VOTE – With Our Feet, or With the Ballot?

By Boyd Ready

I’ve heard it again and again – “I’m out of here!” or “I’ll never invest any more of my money in this place, we’re planning to move to the mainland.” Or even more sad – my kids are all on the mainland, I’m thinking of moving, too. or “This place will never change – it’s hopeless.” And they’re not referring to the weather changing, they’re referring to how we are governed.

Look, most people are not ‘political.’ Most people ‘have a life,’ after all. So, we elect someone and go on about our life and business: that’s our ‘republican form of government.’

Under bad government, people ‘vote with their feet.’ The ‘Curley effect,’ named for a Boston mayor who governed in his voters’ favor so blatantly that the kinds of people who wouldn’t vote for him just moved. Mayor Curley never lost an election. It’s a power trip.

Over 400,000 native Hawaiians live elsewhere – and our ‘Curleyeffect’ dominant party, 100 years later, has not fulfilled Prince Kuhio’s homelands trust.

Well, I’m for staying! Make government accountable to rural Oahu residents. Lower the cost of housing, do better road maintenance, get local control over projects, do sustainable agriculture, foster Hawaiian culture, enable Hawaiian people to live here, and protect forests, reefs, beaches, streams and nearshore waters.

Some Christian people do not vote. Let’s remember ‘Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’ In a republic, we are ‘Caesar, we are the rulers, and to render unto Caesar means not just to pay our taxes, but also, to vote.

So, do we vote with our feet, and leave? Or vote with the ballot, our citizen-kuleana?

Not registered? Didn’t get a ballot? You can still register and vote, October 20 through November 3rd. Contact me at boydready.com for info, and even get a ride to go vote: 463-2936.

Paid for by Friends of Boyd Ready,
P. O. Box 396, Kahuku HI 96731