to do, rather than the office telling the party and its candidates what to do -- and where to draw the line between appropriate behavior and protocol, and having absolutely no idea what they are doing.

One sees it at the polling places when every election day is a helter-skelter to staff and run the polling stations -- but one would think that at the very core, somebody knew what they were doing -- and commanded that respect.

A Better Life

Freedom in Hawaii –
is the right to vote every two years for the incumbent only.

“Otherwise, shut up and do and believe and do as we tell you.”

Uh, that’s not quite the way freedom works — and why your “Democratic” Party thinks it is not worth it to fight for.

Of course that kind of “freedom” is totally meaningless, and not worth paying five times as much for everything — as the “cost of paradise.” You know you’re in paradise when the best things in life are free — which used to be the attraction of life in the Islands, or anywhere people sought refuge from the rat race.

Now, the greatest rat race in the world IS the Islands, where people have to work 2-3 jobs just to rent an unlivable place. There are better bargains in the world.

It’s a bad time to be “trapped” in the Islands. As free people, they can exercise their freedom to move and live a better life — without the constant struggles, contentiousness and crime of Hawaii.

We’re way past trying to talk sense about it. Paradise Lost. But it always emerges somewhere else — and when the people can’t handle that success, they lose it.

And that’s why the world is, the way it is.

Most people can understand the first level of challenge, which is to overcome "failure," but the even greater challenge beyond, is the challenge of handling "success," which many fail at. Then, those who can not overcome that success, destroy that success so they can once again become successful -- at overcoming their initial failure, and in that way, many spend the rest of their lives in that cycle of perpetuating their problems, in order to be successful -- and thereby stunting their growth and ensuring move up to the next level.

That's what dysfunction is all about. People addicted to failure as the only way they can achieve success -- repeating their history as the only future possible. Meanwhile, the rest of life, progress and evolution, moves onward and upward.

“We’ve Always Done It That Way”

All the more reason to change, and do something that works, rather than merely perpetuating these problems -- as though that was who they are and must be. That is the indoctrination they receive from their earliest experiences with the government, in the form of the schools, that enforce and reinforce this unquestioning conformity -- as its vision of paradise, in which there is no dissent from the authoritarian personalities and culture it perpetuates.

But with the rail issue, those heavy-handed manipulations and deceptions have become transparent. One marvels at how the mayor has managed to take a very powerful sentiment for change, and turn those agents usually for change against him -- because he was not convinced of his own legitimacy. He didn’t believe that he was telling the truth -- but only knew how to convince, persuade and coerce others he was.

It’s a time of authenticity -- in which the simple truth is far more effective than all the manipulations to convince one of what is not so.

There are wonderful products in the world -- but if one can’t tell the difference, he will try to sell you what he has, rather than what the customer (citizen) really wants -- presuming they cannot tell the difference either. So one conditioned in the old manner, thinks all he has to do is call in more experts -- who also conditioned in the old manner, think their job is to tell others what they are being paid to.

That is the unfortunate consequence of “professionalism,” that money becomes the main determiner of what becomes the “truth.” It is the truth, because that is where/how the money is made, and if there is no money to be made in propagating that “truth,” then one as a professional, would be stupid to work for that common knowledge. And so misinformation and disinformation, become the common currency of professionalism one now expects to encounter -- beginning of course, with the lawyers and politicians, who in Hawaii, are conveniently one in the same.

In Plato’s Republic, pure democracy is not the ideal because it allows those who are gifted or intent on manipulating the masses, inordinate power, and so what is preferred, is a republican form of government in which a few of the best, represent the interests of the many -- but only if they are not chosen by that same “demagogic” process.

While most are familiar with the term and concept of “democracy,” much fewer are aware of the terms, concepts and dangers of “demagoguery,” which is always masked as “democracy,” and “democratic,” and even even written in capital letters, as further proof of their honest intentions.

Paradise Lost

One would think that if it was truly paradise, there’d be nothing, or very little to complain about, rather than a litany of grumbles to begin every day. Obviously, it is not paradise -- but a very troubled place, and expensive for that privilege. That just doesn’t make sense anymore.

The truth of the matter is that there is nothing about Hawaii justifying paying 3-4 times as much as one would pay in the rest of the states -- for much better quality, because they actually produce it, rather than importing everything.

Places are paradise when everything seems cheap or free -- but when you have to pay twice as much for “amenities” that one seldom uses, people really need to look for a higher quality of life at a lower cost -- that makes it seem like they are really living in paradise, and not just having to pay for it, and getting substandard facilities and little in return.

Nobody should have to pay anything to live in a prison cell -- yet that is what a lot of people do, convinced as they are, that that is paradise, and the best of all worlds. Yet they complain mightily and incessantly -- but are uncertain if it can be better anywhere else.

They’ve also been convinced that everywhere else is far worse -- and they should not even bother considering elsewhere, or any other changes in their lives. What they have, is what they must continue to have -- without any choice or exploration of any alternatives than the one way they must accept. That is their fate, for life is not freedom but the sentence handed down from higher authorities, and who those higher authorities are, should not be questioned.

Countless many will speak as though for those authorities, “the will of the people,” God Himself, etc. Eventually, everyone becomes such a deluded person, claiming theirs alone is the true voice of God. Obviously, the regard such people have for their fellow citizens, is disdain and contempt for their ability to think for themselves. Instead, they must be tricked, deceived, manipulated, coerced to achieve one’s ends.

A few operating in that manner can be identified and isolated; when everyone operates that way, that society must end because it does not convey any survival value -- as the destruction of all others, become the imperative.

Thus in reading the local newspapers, one gets the distinct impression that hate, bias, prejudice, are the only experiences that culture has to offer anymore -- and what has one got to lose finding out what life can be elsewhere, otherwise, or even seen from a different perspective -- as the one handed down that must be obeyed?

Paradise is the freedom from that tyranny.