" ... 10-day cruise on the Crown Princess to the Mexican Riviera ... embarked in
Los Angeles and sailed south along the Baja coast ... enjoyed walking around town, eating
some delicious shrimp and a fish taco as well as shopping ...Acapulco was our next stop
and what a huge city it is! With a population of 3.5 million, it has tall hotels lining
the beach along the bay ... took a tour of the city to the far side of the bay and back to
watch the famous cliff divers dive off the cliff ... a fort that is shaped like a star.
Located right next to the dock, it had a free museum, and from the ramparts, we enjoyed
wonderful views of the city ... next stop was Zihuatanejo, a quaint little town where we
walked around and did some shopping. Puerto Vallarta ... my favorite place... streets were
cobblestoned and the hilly city was beautiful, with bronze statues along the beach ...took
a tour outside the city to a film location for Predator ... saw the beach where the movie
Night of the Iguana was filmed ... last port city was Mazatlan ... went parasailing for
only $25. ... did lots of shopping ... ate Mexican food ... Our complete lunch of stew and
rice with drink and dessert was only $2.20 ... the ship, we had fun participating in dance
lessons, trivia games, name that tune games, Ping Pong, Bingo, gambling in the casino, and
singing karaoke. Every nite after dinner we enjoyed wonderful entertainment from
magicians, jugglers, singers and dancers, theater productions, comedians, and more... made
so many good friends on board that we hope these friendships last through many years to
come ... "
Another teacher friend responded:
"I hope I don't sound like the Grinch that stole Christmas, but what you have
described most vividly is one example of the very reason why Hawaii cannot continue to
rely on tourism as our one and only economic mainstay. Competitive forces worldwide are
inexorably driving us further and further toward becoming an impoverished 3rd-world-like
country.
"Those who won the privilege of continuing to lead our state
government for the next four years are NOT going to succeed in turning our economy around
by
[1] taxing our way out,
[2] spending our way our,
[3] borrowing our way out, or
[4] or pumping up an artificial "construction boom" with tax dollars to
"jump
start" the economy.
"The government, on its own, does not HAVE the resources to turn this economy around
now matter how desperately it thrashes and churns from one Big Daddy government
"solution" to the next. If we are to avoid becoming the economic equivalent of
Haiti, we are going to have to address some painful truths. The longer we continue this
make believe fantasy about a tourism based economy saving us from a depression, the more
painful (and less likely) will be the recovery.
"On the other hand, we teachers are part of the answer. If -- and it
is a huge IF -- we can use HSTA and other tools at our disposal to upgrade our D-MINUS
rated public education system to one that actually educates children for the competitive
world that awaits them (especially in the area of basic math and reading skills), we will
have the opportunity to market our state as one that invites venture capital and
entrepreneurial risk takers willing to set up shop here. As things now stand, only a
cash-fat entrepreneur with a financial death wish would accept the huge risk penalties to
gamble on creating new wealth generating opportunities for our citizens here, so
business-hostile is our state to any and all OUTSIDERS who might be perceived as a threat
to the political status quo.
"Complicating this is the fact that the very businesses in which Hawaii could excel
beyond all other competitive forces -- high-tech-intensive NEW companies that are right
now laying the groundwork for 21st century profitability on the mainland and throughout
the world -- will SKIP Hawaii because they cannot find ENTRY LEVEL workers with sufficient
basic skills to meet even modest requirements. We are so hidebound that we are continuing
to educate children for a low tech service intensive/plantation era economy that no longer
exists. In our schools we have no standards, no accountability, and -- no surprise --
little in the way of educational achievement results to show for all our most earnest
efforts. It is almost as if the good old boys who call the shots do not WANT our children
to become educated, because an educated, informed, aroused citizenry is the most difficult
to "govern" (aka bamboozle) and some of these political tinhorns would be out of
a job if folks ever found out what a poor job they do and at what a huge cost to the
taxpayer.
"This is all so terribly sad as
[1] our children are bright and creative with tremendous potential,
[2] we are blessed by being in one of the most favorable geographic locations on the
planet (e.g., world class astronomical and geophysical research location), and
[3] thanks to Defense-related investment over the years, we already have the high tech
infrastructure (fiber optic nets, power grid, satellite up/down links, roads, buildings,
logistic support services, communications, high speed super computer facility) needed to
attract most of the Fortune 500 firms who might be looking for places to expand and
increase their profitability -- and provide much needed, good paying jobs.
"We are like a starving man in a cafeteria filled with food that for some reason we
are unable -- or worse unwilling -- to see. Education of our children and a willingness to
embrace a change in political outlook are the two essential ingredients to recovery.
Without both, we are just whistling Dixie ... and our kids and their parents will continue
to be shortchanged. Given the alternative, are we going to CONTINUE the comfortable route
of opting for business as usual -- are we really and truly willing to set up a sister-city
relationship between Honolulu and Port Au Prince as we continue our slide toward becoming
the Haiti of the Pacific?
"It is enough to make a statue weep."
