# Hawaiian Kingdom Re-established! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627 "2008-05-01T16:32:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Maui\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Maui\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maui_Lion)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/21 "2008-05-02T17:56:33Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] There isn’t enough agriculture or fishing to even feed its current population, let alone provide money. [/QUOTE] Very, very true. There are times when the dock workers at the harbors of the island(s) threaten to strike, or go on strike, and when that happens, everyone panics, and if it looks inevitable, we really stock up on basically rice, canned goods, and toilet paper. I also remember hearing once that if we were left to our own devices only after so long, we really only have enough food stockpiled to keep us going for a week, and then we’d be really screwed. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/22 "2008-05-02T20:23:41Z")
[QUOTE=Maui Lion] Another reason why I just rolled my eyes is because there’s one song that they play on the radio here sometimes, which basically asks how the old kings and queens would react to how Hawaii is today, and how they would be towards cars, railroad tracks, stoplights, etc., and saying how they would basically weep at it all at some sort of huge loss to the old Hawaiian ways. [/QUOTE] The first railroad in Hawaii was established under a grant from King Kalakaua. So, one would have to assume he, at least, would like it. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/23 "2008-05-11T18:47:57Z")
My haole buddies and I had an idea. We should go down to Iolani Palace and say we’re re-overthrowing the reinstated Hawaiian monarchy! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/24 "2008-05-11T19:13:38Z")
[QUOTE=smiling bandit] I have two points: first, the native Hawaians (let alone the fruitcakes in this mess) are outnumbered more than 10 to 1. [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s about 22% Native Hawaiian, 41% white, and 57% Asian. See [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#Ethnicities) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/25 "2008-05-12T00:05:38Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] There isn’t enough agriculture or fishing to even feed its current population, let alone provide money. [/QUOTE] I suspect that if you cleared out all the tourists there would be more than enough food available to feed the locals. But yeah, they’d be broke. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/26 "2008-05-12T00:48:03Z")
[QUOTE=Pullet] There isn’t enough agriculture or fishing to even feed its current population, let alone provide money. [/QUOTE] Along that line- aren’t most of the island dairys and cattle ranches gone now? I have heard a lot about the various Hawaiian sovereignty movements, as my brother served with a guy who’s family is quite high up in one of them. It makes me sad that, although I do believe that their country was taken unethically _at best_, I also know that it ain’t ever gonna change. The kingdom is gone, never to return. Like so many other groups of native people, they got screwed, and no amount of tourism or flag waving will make up for that. But the world isn’t fair- it’s round. I am haole, I spend as much time there as I can but I will always be haole. My friends who farm coffee, mac nuts and fruit on the Kona coast are haole, but they fell in love with the islands and just couldn’t leave. Hell, a good friend of mine is Kamehameha-eligible (1/8, I believe), and neither she nor her sister has ever set foot in the islands (which is a shame). I would live there if I could afford it ☹ (and that’s saying something, considering where I live). Maybe next year. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/27 "2008-05-12T00:52:08Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Actually, it’s about 22% Native Hawaiian, 41% white, and 57% Asian. See [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii#Ethnicities) [/QUOTE] That’s some interesting math… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/28 "2008-05-12T00:58:16Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] That’s some interesting math… 😉 [/QUOTE] Or mixed marriages. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/29 "2008-05-12T02:11:25Z")
[QUOTE=HubZilla] A Hawaiian sovereignty group occupied the grounds of 'Iolani Palace, locked the gates and **blocked non-Hawaiians from entering** for about eight hours yesterday [/QUOTE] I assume that they mean “non-Hawaiians” by some ethnic definition. If so, I see no reason to regard or treat them any differently than the Ku Klux Klan. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/30 "2008-05-12T21:17:44Z")
If (it’s a really big if, but play along please) they were to somehow secede amicably from the US and restablish the monarchy: 1. Would this be an old style monarchy, with power concentrated in the aristocracy and with no power for the regular folks? 2. Assuming 1 is correct, would this be the first time post-industrial revolution that a representative government was replaced by a monarchy? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/31 "2008-05-12T23:40:40Z")
I love Hawaii dearly and am sympathetic to the sense of outrage that some people feel about Hawaii’s history, but **Pullet** summed it up well … get real, guys. My son had a nightmarish experience one summer as one of only 2-3 haole kids in a day camp on the Big Island. It was not only about racism - there were some other issues, my son was not a very social kid at that point - but racism definitely played a role. Actually, as is frequently the case, in retrospect it is a bit difficult to separate racism from class issues. The following summer he went to a different camp where once again he was a racial minority. But to be a bit bald about it, in the first camp most of the parents were fast food employees and in the second camp the families were well off. Surprise, surprise, the resentment against the haole outsider went away. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/32 "2008-05-12T23:47:13Z")
[QUOTE=Maui Lion] Another reason why I just rolled my eyes is because there’s one song that they play on the radio here sometimes, which basically asks how the old kings and queens would react to how Hawaii is today, and how they would be towards cars, railroad tracks, stoplights, etc., and saying how they would basically weep at it all at some sort of huge loss to the old Hawaiian ways. [/QUOTE] That would be Iz Kamakawiwo’ole’s _Hawai’i '78_, most likely. Good enough song, great guy- sorry the subject bums you out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/33 "2008-05-13T02:52:24Z")
[QUOTE=Furious\_Marmot] 2. Assuming 1 is correct, would this be the first time post-industrial revolution that a representative government was replaced by a monarchy? [/QUOTE] The Spanish monarchy was reestablished in 1978 by popular demand, but it’s largely symbolic - the King is the head of state, but the Prime Minister is really the head of government. ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/34 "2008-05-13T20:17:37Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] The Spanish monarchy was reestablished in 1978 by popular demand, but it’s largely symbolic - the King is the head of state, but the Prime Minister is really the head of government. [/QUOTE] Ah, OK. In that case, I change my question to “non-figurehead monarchy”. You know, you’re smarter than your username would suggest. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627/35 "2008-05-13T22:07:56Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] The Spanish monarchy was reestablished in 1978 by popular demand, but it’s largely symbolic - the King is the head of state, but the Prime Minister is really the head of government. [/QUOTE] Few people would claim that Spain under Franco was a representative government. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hawaiian-kingdom-re-established/447627.md?page=1)