Merry Christmas from a Blue Hawaii

When people conjure the Aloha State they might imagine Elvis' Blue Hawaii: Powdery beaches, pineapple fields and legendary Pacific surf that fringes evergreen islands. To a resident | kama'aina, life while idyllic, is also fraught with a high cost of living, skyrocketing housing prices, and incessantly rising taxes. Consequently, Hawaii has been rated one of the worst places retire, one of the most unaffordable states in the nation, and one of the worst places to start a career and have a family.

Despite the popularity of the islands and Hawaiian culture, as romanticized from the likes of Mark Twain, the tourism rich economy and prosperity that should be ours has been poured into the gutters by Hawaii's democratic leaders who are on a collective crusade to keep power by repackaging and perpetuating lies.

Most Hawaii residents identify as "Democrat" but only because it was their "parents' party" and so forth throughout time, until the days of the now defunct sugar plantations. These multi-million dollar corporations of the 20th century took advantage of cheap immigrant labor to grow their vast empires and today vestiges of the Big Five | Na Hui Nui 'Elima continue to broker significant influence throughout the state.

During the plantations' heyday, unions were formed to protect the illiterate workers who were basically indentured servants. During the 1950s there was justification to celebrate the Democratic party for their social contribution to the welfare of immigrant workers in Hawaii. Today however, as we head into 2018, few locals recognize that the liberal agenda from 70 years ago has lost relevancy. While brusque social justice was warranted in the mid-20th century, the greatest threat to equality today is the economic burden upon the middle class created by Democrat's endless welfare programs, an inefficient government bureaucracy, and soaring taxes.

Cases in point: Hawaii's homeless problem, The Rail Disaster, and Worst State for Business.

As such, Hawaii Democrats continue to peddle the idea of a socialist-type government to the plantation-minded locals who buy into the concept that the government will provide everything, as the plantation once did for its workers. Hawaii remains politically blue because politics is a hobby for the privileged; the average local person is living paycheck-to-paycheck and doesn't have the wherewithal to question or challenge the status quo.

Final Thought | Mana'o: Conservatism deserves a stronger foothold in our state. We must rally together to support conservative principles in Hawaii's government. We ought to respect others' beliefs but we must never be apologetic for ours.

Elvis Presley's Blaues (Blue) Hawaii 1961 portrayed a romanticized version of the newly minted 50th state.