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In honor of Lā Kūʻokoʻa letʻs talk about capitalism (I should also note that this rant is inspired by my POLS 642 class with @NoeGK)
@ItsIlima said it best(thanks @Kue_Kawena for reminding me of this fire quote), aloha ʻāina is the enemy of capitalism.
@ItsIlima said it best(thanks @Kue_Kawena for reminding me of this fire quote), aloha ʻāina is the enemy of capitalism.
This is Twitter so I will condense my definitions to fit the word limits but if you have any questions or want to add in thoughts please by all means do so.
Aloha ʻāina in all its definitions is ultimately relational to Hawaiʻi.
Aloha ʻāina: (1) lover of the land(genealogical ties), (2) Hawaiian patriot, (3) someone with a deep pilina to ʻāina and kanaka.
So when I say aloha ʻāina is the enemy to capitalism what I really mean is...
Aloha ʻāina: (1) lover of the land(genealogical ties), (2) Hawaiian patriot, (3) someone with a deep pilina to ʻāina and kanaka.
So when I say aloha ʻāina is the enemy to capitalism what I really mean is...
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism is ANTI ALOHA ʻĀINA
Capitalism by virtue is extractive and transactional. Capitalism thrives on the exploitation of (1) land-ʻāina, (2) labor (kānaka), (3)resources-ʻāina(again) and (4)Americanization.
Let me break it down.
Let me break it down.
For anyone who studies Hawaiian history, it is well known that the Hawaiian Kingdom was wrongfully annexed by haole businessmen looking to expand their capital by seeing to it that Hawaiʻi be annexed into the United States of America so that they wouldn't have to pay tariffs.
This is Capitalism 101, expansion is necessary when your means of production is soooo exploitive and unsustainable that to survive you must keep expanding and extracting.
Letʻs recapture this concept, in order for capitalism to have taken a deeper breathe in Hawaiʻi it had to have first disrupted our EA. Capitalism needs to be able to exploit land, labor and resources.
The HK labor practices were by no means perfect but it was okay for its time and kānaka valued their collective labor. The first "strike" in Hawaiʻi wasnʻt plantation workers as is commonly told but by kānaka working at Lahaina Luna on the printing press. Labor is a kānaka issue.
But of course, capitalism is also extractive of resources which is where our streams come into play. The diversion of kahawai is intentional. Less water to kānaka meant less food production, less food production meant having to seek food security elsewhere*cough cough* plantation
Which segues perfectly into Americanization. Aloha ʻāina values ʻāina and kānaka relation to ʻāina but American ideals are built on individualism. We see this in tropes like "pull yourself up from the bootstrap" and "the American dream"
But capitalism isnʻt just a blip in our history, it still plays a vital role in the HK achieving our kūʻokoʻa. Tourism and militarism drives Hawaiʻis economy and forces kānaka to either 1) take part in our own exploitation 2) move away
Capitalism is the reason why Hawaiʻi opened up to transpacific travel before inter island travel.
Capitalism is the reason why RIMPAC was still held during a pandemic.
Capitalism is the reason why Waikīkī, Wailea, Kona, Poʻipū and other wahi pana have become unrecognizable
Capitalism is the reason why RIMPAC was still held during a pandemic.
Capitalism is the reason why Waikīkī, Wailea, Kona, Poʻipū and other wahi pana have become unrecognizable
Aloha ʻāina is the enemy of capitalism because
aloha ʻāina puts ʻāina first
aloha ʻāina value kānaka
aloha ʻāina restores ea
aloha ʻāina puts ʻāina first
aloha ʻāina value kānaka
aloha ʻāina restores ea
Aloha ʻāina is the enemy of capitalism so letʻs get organizing. Letʻs imagine systems that arenʻt reliant on exploitation of land, resources and labor. Lucky for us some already exist and have existed for thousands of years.
Molokai has two economies, the monetary economy run by capitalism and the barter economy run by the community and its shared values, Iʻm sure other communities do as well, get involved with that.
@CoronacareHI does awesome mutual aid work, go volunteer there.
@CoronacareHI does awesome mutual aid work, go volunteer there.
But these are just ways for us as individuals to reach our kūʻokoʻa against capitalism and itʻs not enough.
As Mana Kaleilani Caceres famously sang "they took the land, they took aloha, they took the queen even though they didnʻt know her, suppressed ikaika and the kupuna, but they couldn't take the mana" 
Our mana is our aloha ʻāina
Our mana is our aloha ʻāina
Capitalism values money but Iʻve never had an affinity to eating paper. Instead, letʻs return to valuing ʻāina.
In a lecture with Professor Dean Saranillio he said something Iʻll never forget. "If you give me an ahupuaʻa I wonʻt be able employee 100 people but I will be able to feed thousands."
