Posts
 |
| James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby... This blog was published in my bi-weekly column in the Kaua'i Garden Island news on 05-05-14 titled, "How long have you live here..?" Please click on the link below and check recommend... http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/how-long-have-you-lived-here/article_f6e84d68-d41a-11e3-950e-001a4bcf887a.html |
How Long have you live here
When Ronald Reagan was President he disagreed with "Tip" O'Neill, the democratic speaker of the house numerous times. Reagan being a republican and the speaker being a democrat made for frequent disagreements, however when the business day was over they often shared a cocktail or even dinner together as friends. O'Neill and President Reagan managed to work together even with their numerous differences on policy and government.
President Obama on the other hand and the current republican speaker of the house John Boehner are in constant battle over everything and anything and appears they do not enjoy each other in the off hours. It has become the norm for republicans and democrats to verbally fight each other with warlike partisan battles in lieu of doing whats pono (right) for America. Even in real everyday life it has gotten to the point if you do not think like me, I cannot talk to you or be your friend.
I enjoy blogging and having the opportunity to express myself in a bi-weekly column here in the Garden island news, however it has gotten to be if I write something someone disagree's with they with stop talking to me. They will give me stink eye in public and even un-friend me on Facebook, just because they may have disagreed with something I said in a column or blog.
Please don't get me wrong, I truly enjoy writing a column, it's a bucket list dream come true.I have learned that it takes a thick skin of which I have developed over the years to be an opinion columnist, however I can only imagine how thick your skin must be to be a politician.
The current GMO debate is the most erroneous debate I have seen locally beside the super ferry debate. If you are Pro GMO you are evil and if your anti GMO you are stupid and ignore science, both sides hate each other even before they try and get the facts.
This goes one step further;
"I have found that the Aloha spirit here, for some, lasts only as long as you agree with them..."
There is a frequently asked question in Hawai'i which equates somewhat to partisan politics. "How long have you lived here?" I used to despise that question since it is usually asked in an arrogant way. It's a seniority type thing. If one is in Hawaii 30 years, they are better than somebody whose been here 20 years, someone who is in Hawaii 20 years is better than someone who has been here ten, and someone born and raised here is better than anybody including all of you reading this.
I was always under the influence that a person who actually moves on their own free will is actually where they are by choice, whereas a person born wherever and never left is only there because their parents happened to live there the day they were born.
The newcomer has gone out of their way to be in Hawaii which actually makes one a stronger Hawai'ian. Like a convert to a religion, they are usually the strongest congregants because that religion is their choice, not just a religion they were born into.
I recently saw a meme post on Facebook that exemplifies this subject. The meme shows a photo of an American Indian couple sitting outside a teepee, it said, "A redneck told us to go back to where we came from, so we pitched our teepee in his backyard."
The world is changing, we need to start accepting differences of opinions in each other without major meltdowns and going off on one-another.
I just have one question, how long have you lived here?
