If you like Planet Earth, this is a must watch video. It's long, but worth watching, and if your an ostrich with it's head buried in the sand, turn off the sound and put on some music.
I'm going to have a new section on here, every Sunday I will post a like and don't like section to sum up the week.
This weeks likes and don't likes are:
Like
Being in the Ocean more hours then sleeping
Being the last person on the water
Getting pounded and quickly humbled by the power of the ocean
Outer reefs breaking from top to bottom
Hitting a mast and half outer reef lip
Tourists tipping me fat
Kona winds
Don't likes
Working more hours than sleeping
Haole kooks with bad vibes
Getting caught inside with lines stacking up on the outside
People ditching their boards right in front of me
Pretty much everything else tourists do
3 comments:
Nick, I usually like your posts but when you start talking trash about tourists its time to give you a heads up. If you are the big thinker that you purport to be I should not have to say anything here; however... without 'tourists' you would be riding on a piece of koa and would be dead or head injured by now. Without tourists you would probably be living in Seattle as the 'new money' brought by the tourists to Maui on a daily basis is indeed the life-blood of the local economy. In fact Google: Letter of Apology to the Hawaiian People, signed by Bill Clinton. Who is the tourist now? Next time you 'local boys' see a tourist trying to have what could be perhaps a 'once in a lifetime experience' - move over - give way. You have already had more than your fair share.
Unfortunately tourist can be problematic...there ignorance comes off as a lack of respect for the ocean and other people. As far as this "new money" Maui would be perfectly self sustainable without it. Tourism brings more pollution and garbage to the island. Not to mention the water being stolen from the north shore to feed golf courses and Hawaiian fantasy lands at the hotels. Let Nick rant about it, he's been around long enough to see the negative effect out in the water, the environment, and the economy. If you haven't noticed Nick is always stoked to share the ocean, you don't need to tell him to Give way.
Excessive, destructive tourism IS a problem in Hawaii and throughout the world. Tourists come in all shapes and sizes, but in general a tourists travels to a place with a preconceived notion of what the place is going to be like and then looks to confirm these ideas. Think coconut trees, white sand beaches, and drinks with umbrellas in them. A tourist doesn't mix into the local community to discover how the place really is, instead the only contact a tourist has with the community is from a master and serf perspective. Ex: every working position in a hotel, restaurants, golf courses, etc. On the other hand, someone who travels comes to see the place as it is, they mix into society and have a much more positive effect.
There are all different categories of tourism that have different positives and negatives effects on environment, community, and economy. Tourism is not the "life-blood" of our economy, the life-blood of our economy is the PEOPLE, the human capital. They are what drives the economic engine. Tourism is the large excess easy money that flows into the system, is spread thinly and then mostly leaves the island to corporate interests. Think, the guy paying $1500 dollars a night in a hotel, while every employee of the hotel he comes in contact with is paid minimum wage or just above and relies on his generosity(tips) to survive. Although travelers do not spend as much total dollars as the average tourist, the economic multiplier of each dollar is much higher, meaning the money stays in the system and is better for the local economy. Other problems, desecration of the 'Aina, overdevelopment of coastlines, scarce water allocation, tourist inflation of the cost of living-this is a big one I'm sure you've noticed, etc..
One example of more responsible tourism and development is Tahiti, and Indonesia is a perfect example of tourism and development out of control.
Also, do you know what happened to Moloka'i when the hotel closed and more than half of the islands people lost their jobs? It took some adjustments and a few years of struggle, but now they have a much more sustainable economy, one in cash and one in trade hunters, fishers, farmers. The sky didn't fall because they lost tourists dollars, instead they became more in touch with their culture and less reliant on foreign money and aid.
As for your other points, Koa wood boards, death, and head injuries, I'll take Koa boards, no leashes, and many head injuries, as well as much less people in the water over the current state of surfing.
Clintons letter of apology is just a small step in the right direction, but it has very little teeth as legislation. Many people see it as a slap in the face, we stole everything from you, destroyed your society, watched 90% of the population die, and only after 100 years did we apologize on paper. They didn't right any wrongs it's just an acknowledgment of them.
Hawaii's case for independence will make its way to a world court at some point in the future, once there, Hawaii WILL win its independence.
As for once in a lifetime experiences, EVERY moment in life is a once in a lifetime experience.
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