Friday, May 2, 2014

Musings: When Succor = Sucker

Woke at first light all happy, birds twittering, dogs sighing contentedly beneath my caresses, fragrance of a bedside gardenia wafting past my nose. Ahhhh. Then I picked up my smart phone, scanned The Garden Island and felt the growl rising. So I took a cue from my feathered friends, got up and started singing. And like magic, the grrrr disappeared.

Which is why I am now able to say calmly, and without venom, perhaps Chris D'Angelo's editor needs to impose a quota on the number of stories he may write each week about Surfrider and Gordon LaBedz. I mean, two front page articles in three days pushing Surfrider's political agenda? Isn't that just a bit much? Especially when one was about a non-event and the other a future non-event.

Heck, it's enough to make you wanna vote for fresh-faced farm boy Arryl Kaneshiro — even though he is a Grove Farm employee and son of six-term Kauai County Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro. And mark my words, Arryl is gonna get way more votes in the Council race than Felicia Cowden or any “red shirt” candidate.

Because a political backlash has been building here for months, and its candidates are beginning to emerge.

I noticed on Facebook that Sol Kahn and others were sharing a photo of an “Arthur Brun for Council” sign, with the message that Arthur works for Syngenta and thus “must be stopped.” Because for some, there is apparently only a single issue of import on this island: GMOs. The mainland-based, 1%-er funded Center for Food Safety has set up an Oahu office to exploit that sentiment, designating itself  “a new voice in Hawaii's food politics" and preaching there's just one way to salvation: its way.

Gee, didn't we do that missionary schtick already? 

When I think of Arthur Brun, it's about the testimony he delivered in opposition to the 2010 bill that approved vacation rentals on ag land — and allowed only the folks who had been operating illegally to seek permits. While a number of future “red shirts” were clamoring for the bill's passage, Arthur was one of the very few who spoke against this travesty of justice and misuse of farm land:

“This bill is wrong. What about the local families that had farm land for generations and followed the law? You’re making our families that followed the law suffer. I don’t think you should be punishing the people who followed the law.

Do what is right for the 60,000 people of Kauai, not the 26 people of Kauai.”

With all the many woes facing this island — ice abuse, poverty, homelessness, hunger, gentrification of ag lands, ecosystem degradation, cultural exploitation, a precariously unbalanced economy — we can't afford the luxury, the distraction, of single-issue politics.

As a wise Big Islander noted in an email the other day:

Tom Wolfe, novelist and New Journalism pioneer, staunchly believes that status is the great motivator in American life. I think he's on to something. Subcultures born of political kinship and fellow feeling nourish our yen for status and affirmation. Independent thought is much more gnarly; it veers away from easy and comfortable associations and takes a little courage.

My sense is that people grasp for these group-think communities for lack of a clear personal identity and purpose in a society — Hawaii, particularly — that does not easily afford firm footing. As for Andrew Kimbrell, Vandana Shiva, Nomi Carmona et al, the movement offers self-aggrandizement and, in many cases, a sustaining livelihood.  It's tempting to posit some grand economic determinism behind all this, but I'm inclined to think it's exactly what it appears to be — opportunists leading people who find succor in being led.

Which seems a very fitting segue to this sad-beautiful performance by sand artist Kseniya Simonova on “Ukraine Got Talent.” 

Have a great weekend, and a warm mahalo to all those who are donating to Kauai Eclectic. I deeply appreciate your financial contributions, and most especially, your words of encouragement and support for independent thought.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like Arryl. He's got a big heart and a good head on his shoulders.

Anonymous said...

For me the food movement is so much more than GMO's. It represents a return to a simpler, more environmentally safe way of growing food, a way done not so long ago by our recent ancestors. It represents taking back our food sovereignty from corporations that put genetically engineered organisms, chemical food additives, preservatives, dyes, aspartame, msg, etc. to increase shelf life and make the food addictive so we buy more. Americans are plagued by poor health, a direct result of poor quality food and environmental exposure to chemical toxins. Statistics prove this with increases in all kinds of cancer, autism, diabetes, kidney disease, infertility and childhood obesity. Not to mention the rise in superbugs resistant to antibiotics, a direct result of 80% of all antibiotics in the US going in to factory farmed animals. MRSA, a dangerous form of staph that is resistant to antibiotics is on the rise, a direct result of our tainted food supply. Even the FDA, which consistently sides with industry, warned of antibiotics in factory farmed livestock.

I mean if you really look at the big picture, if we don't have our health and a safe place to live without over exposure to chemicals in all their many forms, all other issues are secondary because survival will be all that matters to most families if they are sick.

I believe that the political system is dysfunctional and does not give power to the people, so whoever runs is insignificant to me. I rather focus on the independence movement for Kanaka Maoli because I know that the values of an independent Hawaiian Nation, will encompass values of aloha 'aina, aloha kekahi i kekahi, malama 'aina, 'ohana and the well being of the community, not the individual. The US system of individualistic capitalism dominated by the military industrial complex is non-sustainable and is killing mother earth. When we destroy it, all other issues are moot.



Anonymous said...

So can you predict how long you gonna live by what you are eating?

Anonymous said...

No but at least I'll have quality of life while I'm here.

Anonymous said...

May 2, 2014 at 5:54 PM,
Wow. That was quite a mouthful. Don't forget that not so long ago our recent ancestors contended with periodic famine and contamination of the food supply (e.g. Ergot). In the future, you may want to edit your propaganda piece by removing the reference to msg as it is a natural byproduct of cooking.

Anonymous said...

Joan,
I think that the second paragraph you quoted from your correspondent captures something profound and explains much about "the movement". Hawaii can be a difficult place for those who move here, especially from the US mainland. The superficial Americanness of the culture is deceiving and masks excruciatingly complex subcurrents that can be quite confusing if you have nobody to guide you through them. There is no cue that might hint at this "otherness" and sensitize one to notice it: no border guard, no stamp in your passport. I could see how this would exacerbate the insecurity for those who have come here to escape their previous lives and reinvent themselves, a scenario one seems to encounter more frequently on Kauai compared to, say, Oahu. This quote explains the demographic skew seen in the "red-shirts" and the zeal with which they have latched onto the sovereignty movement (at least in their public statements).

Anonymous said...

Dont forget that famine exists today and the GMO propaganda of "feeding the world" is failing.

Anonymous said...

grow your own

Anonymous said...

Don't forget 7:06 AM that famine is a product of two things: insufficient food AND human tyranny. We have recently experience a mild form of the latter here on Kauai buy the transplanted reinvented anti-underthings. Mild now, but like a fungus must be stopped as it is getting out of hand. The good thing is that many of the silent majority are beginning to wake up and see how our governmental processes have been highjacked by these South Park "kama'aina" who are desperately trying to turn Kauai into California.

Anonymous said...

Well stated 12:10

Anonymous said...



...This from letters to the editor on a recent New Yorker article about Paul De Man (a brilliant, charismatic and gifted writer and thinker with a decided sociopathic personality)...

"He attached himself to an ideological elite, strengthening its cultural hegemony by his own skillful application of its signature jargon, stigmatizing those outside the cult by insisting on an exaggerated purity of approach, and thus securing the allegiance of the other members of the privileged coterie and distracting attention from his own corruption".

We really need to be aware of ourselves and others to keep on the path!



Anonymous said...

So? What are you trying to say? All I know there are some dumbbells try to change the world!

Anonymous said...

These people must be real stupid if they're circulating on facebook "don't vote for arthur burn he works for the seed company". Instead of focusing on why we "should" vote for people, they are doing the opposite. Just because where he works doesn't mean he's not suitable for the position. His insight would benefit this discussion if he was on the council, he could also recuse himself from making any vote relating to any of those companies in particular. He is more involved in county business as a whole (including the ag piece you mentioned) as compared to the other yoyos that are one tract minded. Arryl would be great to give a farmers perspective, and Arthur would be great to give a corporate perspective, and again he could recuse himself during decision making regarding anything related to his work. DUH!

Anonymous said...

I would not vote for Arthur Brun because he uses his position as an announcer for youth sports as a soundboard for his political agenda. Tune in to a football game and hear him rant and rave about "haoles and newcomers" and the "superferry" and on and on. His rants are fuled by hate and misinformation. Sports are about the kids. It is extremely unfair for you to criticize Felicia Cowden and others for speaking out on KKCR, an appropriate place to do so, while not calling out Arthur Brun for using children's sports to forward his agenda. I expect to see this topic covered in your election pieces.

Anonymous said...

The south Park Kamaaina are led by Abercrombie don't forget..... Mr Biotech "you don't have to lobby me" Neil! You could say that there are a group of newcomers working with kanaka maoli to get rid of the Abercrombie PLDC type newcomer.......