The fact is, Lingle's description of who we are may be outdated; what we saw is perhaps exactly the kind of people we're becoming ...
On the one hand, we like to think we are peaceful, loving people. On the other, we glorify people who stand up for themselves, who demand to be heard, who "refuse to lose," and who "fight to the end." Our own local collegiate football team treats each game like a battle, preparing for it with a war-chant, and we think it's awesome.
I am as annoyed with the Kauai protesters as anyone, but part of me thinks it's exactly the kind of thing we Americans (yes, even we Americans in Hawaii) always encourage. Stand up to the oppression. Let your voice be heard. Be united in your resistance. If the Kauai people know they are right (and they appear to) should they stand quietly by while the government does whatever it wants?
We have stopped saying "And the winner is..." at the Academy Awards because it implies that there's something wrong with losing. We have watched report-card grades inflated to the point of meaninglessness because C means average, and average is not good enough. We value individuality (be who you are, no matter what people think!) but we beat it down if we're uncomfortable with it.
As a peace-loving man, I have my manliness called into question all the time, because yes, I do refuse to fight for myself when I think I'm being wronged, preferring peace to violence. The result is that I can look at myself in the mirror with a clear conscience, but the other result is that I'm the loser.
Being the loser is unacceptable in our culture today, and the Kauai protesters are merely expressing that. If they try to work things out peacefully, they think they will lose and that they won't have done everything they can to stand up for what they believe in their hearts to be right.
I'm surprised things haven't come to blows already. But then, this isn't over.
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