Bike traffic was light on what was once the H-1 freeway. A solar-powered TheRail slipped by, accelerating silently towards Ewa. they'll never approve that hydrogen-fueled fixed-rail project...what a boondoggle! Steep auto taxes, high environmental and health insurance surcharges, and the end of parking subsidies had pretty much forced people to abandon their cars over a decade ago. Besides, bike commuting gave her and many others huge discounts on health insurance premiums--one of many wellness incentives in the business-housed health care system.
To this day people speak with amazement at the widespread environmental reforms that followed the People's "Keep 'Em Green" Plebiscite of 1997. i guess it wasn't considered possible, but... Imports of non-native plants and animals were banned. Native species were granted legal rights to be represented and sue. The military are more like enviro-cops than peacekeepers; they're kept busy with renegade off-road riders, smokers, poachers, car drivers, malicious spills, and the like. Environmentally-friendly infrastructure and technologies were mandated. Users are now monitored and fined for not following conservation and reuse standards. my folks say trying to find a 100-watt incandescent light bulb in the late 90s was like trying to find a record album in the late 80s...
She pedaled mauka, up the Nuuanu spur, taking in the lushness of the Nuuanu Ahupuaa--a tranquil setting despite the rocky transition this and other communities are going through. ever since the vote for sovereignty in 1995, the concept of governance has been turned on its head. many left the islands. i guess partly because tourism continued to decline and only green businesses are really welcome here... Nuuanu did not suffer like poorer areas from the costs incurred in the early years of the environmental revolution or the ethnic tensions spawned by the cultural rediscovery movement. Forward-thinking residents were already experimenting with community-based planning and self-governance models. Environmental design and management was being incorporated into the organization of the Ahupuaa community government. Within the next ten years, all communities will be organized by Ahupuaa Councils, which will govern (probably not all successfully or peacefully) according to the Kahoolawe Principles--principles for governance, resource use, and community development based on Hawaiian environmental, spiritual, and cultural values. Under the Sovereignty Charter and International Treaty to be signed next year, almost everyone will hold dual citizenship in the Hawaiian Nation and the federation of Ahupuaa Councils, which is to replace the current state and county system by 2030. heck, most of my friends are trilingual anyway, kupunas have long counseled us to learn our ethnic tongue as well as the required Hawaiian and English...
Many Hawaiians have chosen to relocate to the ethno-bioreserve that was once Maui. Non-Hawaiians like mum and dad make up a merchant and service class that keep the economy moving. Longevity centers, environmental research and consulting, and cultural services have gained strength despite early doubts. Tourism in its diversified forms--elder tours or assisted tourism, educational, cultural, and ecotourism--faces its stiffest challenge from virtual reality tourism and the impact of licensing natural and cultural experiences.
With people working well into their eighties, "school" is now a life-long endeavor. Forty percent of adults plug in for refresher courses; 60 percent of adult learners are taking up new careers. The core curriculum offered on the Kamehameha Schools' Learning Net focuses on problem-solving skills, the natural sciences, and technology, supplemented by study with master teachers or robotic teachers. Younger students are guided by a kupuna in their selection of electives through their compulsory years. yes, learning genes are the hope for the next generation of scholars...
The thought of her kupuna brings a smile to her face: Auntie Maiki is a spiritual parent for her. Auntie, more than her parents, was the inspiration for the work that she was to be honored for today: the development of a virtual reality teaching aid to immerse students in Hawaiian history and culture. the licensing thing could be a problem though...
She didn't share her cohorts' resentment of their parents and the elderly. not that i didn't have a brief fling with the enviro-hacker youth gangs that keep the private security force in my community hopping... Her family was like the extended family of old, not the unrelated affinity groups that most of her friends called family. She kept a distance from the American Association of Young People (AAYP), a militant and vocal group angry at the lack of opportunities resulting from policies which treat age with special privileges. They rail against the elder-only financial services and widespread commercial trusteeship of parental and elderly assets, preferring the idea of incorporating families. since i was little, the folks warned there was no estate in my future... A little nervous, she pulled up at the Nuuanu Ahupuaa Council Hale. Auntie Maiki was there, waiting proudly. everyone thinks it has great educational and commercial potential...
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