Laulani Teale is a Hawaiian activist and peacemaker who I greatly admire, sometimes agree with (I’m not sure how else to say that!), and who always shares provocative thoughts.
I’ve taken the liberty of lifting this from a Facebook post of hers this morning.
If you sitting at home, or looking forward to getting home after work today, wrap your head around this view of how the housing “market” looks from her perspective. Then consider the reasons why she might feel this way, and how we might usefully respond.
She writes:
Colonial displacement is basically like musical chairs from hell. That is the simplest way I can think of to explain it. They tap you with eviction, displacement from what is yours and then force you to race them in circles to have a place to be. Then you are either out, totally lost, or you have to displace someone else. Meanwhile the cheesy music is controlled by someone with authority who seems to think that it is all in fun. Someone who keeps removing the chairs, raising the stakes, making the game harder for their own benefit, so that they can have a relaxing break when everyone is displaced, because that is the ultimate goal.
I think we need to control the music, and make a new game.
Keep this in mind the next time the legislature or a county council debates what priority to put on affordable housing for regular people.
See also:
“Ian Lind: Hawaiian Activist Was Right All Along, Supreme Court Rules,” Civil Beat, May 15, 2017.
“Hawaii Supreme Court narrows definition of “disorderly conduct” in case of Hawaiian activist,” iLind.net, May 15, 2017.
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The quote from Teale posits a devious “they”– but who is that, exactly? Maybe the answer is in her Facebook post, but I don’t do Facebook.
Long history says human behavior is by pecking order. Top dog. Kamehmeha I was pretty brutal when conquering islands. Think I recall he did away with minds that could threaten with his strategy. I mean, it’s everywhere in some degree or another and reason why it’s very hard to challenge.
I’m not sure what colonialism has to do with our housing crisis. Certainly capitalism has everything to do with it.
Affordable housing might beyond our reach because it requires investors and lots of land. We don’t manufacturing building materials, that adds to the cost. It’s not colonialism that makes it hard for Hawaiians to live here. It’s the lack of job opportunities. We should stop protesting everything and think about different ways to support our economy, something beyond tourism and the military.
To Mrs. Teale and other activist all troubles always seem to be the result of some sort of great conspiracy, a world of paranoia. Some shadowy but undefined “they” that have come to “colonize”. Who exactly are they?
This attitude has real dangers and consequences when mixed with the controversies and issues of life on these islands… It casts the other side as evil, something to be fought with no possibility of compromise. It disenfranchises those who might otherwise learn to work with others and build a better solution than “they” versus us.