[VD: Video answering a comment from Jamesy asking, âHelp me understand how a break from tourism would help Hawaii?â Local resident talking in the car answers, âSure thing, so many people know that the Hawaiian Islands are located in the very middle of the Pacific Ocean, what people donât realize is because of our location and how small our islands are our natural resources are limited. Especially water. That is why we use these natural resources responsibly and respectfully. Now you take that and then you add tourism. When people come to visit our islands, theyâre going to need resources as well, and as more people start visiting our islands, the more resources we use up. Take Maui for example: Back in 2016, I think Maui was going through a drought, so the city and county asked for the residents in Maui to preserve their water, use as much as possible. Weâre talking about showers, talking about washing clothes, washing cars, feeding the animals. Now why would they ask that? That is because of the drought thatâs going on, they had to divert majority of the stream water to hotels, resorts, attractions, heck, even golf courses. Which is why, when you add tourism to the mix, our resources are being used irresponsibly. Thatâs only going to go to those who are only visiting the islands. Also, people donât realize is that tourism has never helped the native Hawaiian community. They only supported the corporations that brought tourism in. Another thing that people need to realize that tourism was brought over by the United States military, not native Hawaiians, and what they would do is take our culture, fantasize it, sexualize it, and make it attractive, so that people can come and visit. When, during the Kingdom of Hawaii days, we never needed tourism. It wasnât a necessity. As a matter of fact, the economy during the Kingdom of Hawaii days was solid. It only got worse when American businessmen took over, known as the Republic of Hawaii back in 1898, and the strong economy that the Kingdom of Hawaii worked so hard to build crumbled. And thatâs why tourism started. I know many people argue quote, âwell you guys should have a bunch of goods. Ninety percent of your goods are always importedâ end quote. Why do you think that is? A lot of our farmlands and properties, they got closed down and sold to make room for more houses. But itâs also so that American businesses and corporations can thrive here. Especially shipping their goods. Which also leads to another problem: real estate. But Iâll cover that in another video. The harsh reality is, tourism has done a lot more harm than good here. Our people in Maui, they need our help. We need to focus our resources towards them not you. Thatâs why I said we need a break.â End VD]
