Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1994 — Political change starts with you [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Political change starts with you

by Rowena Akana Trustee-at-large The general populaee is not disenchanted with state govemment — it's disgusted. You might

think that, given the scope of the 1994 general eleetions — every seat is up for sale — some changes for the better might ensue. You might think that, but you would be wrong. Nothing will change because only one

person is responsible for the vast majority of the state's prob!ems. Only one person deserves the brunt of the blame.

It's all your fault. I'm not sure who you are, but statistically speaking, it must be your fault. According to the State Data Center, there is a 62 percent

ehanee you are registered to vote, but only a 5 1 percent ehanee you actually did. Pacific Business News puts your ehanee closer to 43 percent, but no matter. because you certainly did not vote for anyone new. If you are one of the 75 percent of reg-

istered OHA voters that turned out for the 1 992 general eleeūon, congratulations. Unfortunately, actual OHA voters represented as

little as 34 percent of those eligible to vote, according to some estimates. If you rely on someone else to represent your interests without your input don't be surprised when they get it wrong. Onee the election was over, though, you probably stood idle as your govemment catered to its own myopic whims, rather than those of the populaee as a whole. But why should government eoncentrate on the larger picture

when most of it is blank? You don't attend public meetings, or write your representatives, or keep a vigilant watch on the shenanigans of the bureaucrats who wield most of the power. If you did any of these things, you would probably be a lobbyist. You might grumble during newscasts or while scanning the forum section of the newspaper. But when night falls, and your head slumps to your chest, and the paper splays down across your lap, and the TV light flickers on — nothing has changed. The same people will be doing the same things reported by the same few who speak to the same deaf ears. So it must be your fault that

Hawai'i government works the way it does. The saving grace of this pieee of news is that only you ean do something about it. If govemment really disgusts you, do something. Go register to vote, get someone else to register, watch a poliīieal debate, go to a polkieal meeting, ask some questions, demand straight answers, find people to run for office who haven't before, but would be good at it; and for goodness' sake, show up at the polls. If you rely on someone else to represent your interests without your input, don't eomplain when they get it all wrong. Only when your voice is heard ean you expect a response.