Where do we go from here now that Molokai Ranch is shutting down?

After living on Molokai for several years, I had quite a mixed experience. There are certainly good people of every type living there, but there is also a seemingly overwhelmingly community-supported racist movement. People that don't want change and see other races as bringers of a new wave economic and otherwise plague. From my personal experience, and arguments from both sides, I have only been able to see the La'au Point issue, entry requirements to Kamehameha Schools, and even more so, the Kau Inoa issue, as a thinly veiled mask for racism. It has come across to me, that many of the local residents wish to sustain a "Hawaiian style" island. That is possible, however it must also be considered how to move forward and integrate. You cannot simply buy out all the lands for Native Hawaiians and assume you can support yourselves. Instead you should look to the broader horizon and ask yourselves how to propagate the culture while integrating new technology and more population. And while I agree the Ranch is less than savory, the kind of change it is wanting to bring will be ultimately unstoppable. I believe what they are doing now is childish but may also prove to be a realistic wake-up call to the Molokai community. Nowhere can stay quiet forever, especially with the population explosion all over the world in the last century. And with each generation, "Native Hawaiian" ancestry draws more and more thin. But even across the world, eventually, it is predicted that all races will eventually mix enough to be indistinguishable. Hawaii is just one of the more obvious fronts of that right now. Even as some have more genetics from, for example, Filipinos, Japanese or even White, they still cling to that little bit of Hawaiian in them and claim that is what they are despite having it in minority quantities. But the largest thing is that you are all Americans now, for better or for worse, it is something you will have to live with. And it won't change. It shouldn't matter what race you are. So step forward into the future and embrace it, but don't forget to bring your roots with you, and a knowledge of all the things and places you've come from. Show new people what you are about without trying to keep everything from them, and maybe someday we can all live together peacefully.

As one grows older, one typically gains a broader, more circumspect, and more balanced view of life. What I have seen take hold on the island is a rather imbalanced attitude of myopic partisan outlook that could be characterised as 'all or nothing'. There is no question whatsoever that none of us want to see Molokai infected by the same deadly viral trifecta of investment greed, real estate speculation, and corporate exploitation that has so tragically ruined the aloha spirit and reverence for the 'aina Hawaiians have historically set so much value upon. At the same time, there is also no arguing the fact that people need and must have a stable and reliable economic basis for sustaining themselves and the welfare of their families. Somewhere between these two seemingly polar truths lies a middle ground worth cultivating. One of the best ways of 'farming' that middle ground is by trying to achieve a reasoned balance between wise development and equally wise stewardship of the 'aina. To persist in any course other than carefully reasoned compromise between the two dynamics would seem to assure nothing but the sort of unproductive and chaotic limbo that presently obtains, following MPL's decision to quit. As the Far Eastern sages have striven to point out for centuries, the only constant in an inconsistant life is change. Molokai is no more exempt from that given dynamic of change than any other part of the modern human affairs. Therefore the secret is to take the initiative by grasping the best opportunities that present themselves and devising a process wherein 'change' doesn't have to be synonymous with 'destructiveness'. Only by coming together in an atmosphere of good faith, humbleness, and mutually beneficial intent can we restore the original cultural values of 'ohana, 'aina, and cooperative collectivity that were the chief values of traditional Hawaiian society.
I respectfully echo the comments of Kmorga01 and Halemalu above in that we need to come back together in cooperative harmony, no matter what course is eventually taken.
Mahalo for listening. Malama pono!
Kalikiano

I am excited to see support for the wind farms. I really would like to see a company like the UPC that has a proven track record and is actually willing to work with the community before making a move. This shows commitment and responsibility towards the people of Molokai. The sooner the better. I would like to see everything as was up and running not only for jobs, but to bring Molokai back together as one OHANA

Imagine the billionaire from Singapore sitting in his high rise office building looking down on the teeming masses below him in his crowded little city/state. Then imagine him trying to understand the thinking of a group of people on an island in Hawaii who are turning down an offer of 50,000 acres of free land. Surely, you are not surprised by the decision to close The Molokai Ranch. The cultural differences that have resulted in the two ways of thinking are too wide.

As for water, this is the twenty first century. There are many ways to get, transform, transport, create, reclaim, recycle, cloud seed, desalinate, water. Israel is in a desert, yet it exports food. However, this does require a willingness to go forward, with compromise, into the future.

If progress were stiffled throughout history, we'd still be riding around in covered wagons and riding horses. Working with the ranch seems to be the most practical avenue with which to proceed. Progress on the west end, old hawaii on the east end and neutral
Kaunakakai in the middle would seem acceptable and/or desirable.

everyone can do something and has something to offer. home-based businesses could produce all kinds of services and products and i believe they would do this if it wasn't for restrictions and lack of start-up funding. but if i was to produce and package some food product i would need a ceritfied kitchen. this demands a separate building and enourmous costs and bureaucracy. eco-tourism comes to mind, but renting a room out to our visitors is illegal. people need the freedom and incentive to start making a living. it's here that i learned about the crab-pot syndrome. as soon as someone starts making a few bucks, someone else gets jealous and uses some law to stop him from doing it. like when you put some live crabs into boiling water and the first ones trying to get out of the pot get pulled back in to this soup of poverty by the ones at the bottom. it's time to pull together and see what we can start to make a living here.