http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index#2011_ranking

1 Norway
2 Iceland
3 Denmark
4 Sweden
5 New Zealand
6 Australia
7 Switzerland
8 Canada
9 Finland
10 Netherlands
11 Luxembourg
12 Ireland
13 Austria
14 Germany
15 Malta
16 Czech Republic
17 Uruguay
18 United Kingdom
19 United States
20 Costa Rica
21 Japan
22 South Korea
23 Belgium
24 Mauritius
25 Spain

New Zealand ranks at fifth (5), well above the US at nineteen (19).

Where would Hawaii stand if it were on this index of democracy? One might assume that Hawaii would be ranked in terms of its democratic processes at the level similar to where it would be ranked in terms of education and creativity, since these indices align for so many other countries. However, this is not always the case; Asian societies that rank high in education and democracy don’t always rank high in terms of creativity (e.g., Japan and South Korea rank low in creativity, but high in education and democracy). Hawaii might be like that.

The seven countries that were on all three lists of countries ranking high in creativity, education and democracy are:

Canada,
the US,
New Zealand,
the UK,
Finland,
Australia and
Ireland (in no particular order).

The only regularity that I perceive in these three indexes relating to creativity, education and democracy are somewhat of a correlation of excellence to 1) cold weather, 2) the English language, and maybe 3) Protestantism.

Again, democracy and education would be expected to correlate strongly with creativity. After all, as Richard Florida pointed out, creativity is related to the ability of people to mix with one another and discuss their ideas, be it in the city or the suburbs. Democracy fosters that kind of mixing, and education fosters ideas.

But how much do people in Hawaii mix?

To some degree it might be a clique-based society. For example, look at Manoa, perhaps one of the most educated communities on Oahu. However, the appeal of Manoa life may not be so much mixing in a rich environment, but withdrawing womb-like from the rest of Oahu. (Someone once told me that he took a political science class at UHM, and on the last day of class the professor played a record with a song about Manoa that had a refrain that went “Here we are in Manoa, living in our little cubicles. We go off to work and class, and then we rush back into our little cubicles….”)

Also, what ideas do people in Hawaii have to share? Recipes? On the other hand, how could New Zealand be much different? Hawaii is relatively provincial, but so is New Zealand.

And so is Sweden, supposedly the most creative society. Here’s a video by an American libertarian group, ReasonTV, trying to explain why it is that ‘socialistic’ Sweden is so creative and prosperous. (One of the ironies of this ranking of democracies is that almost all of the countries that scored highest in the rankings were northern European countries known for their progressive, even socialist politics — even though The Economist, which made the rankings, is a market-oriented publication.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDAQWJbEl9U

ReasonTV’s interpretation is that Sweden is NOT that socialistic, that Sweden is experimental and pragmatic, and that public policy in Sweden engages in all sorts of experimentation, both market-oriented and state-based. Moreover, Sweden’s smallness and ethnic homogeneity help it to be experimental, and responsive in a way that the US could never be (at least at a national level). Perhaps because of Hawaii’s ethnic heterogeneity, there is a dampening of communication and responsiveness. This also might affect Hawaii’s democracy, so we end up with more sign-waving than with knowledgeable discussion and debate. As for education, there are so many Swedish students going to HPU who would not get a college education back in Sweden’s more elitist public educational system. On the one hand, the Swedes might have higher educational standards than Americans in general and Hawaii in particular have; on the other hand, the US and Hawaii offer more options for higher education (for better or worse).

Lots of questions raised here….

Creativity, education and democracy. Please tell us what they seem like at a glance in New Zealand.

Perhaps Meda can contact Assistant Athletic Director Carl Clapp to make arrangements for the three of you to meet up to talk about your trip.

Here’s his bio:

Prep: A 2011 graduate of Rangitoto College in North Shore City, Auckland, New Zealand…a standout in both volleyball and basketball for Rangitoto…named the school’s 2011 Sportsman of the Year…called up to the New Zealand senior national team at age 17…believed to be one of the youngest members ever on the “Tall Blacks” national squad… competed for his country in the Boris Stankovic Cup in Guangzhou, China, a tournament ultimately won by the Kiwis…also competed with the national team in Turkey and
Macedonia…named one of the top five players at the Nike All-Asia Camp in the summer of 2011…played club basketball for Harbour
Basketball, leading the U19 boys squad to back-to-back national runner-up finishes…also earned a spot on the New Zealand Breakers
developmental team…won a title for New Zealand at the 3-on-3 World Youth Basketball Championship in Rimini, Italy…hit the game-winning shot against Bulgaria in the finals to help New Zealand capture its first world title in a FIBA-sanctioned event.

Personal: Born in York, England…major is undecided…has two younger brothers and two younger sisters…is of Tongan and English
descent…his father played professional rugby in England….parents are Manu and Jenny Fotu of Torbay, Auckland, New Zealand.

“Isaac is a huge addition to this year’s recruiting class. A skilled power forward with great natural ability and strength, Isaac has the potential to help us immediately. When I fi rst got this job, we emphasized recruiting the Asia-Pacific rim.

Hailing from New Zealand and of Tongan descent, Isaac is a perfect fit for the University of Hawai‘i and we are thrilled to have him join us.”

-Coach Gib Arnold

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-creative-countries-in-the-world-2011-10?op=1

1. Sweden
2. United States
3. Finland
4. Denmark
5. Australia
6. New Zealand
7. Canada
8. Norway
9. Singapore
10. Netherlands
11. Belgium
12. Ireland
13. United Kingdom
14. Switzerland
15. France
16. Germany

At number six, New Zealand acquits itself quite well. But the criteria is rather narrow:

“Each country is given a Global Creativity Index (GCI), which is based on three human factors: How technologically savvy are they? How capable is their workforce? And how open are they to new ideas?”

In contrast, a prominent feature that defines a creative place for the urban planner Richard Florida is social tolerance, which the above metric did not include. But Florida focuses on cities, which have established reputations for such social tolerance (e.g., San Francisco), whereas an entire country would have too broad a range of attitudes to generalize.

Hawaii is famously tolerant racially, but it is nevertheless a culturally conservative place with a small-town ethos. What might exist in Hawaii is a multi-ethnic society in which each ethnic group is culturally conservative, and tolerant of other culturally conservative ethnic groups, but not necessarily of creativity.

So you gotta ask yourself … how would Honolulu react to the Techno Viking?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VudJpH-ytH4

This is one of the most famous videos on YouTube filmed by an artist of an annual parade in Berlin. From the wiki:

The 4-minute video shot by experimental video artist Matthias Fritsch at the Fuckparade on 8 July 2000 begins with the title “Kneecam No. 1″ and shows a bare-chested man wearing a Thor’s hammer pendant grabbing the arms of and pointing his finger at another man who has just shoved a woman, drinking from a bottle of water offered to him inverted by another man, then dancing down Rosenthaler Straße to techno music. Fritsch intended it to raise questions of whether the action was real or staged.

It’s actually pretty mild stuff. And the Techno Viking is one cool dude. Nevertheless, I wonder if Honolulu can handle the Techno Viking.

So if we exclude the question of Honolulu’s social tolerance, let’s look at the narrow criteria from above.

1. How technologically savvy is Hawaii?
2. How capable is Hawaii’s workforce?
3. And how open is Hawaii to new ideas?