RIP TMT: It ‘could have done a lot for Hawaii’
Well, the Thirty Meter Telescope is dead.
Even if it had not been fiercely resisted by some Native Hawaiians and hippies, it would have been killed as a cost-cutting measure by the present administration.
The Superconducting Super Collider suffered the same fate in 1993. But at least the SSC funding did not go to a foreign country. In the case of TMT, the U.S. taxpayer is now funding a telescope in Chile instead of Hawaii.
There are now officially more Native Hawaiians living on the mainland than in Hawaii. There is a reason for that. On the mainland, young Hawaiians can find opportunity and affordable living while Hawaii turns into an unaffordable tropical backwater, devoid of economic engines driving a 21st century knowledge economy.
But a concerted effort by Native Hawaiians could resurrect TMT. Stranger things have happened. When indigenous Americans speak, the government listens.
It depends upon whether people here want the path to the future for young Hawaiians to be a one-way airplane ticket to the mainland, or something totally amazing and even mind-blowing happening here.
TMT could have done a lot for Hawaii. But that train is leaving the station, and there is nothing on the horizon that will ever approach TMT in economic scale and prestige for the island.
If becoming a tropical backwater and exporting the native-born is all people want here, that is OK. The Pacific Ocean is full of those places.
But the stars call to new lands. That used to mean something long ago in dimly remembered, far away place.
John Powers
Pahoa
Assisting developing nations is a good strategy
I have lived in three cities in my life: Paris, Austin and Honolulu.
Though very different from one another, those prosperous cities all have one same issue: homelessness and poverty.
Politicians often tell us about the necessity to fix these issues through the creation of jobs, the strengthening of the economy and the industries within our borders.
What if one of the solutions to poverty and security within the U.S. was to strengthen others first?
The Borgen Project is an American nonprofit organization that aims at increasing foreign aid in order to stop global poverty. Here are five points made by the Borgen Project that might make you understand why helping developing countries will benefit the U.S. and fight poverty within our borders.
1) Better life conditions in developing countries create new consumers in the U.S. with foreign investment and growing demands.
2) By increasing health standards around the world, not only do we prevent further pandemics such as COVID-19, we prevent overpopulation..
3) By preventing overpopulation, we protect our planet and give ourselves more time to research further renewable energies.
4) Increased national security. The countries with the highest poverty rates are those with the highest conflict areas as well.
5) Through the support of human rights and diplomacy, the U.S. would get its leadership role back, regaining the spheres of influence threatened by other great powers.
Overall, the U.S. will gain a lot from a small investment. By currently spending barely 1% of the federal budget on international aid, compared to 13 % dedicated to the military, the U.S. is losing its greatness and the values it stands for in the world.
Helping others should be the U.S. strategy as a great power in the current world order.
Zelie Alvernhe Barton
Aiea, Oahu
