Local Kids are Leaving Hawaii. What Do We Do?
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 30. 07. 2024
- We've all heard about Hawaii's Brain Drain problem, where many of Hawaii's best and brightest end up leaving Hawaii to live on the mainland because of the high cost of living and job opportunities. And although people have left Hawaii in the past, I'd like to see Hawaii try to address this now so that future generations don't leave in greater numbers. In this video, I wanted to talk about three things the State could do to make Hawaii more attractive (and, to some extent, livable) for future generations so that more of the best and brightest feel more compelled to stay in Hawaii. Having spent time on the mainland and seriously considering living on the mainland after college, I really came back home because of my parents and family. If not for that, I felt there was nothing really for me in Hawaii. However, having been back for over ten years, I'm glad I'm here. It's not easy, but I'm glad I'm here raising my kids.
Intro - 0:00
1. Hawaii Needs to Become a Leader in More Industries - 1:04
Agriculture in Hawaii - 1:27
Astronomy in Hawaii - 3:00
Alternative Energy Research in Hawaii - 4:39
2. Hawaii Needs to Market Current Industries Better - 6:26
3. Hawaii Needs to Create a Remote Work Pipeline - 8:10
4. Should Local Kids Stay in Hawaii? - 9:20
Closing - 10:48
Filmed using the DJI Action 2.
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Mahalo for the comments. Always a tough issue to talk about when discussing future and current generations moving away from Hawaii.
Yes a tough issue. I come from a big family. Every nephew or niece who went to college in the mainland stayed; Colorado, Oregon, CA, WA, etc Better job opportunities, ability to own a home....doubly tough in Hawaii.
My wife and I moved to Boston last year because we wanted our kids to experience the public schools in Massachusetts. So far we are very pleased with the education system here and the infrastructure of the school buildings are much better than most public schools in Honolulu. We just missed the local grinds and of course the beach but we hope our kids can one day attend some of the best colleges that Massachusetts has to offer.
Hawaii needs a large corporation that has a high number of specific roles that donât necessarily require a college degree. I work in tech in Seattle with no degree and many similar jobs in Hawaii are stuck in the past with requiring college degrees.
Whatâs your job title and company, looking to get a step in the door with tech
I can think of Hawaiian Airlines that might fit what you are describing. Big local airlines with lots of jobs that don't necessarily require a degree.
@@AzrealJ I'm in Portland Oregon, we have Intel, Microsoft, Yahoo, Netflix, etc here. Up until six months ago there were decent options without a degree but now that the tech companies are trying to downsize it's a world of suck.
Do you have any practical experience yet?
One of the main keys to this issue, keeping locals from leaving Hawaii, is home ownership, period. Everyone, including all locals, should have the opportunity and chance of owning their own home in their life time. It's nice to say this, but is impossible in reality, some will and many won't. Moving to the mainland or foreign country and owning your own home there is not a bad thing. Living your whole life in Hawaii and not ever owning your own home is not a good a thing, for most people. Young local people need to focus on attaining home ownership first, then work backwards and plan on how they will achieve and earn this life time opportunity.
Mahalo for sharing. As I mentioned in a previous video, we may have to look at homeownership as a privilege and not a right. In fact, it may not be for everyone. Some people like renting and should probably rent. But I do agree that homeownership would keep a lot more people here, especially younger families.
This is an Era that The RICH own everything.
If u want home u have to pay A LOTâŠnext gen kid can only dream for.
They need to be succesful and got a lot of money ,its not easy.
This is what capitalism made.đ
Young people growing up in Hawaii are brainwashed to think the mainland is much less expensive. It's not. it's more expensive unless you move to an absolute hellhole with no jobs and the mainland has tons of places like that.
Plus young people in Hawaii and everywhere are told to get a good income and they see the incomes *some* people on the mainland make, and they think when they go to the mainland they'll make that. Some of them even do. I actually left Hawaii in 1986 to work for a high-tech company that was actually founded in Hawaii and as it expanded, got facilities on the mainland. They were behind on repairs, and I was moved over to get them caught up, which I did. I was a very productive repair technician, and not only did repairs but built test units, and would fix any other random thing someone plopped on my bench. I worked lots of overtime too. This was component-level repair and required using test equipment like an oscilloscope, being a very good solderer, and generally good with hand tools, troubleshooting, and electronics. Guess what? The high school drop-outs working out in the warehouse in Shipping & Receiving made at least a few dollars more than I did, with far less seniority.
Plus there's this feeling of being isolated on an island. Disneyland, Las Vegas, Tahoe, stuff li'dat is on the mainland and young people are led to believe that they're really missing out by not living where there are those things. "Island fever" some call it, even affecting young, ambitious, locals.
So young people in Hawaii prepare themselves, go to college, do all the things and leave the islands, and once they've made that big a change, they don't want to admit even to themselves that they've moved to a place that's more expensive, has actually less opportunities, where people are basically Ferenghi, where "family" means nothing, and these days it's getting crazy with bullets flying.
I've done OK here on the mainland, keep in mind on the mainland for 99% of people "OK" means 'Not actually homeless".
If I'd stayed in Hawaii, gone to work at any job with a hotel chain, some medical facility, etc at the lowest job, never wasted any money on the college scam, I'd have a nice house in Manoa now, and be looking at a comfortable retirement instead of a scraping-bottom retirement. Any job with Foodland, the water treatment plant, City & County, Kaiser, Straub, a hotel, can get you a good living because you start at the bottom and work your way up - on the mainland it's not done that way, you start at the bottom and stay on the bottom and everyone changes companies every 2-3 years so there's no loyalty and no social mobility.
Oh, but I hear you saying, no boddah me, I got a super-high GPA, I'm totally tech-akamai. Yeah, good luck with that. I'm in "Silicon Valley" and once you hit age 40, you're dog food. So you get your degree in your early-mid 20s, you've got 15-18 years to make anything beyond minimum wage you're gonna make in your life. We've got computer science grads working in Starbucks and mopping floors anywhere they can get a job at all.
If I were advising 20-something me, I'd say, get in with Foodland, Straub, a hotel chain, the airport, some company that's not going anywhere. Get in on the lowest position there is - mopping floors, emptying bedpans, anything. Then stay there, rising up from within the company, for at least 40 years and save save save money. High intelligence and high tech mean next to nothing. You can be "not too smaht" but if you save save save your money and care about family and about Hawaii, you'll do better than 99.99% of people on the mainland.
Please teach our kids how to manage their finances and budgeting. I am sure it will help a lot. Housing is not just a Hawaiian problem. If you don't know how to manage your finances , you can be given a house and may not have the means to live in it.
I wish they taught this in school. All of those wonderful electives are great, but I wish I would have had a basic economics and finance class. With mobile pay, not sure if the next generation will understand balancing a budget.
Local boy living in the mainland now, would love to come back. I keep searching for remote jobs with Hawaii companies, but it's a very small market. I would love to see that pipeline to help bring people back!
@@the92r many donât allow work from home in Hawaii
There definitely was an increase in working from home. Just look at downtown Honolulu. But not sure if there are remote jobs on the mainland that will allow you to move back to Hawaii.
Thank you for bringing up Agriculture. Theres a lot of potential. I would also expand it to include sustainability, environmental science, and hawaiian studies. There's a lot of interest in this sector among young people, and you're absolutely right, we can't go back to the plantation model of export ag.
I'm 30 now, and have worked at an organic farm for 6 years. The average age of our farmers is 25, well below the state average, 60. Our workforce has grown steadily (attracting both local and mainland people), and our last 2 years were million dollar years. All of our produce is for local consumption. Though I think there's a place for vertical farming, I don't think it can replace working directly with 'Äina. The privilege to work with the land and serve the community drives a lot of us to do what we do. I get so much joy from interacting with customers at farmers markets who are happy to see young people farming.
I'd also like to add that in recent years local ag has become much more competitive with mainland imports. The recent increase in egg prices is one example. Local producers were selling out daily because mainland eggs were so became too expensive. And in the midst of the pandemic, our farm sales thrived as supply chain bottlenecks in California raised the price of mainland produce. Going forward, supporting local producers is going to be a matter of necessity if we want to continue living here.
Aloha
Mahalo for sharing. I wish that local ag could keep prices down or promote additional "freshness" (not sure that is the word). Would love to buy local produce if I knew it lasted longer in the frig. So tired of throwing out produce that has gone bad because of shipping times.
@@HelloFromHawaii freshness is one of the biggest advantages of buying local. Vegetables should last 7-10 days after harvest if stored properly in the fridge (e.g. mostly dry and in a bag/tupperware/crisper drawer). To your point, most of the mainland produce in stores is coming in on shipping containers, they're at least a week old by the time they hit the shelves (while a few items are flown in, which adds an even greater price premium).
I've seen you shopping at the Kaka'ako market, there's no shame in asking producers where and when they harvested their vegetables. Most of us are happy to talk about what we do :)
always enjoy your input on hawaii issues, and respect for filming this in the middle of downtown!
Aloha from Kauai, I am a retired Army engineer and I substitute teach k-8 and my lesson plans generally go a little off script from what the teachers ask of me. One thing I stress is losing our locals and trying to give them some ideas to get them out of the mentality of being defeated by the transplants that increase our home prices or investors that rob from this tiny little island. I say exactly as you pointed out, get away from this place for a few years either in college, or the military and bring back a trade, skill or experience that will benefit this island so we keep this place local. I make it very clear that one of you students should be in our leadership in government, one of them will be the next Kawakami so we don't have a Blangiardi whom is not of the CULTURE making decisions and signing laws that may work against LOCALS. Note that it is not a race thing when I explain it, but rather local values understanding local people. I give the kids Ideas of scholarships that they would benefit from or the military which would give them a full education and skill set which they would be able to bring back for their community. I love your message here and appreciate what you are trying to bring up as a discussion for locals to have to fix this unfortunate problem on the islands.
Thank you for explaining this to our kids. They need new ideas. â€
Mahalo for sharing. Sounds like great discussions in your classroom. Hope the students engage in it.
@@HelloFromHawaii I would challenge you and others in your community to do the same as it should be instilled in our youth that we need not import labor or services but depend upon one another to keep this place special. I make it clear to the kids that have family that provide day to day services that are very noble professions that I would rather have a thousand trash collectors or county construction workers than a thousand surgeons. I want them to aim high but not to feel that their local labor that keep this place running are just as if not more important than the "high status" jobs. we gotta wala'au one of these days if you are ever on kauai, at least take you fishing or just to hang out on the base beach which is usually completely empty or tourists and maybe one or two families on the weekend. its heaven!
Hawaii does have a brain drain issue. My neighbor moved from Hawaii to practice medicine here in Los Angeles. He told me Hawaiian hospitals does not have the proper resources and technology to treat some of the chronic diseases that are rampant on the island. So many doctors are also fleeing the island to see greener pastures on the mainland.
Hawaii is indeed suffering from a physician shortage, especially when it comes to specialists. Not sure how we can attract more doctors here if we can't grow our own.
At the same time, many professors and managers from the Mainland move to Hawaii, so as to be able to live and work in Paradise.
Very great videos! I am enjoying seeing your perspective on how to make your homeland a better and more productive place to live.
These are all good suggestions for industry in Hawaii. I would add another controversial industry: Defense Contracting. There's a huge military presence in Hawaii so the customer is close. Some investments into the STEM departments at UH might make for a good local pool of talent. This industry basically lead to Silicon Valley's talent retention, innovation, and economic success. Maybe it could happen in Hawaii too?
Mahalo for the suggestion. We do have a substantial military presence here. Not sure how big the industries are related to that, but it could be a possibility here.
@@HelloFromHawaii DoD spent $344B in 2022 on just defense contractors alone. Hawaii should get a piece of that. Even if Hawaii could just specialize in naval UAV development that would be huge.
It's too expensive here. There's too much crime and thieves here. It's a bad place to live.
Great YT video. I lived this. I went to school on the mainland back in the 80's and got my engineering degree. My dad was a mechanic for an airline, my mom a nurse. Yes. Hands on knowledge is very important. The trades. The practical knowledge.
I graduated and wanted to move back to Hawaii but the jobs were limited. I ended up working on the mainland for a bunch of years to get some experience. I was so fortunate to find a job at one of the observatories on the Big Island. After 30 years, I have retired and moved back to the mainland because it is so expensive to live in Hawaii. I got to work with a lot of amazing people from ALL walks of life including native Hawaiians.
I've been saying for so many years people of Hawaii need to diversify and become self sufficient instead of relying on everything being imported from elsewhere. Especially when it comes to energy. Burning oil (kerosene - jet fuel) is the worst because Hawaii has to import it from somewhere. Hawaii should be self sufficient with all the land available Add to that as you said, agriculture to feed the people of Hawaii instead of importing everything.
I'm straight up baffled as to why pakalolo isn't legal. No joke. Hawai'i should be on the bleeding edge of cannabis research and production. We have an international reputation for it, yet it's illegal. We could product not just THC, but CBD and other cannabinoids, hemp products, food, etc. We should also be the tech bridge to Asia, it makes total organic sense, we're quite literally between the mainland and Asia. It's a no brainer.
While I love me my pakalolo, it just isnât practical to focus on it as an industryâŠmeaning a product that Hawaii produces and exports.
Even if the costs to grow and harvest the pot in Hawaii was the same as in California, the shipping costs would make Hawaii pot simply unable to compete economically. Then, throw in the reality that it is much cheaper to farm the pot in California due to land, labor and infrastructure costs, and it should then become clear that itâs aâŠpipe dream.
So, if Hawaii were to ever take Govt sponsored push to try to develop a pot business, the end result will be that it only serves the buyers on the islandsâŠwhich, given the alcohol and drug problems that already exist in Hawaii as in other islands, would end in a laughable but tragic result for HawaiiâŠ
Mahalo for the comment. That issue is probably for another video.
@@guslevy3506 I'm simply talking about using it locally, although the hemp and CBD could be exported. I moved to Portland Oregon years ago because I could make twice as much in my career here. Since pakalolo has been made legal we have dozens of crazy successful businesses that have expanded into other states because of the need for products, knowledge and experience. Wylde is the perfect example of that, they're in five states now and still expanding. Even if Hawai'i doesn't export anything, the increased business opportunities are off the charts.
@@guslevy3506 I hear what you're saying about the drug problem, for what it's worth, the results they're seeing in Oregon and Colorado people are using less hard drugs and alcohol because pakalolo is so much more available, cost effective and there's little to no legal ramifications from using it.
But you're totally spot on, we really need better options for people who need help with addictions and life options.
Wonderful video with excellent information and potential solutions!
I always had had hope for the Mililani Tech Center and hoped that we would become a tech hub. Especially considering our prime location between the silicone coast and Asia.
Hopefully they consider more of those tech parks on that side of the island. I was hoping Kapolei would grow into the "second city" with more jobs.
@@HelloFromHawaii that was definitely the plan. Hoping to see that come to fruition someday!
They've been talking about Hawaii being a tech hub, that I've heard myself, since about 1983. That's 40 years. It's still not happened.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for this reflection upon Hawaii's own. It touched me.
I think the first steps we need to do is lower taxes and beef up/develop Hawaii's film/movie/entertainment industry. A lot of shows are coming in Hawaii (Young Rock, Doogie Kamehaloha, Magnum P.I reboot, NCIS, etc). That will keep a ton of young people to stay home. Do it like they did it in the state of Georgia by making it business friendly for tv and film industries to come and startup production companies in Hawaii. Other good industries to look into would be manufacturing, food and beverage, agriculture and alternative and herbal medicine.
This topic should be bright up with our local politicians here in hawaii. I spoke to my district county counsel representative in my district and when I asked him âwhat can we do for the young generation, so they can thrive and not move awayâ he could not answer me. His focus was trying to maintain some small business that were lost during Covid so their are more jobs for the locals. Plus finding a way of creation section 8 housing for the homeless. Getting them off the streets and in some type of apartment complex where itâs a combined with counseling and how they are able to work a trade like maintenance, landscaping to trade back for house allowance so they may have to only pay $500 or less every month. Maybe having financial advisors on hand to help with budgeting and my input was to have community gardens so each so could have ways of to grow their own food and maybe help others around them. Composting their fruit and vegetables scraps and turn that kitchen craps into nutritious soil for those community gardens.
Sometimes I wish I had billions of dollars where I was able to build suitable structures in maybe 3 story buildings where we could house 100 people at a time. Teaching them skill like gardening etc and thrive on their own. Having solar on these homes and being self sustainable so they have a sense of worth. I have a small garden I tend to on my own property. And when I have extra vegetables I share them with my neighbors. Their so grateful and appreciative that they share a little of what they have. Reminds me of my grandparents who grew up in those plantation camps. No welfare. If you did not work you starved. My parents sent me and my siblings there for summer. I learned so much. Waking up at 5 am to collect eggs and feed the chickens. Work in my grandmas yard and garden. Send to collect the kitchen scraps from neighbors to feed the pigs. And when the pigs were slaughtered the meat was shared with neighbors. And neighbors that had an over abundance of fruits and vegetables would share it with all in the camp. No one went hungry. Something I will always treasure. It was tough back then. But you worked hard and reaped the rewards of that hard days work. Something I feel our current generation have not been able to experience. If my grandparents were still alive I would send my grandchildren there for three months. Hands on experience with no expectations in return is what they need. And no electronic devices to waste your time on.
This video was really interesting to me. Thanks Chris, love your insight
Mahalo for watching.
Many of your points were valid, but the one about vertical farming/agriculture isn't realistic for the islands for so many reasons. a small 1 acre lot on the islands could buy you 30 acres in an area actually cultivated for agriculture in the mainland. With the ridiculous cost of agriculture equipment most times farmers barely yield a profit even in the midwest. I imagine the cost to build a vertical farm in Hawaii would take 5 generations to yield any return on investment.
I work in one of the construction trades. Most of the young people I see entering have a feeling of entitlement, no patience, lazy, don't like getting dirty & have little common sense. The urgency of needing & being good at a job is dying. It's difficult to find hard working candidates with good character that are willing to learn & stay the course......
Ahhh man I was meant to watch this specifically today đ
The marijuana industry is about to explode. Expensive top shelf bud + tourism = a lot of locals being employed.
Another great video. Very good ideas. Maybe you should be on the Governor's board to give him your good ideas. Definitely need more industries to persuade young ones to stay here.
Mahalo for the comment. I was hoping Hawaii would do more to expand its economic footprint during the pandemic because we had time and money, but I'm not sure how much of that stuck.
Like your arguments. Yes we have to return to the land and develop agriculture and aquaculture. And yes I agree with you in astronomy. We and the native Hawaiians have so much to teach the world and our skies are amazing. To promote vs isolating the rich culture is not good. We have so many intellectual young kids who if given the opportunity and encouragement to strive to build new ideas here in the islands.
Agree that we have so much local talent who, if given the encouragement, could figure out better ways to do things.
local, born maui, grew up oahu, left for college and only came back on winter/summer break... i recently moved back 3 yrs ago to take care of gma but ngl it has been hard to maintain competitive pay... lived mainland 25 yrs.... now thinking of moving back to mainland like FL or LV b/c of no state income tax even though i would love to stay... everything is so $$$ now...
Mahalo for sharing. Yeah, the no income tax is a great incentive. Hard knowing that you could be making more elsewhere.
Brain drain isnât a new thing. Political will could change a lot of things. Iâm so glad you made this video because you provide some solutions, not whining. All your videos are this way and thatâs why I recommend you to Au coming UH families!
Mahalo
Agreed!
Thank you for your perspective and videos. Ever considered doing a video on public school teachers now that the new contract is likley to be ratified?
Mahalo for the comment. I haven't read details about the new contract, but glad to hear that the contract is settled and no strike forthcoming.
Did you pull that plastic bag out of the fountain? Didn't Hawaii ban plastic bags or was it something else?
Great video topic and very thought out. There is such a negative stigmatism around nuclear mainly due to historical incidents such as the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, which resulted in widespread environmental and health consequences. Additionally, the potential for nuclear weapons proliferation and the management of radioactive waste have turned the masses away but you are right this is something we as a society need to explore more. Great points on everything. I grew up here and went away to the mainland for college and ended up staying there for almost 20 years cuz I never thought I'd ever be able to raise my family here. Been very fortunate enough to find a way to move back and be one of the lucky local boomerangs. As someone who has left and has come back I feel like I've gained a perspective that you only can if you move away and live as an adult somewhere other than the 808. I obviously love it or I would not have moved home but to be honest its hard seeing the amount of corruption and lack of accountability when it comes to our elected officials. With the exception of maybe one or two that I know of no one is there to support the local people. They are all in it for themselves and are willing to hurt everyone around them in order to profit themselves or protect the people that got them into office. Always gotta follow the money. Just my $.02
Mahalo for sharing. Twenty years on the mainland is a wealth of experience to bring back. Definitely can't gain that perspective by staying here.
I saw this technology a long time ago that I thought was brilliant. It used buoys in the ocean (which is constantly in motion due to waves) and when they would bob up and down they created energy. The islands should refine that technology and be the innovators of ocean buoy energy farms.
I'd love to see this technology here on the East Coast. I think it would help circumvent the negatives of off-shore wind farms while providing much needed "clean" energy.
That sounds interesting. And I'm not necessarily suggesting that Hawaii adopt these energy systems, although that would be nice. I'm just hoping we could be at the forefront of the research related to it.
@@HelloFromHawaii 100%
The cost of this type of farming is a lot more expensive than most people think it is.
This subject is close to my heart, as lack of job variety was the final straw that led to my husband and I leaving HI. I was stuck in a low paying admin position and he was tired of his stressful shipyard job that paid very well but he was miserable in, and he couldn't find alternative work that paid a livable wage. The industries just weren't there, so we left. Now I am a project manager for an engineering firm and he works with doppler radars and we are both paid well/better than when we were in HI! On top of cost of living being so much lower.
I always hoped/thought we would be able to get experience here to take back home but the jobs still aren't there and the pay in HI is so much lower compared to other VHCOL areas. It's bizarre.
ETA: I 100% agree with promoting the trades. Hawaii has some of the best unions in the country. Operators in 2018 were getting paid $40+/hr!
Mahalo for sharing your experience. Sounds like the right choice to move away, as you've both found great jobs.
We canât compete with slave labor that is in the 3rd world countries so it would be near impossible to manufacture stuff and compete with the world markets with 99.99% of the products people use.We got to think of stuff that are still stupid expensive and see if we can do it better and cheaper. For example it cost Americans $1000 for a cancer treatment pill. In India it cost $1 for the exact same pill. Can Hawaii attract a bunch of scientists and to learn to make the pill for $250? It shouldnât be proprietary formula as the us government probably paid a lot towards the development. Same thing goes for hundreds of other US medicines. Hawaii would be the good guy if it can provide Americans with cheaper medications.
Never thought of pharmaceutical research as a possibility, but it would be interesting.
đ well said* (especially the REMOTE job opportunities)! and I live on Maryland!
When I was still living in Hawaii, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) was being developed as a potential alternate energy source off the coast of the Big Island. I have to wonder whether that's still being developed and advanced. Another industry that was being proposed for the Big Island back during that time was a space port. Because of the unique location of Hawaii, it would have been possible to launch rockets into polar orbits as well as equatorial orbits, and the mostly isolated location made it an attractive spot for such a facility. Unfortunately, that plan was in conflict with the native Hawaiian community and their desire to protect the 'aina. Although I am empathetic with their position, that would have been an incredible opportunity for Hawaii's youth looking for good paying jobs at home in a forward looking industry.
I'd hope that we could do more space things here too. We have a unique landscape and position in the Pacific. I'm sure there could be some benefit to having a space industry here.
Cattle farming (if not just utilized as Cow-calf operation) in Hawaii, has huge potential I think. And also, distributing that product to the rest of the state instead of exclusively to the mainland
I don't entirely understand the cattle industry here. I may be mistaken in how cattle are raised and the meat processed, but I thought cattle were sent away for processing.
@@HelloFromHawaii yep, Iâm only familiar with the cattle workings on Kauai where I grew up. The Cow-calf method is exactly that, the calves are raised up to 6-10 months old and shipped off for processing. But I think if enough work and resources were put into it, Kauai and big island could be involved in the entire process
How about going to the Bishop Museum Planetarium when it comes to #astronomy in #Hawaii #grateful
I used to live Kalihi. Now living in the west coast working for one of the largest tech companies. Planning to start an AI start-up at some point. Not sure what kind of incentives the state of Hawaii has to offer to hi-tech startups.
I'm not sure what the State could do, but I think it's worth exploring. And once several companies join in, I'm sure word of mouth will spread the pipeline.
Hawaii could be a great testing bed for green energy design and implamentation, and vertical/aquaponics farming to test small foot print farming. I'd like to also add alternative transportation like Zipline to deliver goods/medical between the islands. Or vertical takeoff vehicles
silly
I think the State is investing in those seaplanes that can travel pretty fast. Still in developmental phase.
@@briandavis849 why?
@@ericgene why would you spend money to build indoor gardens in a place blessed with such easy outdoor conditions? ziplines between islands? give me a break. small scale isnât useful in trying to rectify the issues this guy is addressing. Like on Maui, some hedge fund guy bought the pineapple company and sold it all off piece by piece, destroying livelihoods and expectations. There are no more pineapples on Maui really and there is less access yo that land. Meanwhile, the goofy political leaders chant about some pre-American status while all on the dole.
I wholeheartedly agree on all suggestions except nuclear energy. Solar and geothermal is more than enough to power us if government gets out the way a bit. After the false missile alert do you really think Hawaii is a good place for a Nuclear Power plant, not to mention the potential threat of future hurricanes due to global warming?
I think nuclear power and the false missile alert are two different things. But anything would be nice to lower energy costs for consumers.
Great discussion about the brain drain, but something to note about your initial story. I, too, read the story about Moanalua's "Big 3" with interest, then realized that the "Big 3" are not local boys. Yes, they are playing for Moanalua, but only to obtain the requisite 1-year residency to attend UH on resident tuition, assuming they don't get a scholarship as I believe Coach Wade only has 5 allotted scholarships per year. They are from the mainland. And even if they do become stars at UH in the years to come, there's no guarantee they will stay in Hawaii after graduation. In fact, they obviously have family on the mainland and will most likely return. But, light bulb idea....perhaps you can do a story on how this is slowly happening to Hawaii public high school athletics where it is no longer just the neighborhood kids who fill team rosters.
Mahalo for the comment. I think it's interesting that you bring up public school athletics. I remember when I played sports in high school the impact that kids from the mainland had. Great job on recruiting those three players by the Moanalua coach. Surprised they didn't get picked up by one of the private schools.
This comment has nothing to do with this video. Just wanted to say Zippys is awesome! Also I made it a point to mention that it was Chris from hello Hawaii that was the reason we came!
Youâve mentioned situations and potential suggested but a few need correcting. Existing jobs that are available within the construction industry are abundant. Union scale positions for disciplines pay extremely well, some wages including fringe pay around $100.00 per hour. Itâs quite the contrary when it compares to County or State jobs which pay about 25% in comparison. Doctors and other Health Care Professionals are paid based on the wages of Guam. Itâs no wonder why theyâre leaving for mainland opportunities. Not to mention a state income tax of 10%!
Youâd think with all the junk cars laying around the side of the roads and in front yards, a metal recycling industry would exist? Finding industries that fit well with Rocks in the middle of the Pacific is a huge challenge for sure. Attempting to convince mainland corporations to locate and start any type of industry may even be greater? The cost of doing business in Hawaiâi is excessive and Hawaiâi isnât self-sufficient. Maybe becoming more independent from mainland supply needs in itself might be a great alternative? Maybe getting the local government to think outside the box and bring Hawaiâi into the 21st century with fresh ideas could be a great start?
One correction regarding those three Moanalua volleyball players you mentioned at the beginning of your video. They are NOT local boys. Two are from the mainland, and one is from Canada. The three of them, all slated to play for UH after graduation, specifically came to Hawaii and Moanalua just for their senior year of high school in order to acclimate themselves to the islands, and to bond with one another, the culture, etc. I also suspect they may have come a little early in order to get a jump on establishing residency. But the point is that they are not local, and they came to Hawaii for volleyball. If UH sucked at volleyball, I doubt those three would be here.
Mahalo for the comment. If that was the plan, still good on them. So how does the State attract that kind of talent in other fields besides men's volleyball?
@@HelloFromHawaii Tourism and the military will always be the main revenue source for Hawaii, whether we like it or not. Even if we invest more in agriculture and food production, it's the restaurants and hotels that serve tourists/military that will be consuming a large portion of the food that is grown/raised here. My dad worked for a food distribution company in Hawaii. Their biggest contracts was the military and, of course, the Waikiki Hotels.
As far as "attracting" people to Hawaii or making local people wanting to stay at home? It's all about the cost of housing. There is no incentive for big companies to move to Hawaii because the cost of land/lease is so high. They can build facilities in Arizona or New Mexico for much cheaper than Hawaii.
In addition, because of remote work, you can now have people who fill Hawaii jobs, but they live in the continental U.S.
Hawaii has and always be looked at as a tourist destination. As one of the only tropical states in the United States, people come here for the ocean and the sunshine.
Spot on videođđŒđ€đŒ
Even if Hawaii was able to bring back educated professionals the cost of living is so prohibitive they would be severely downgrading their earning power.
It's true that the salaries wouldn't be able to keep up, but there are other intangibles that make moving back worth it.
@@HelloFromHawaii Absolutely! that's why i do it đ„°
I think I commented in a previous video that we need a Hawaii UBIâŠor an increase in wages to, at the very least, match inflation. K shoots đ€đœ
The problem is the State Government of Hawaii in Honolulu has for the past eighty years not been a whit interested in making it easier for the local people except to enact progressive legislature for social welfare program spending. Historically Hawaii has relied on emigration as a solution to the islands' growing population. There's no reason to change that now and in the future.
No doubt the state government in Honolulu is happy that emigration out of Hawaii is increasing. They're hoping it only increases more. They would be delighted if half the population picked up and moved out of state. Mahalo and Aloha.
Another reason is that the local people are indoctrinated from an early age to vote for only one certain political party and next to vote for activists and progressive politicians, meaning those who yell the loudest, pound the podium, and cry injustice the loudest. As a result, nothing is really going to change now and in the future.
Reduce taxes? Hawaii is unabashedly a socialist state with no apologies given. That means high taxes and higher taxes, never lower taxes. More regulations and more are a fact of life.
Making it more uncomfortable to live in Hawaii is the name of the game. For many decades the greatest gift a local could give to Hawaii was to emigrate to the mainland.
Emigration out of Hawaii is not new. There was a wave of emigration out of Oahu to California in the 1960s by local people seeking affordable homes and jobs. You have to be over age 60 to remember that.
Everybody remembers the recent emigration wave of the early 2000s when construction exploded in Las Vegas. The construction boom drew in people from Hawaii who knew that homes in Vegas and Clark County cost a fraction of those on Oahu. Jobs were plentiful and well-paying.
All these small emigration waves help Hawaii, especially meaning Oahu, stabilize its population as the amount of land on an island is finite and there is no room for growth.
So in the end, all I can recommend is, if you're thinking of permanently relocating to the mainland, do it!
Hawaii needs more farms, I agree. Meats and milk are so expensive.
I've been thinking about this problem for a while now. I haven't come up with anything that even resembles a solid plan, and it's mostly just speculation. I feel like a lot of progress could be made if the people of Hawaii abandon ~some~ of their convictions.
I agree that basing a major source of income on tourism isn't great. Clearly far from perfect, but it is a way to bring outside income to the islands. So Hawaii shouldn't abandon tourism completely, and probably should embrace it a bit more.
I keep imagining Hawaii in the future being this massive hub city in the middle of the Pacific (think an aquatic version of New York for the West Coast) and bridging the distance between Asia and the US. I know this is unlikely to happen, but I think it would be kind of amazing, though I understand this is very much against the wishes of Hawaiians and locals collectively.
Aloha đș đ„°
California Chumash Indian tribe has Casinos, and the native Indians are paid like $10,000/month. Why canât Hawaii do this?
Idk.
There were talks of a casino, but that stalled.
We have had family in Hawaii for decades past but due to money they have all left.
Brah, your suggestions for "industries" are naive and not well thought out.
1) Agriculture - Vertical Farming... land is a much cheaper and easy way to mass produce food. Hawaii won't be able to compete on the price point even growing local. Why? Much of Hawaii produce comes from California where they pay illegal immigrants on the cheap to do the work. The other bunch comes from Asia where they can also beat Hawaii locals on price point due to cheap labor and currency conversion of a stronger US dollar and a weaker foreign currency.
2) Astronomy....Brah, Astronomy is NOT an "industry"! Hard Sciences are rooted in Academia and Universities where PhDs compete for Government grants aka pork. Ever heard of NASA? Yeah, it's owned and financed by the Federal Government. Scientists are egg heads who only want to study a specific thing without a care for how it could or would generate cash flow.
3) Alternative Energy Research...AGAIN, NOT an industry. Research is NOT an industry! Research is an expense! You know who pays for research? The government. Tenured PhDs in Universities compete for government grants to bring in the pork for their universities. Student Loans are financed and backed by the Federal Government, which creates money out of thin air to pay for everything. Also, there is no alternative energy. Solar and Wind have already proven to be poor replacements for fossil fuels. Nuclear is the greenest way to go, but Hawaii will never build a nuclear power plant. So everybody has to wait for the magic bullet of Fusion energy where all energy somehow is free for everyone forever. Until then, nuclear is the best option, but Hawaiians won't go for that, so importing oil it is.
4) Hawaii needs to create a remote work pipeline...What??? The whole point to getting a good IT job where you can work remote anywhere in the world is to make a lot of money in US currency while living in an area with low cost of living so that you can get ahead. If you can make $150K a year doing remote IT work, why not live in the Philippines where 1 USD = 54 Philippine Pesos.
At the end of the day, you have to accept that Hawaii is the way it is. Pau already.
Younger people in Hawaii DO NOT have a choice. It's either stay home in Hawaii and never own a home, and then get cremated because getting buried is too expensive, OR move in search of better opportunities. I think it's an absolute TRAGEDY that SO MANY Hawaii locals get cremated and their ashes scattered at the beach.
If you are born and raised in Hawaii, your BEST BET to this day is to forgo college, and go straight to work in the unions and get a trade, work at Pearl Harbor, work for the state government, or work for the Federal Government.
Heck, Edward Snowden was working for the NSA while living on Oahu getting paid more than $250K a year with a High School diploma!
Chris, I know you're a CZcamsr and got to create content, but you have to STOP being idealistic and START being pragmatic!
Hawaii is always going to be the way it is because that's the culture of Hawaii, and people keep voting for the same people who don't change anything because either they can't, they don't care, or they are corrupt and benefitting from the current system. PAU ALREADY!
Just tell poor public school Kids from Hawaii to go straight to work for the Unions or join the military and move away. That's their best shot at actually owning a home. Otherwise they will just tread water their whole lives and own nothing.
Mahalo for the comment. Appreciate your thoughts. Rather than address each point, I'll just comment on the pragmatic comment. I do think you can be idealistic and pragmatic and I believe my views are an attempt to do that. While things are challenging in Hawaii, I don't think it's as gloomy as you portray. I still believe young people have a choice, albeit that choice is becoming harder and harder.
Appreciate the discussion.
@@HelloFromHawaii Mahalo for the reply and reading my comment.
Idealism and pragmatism do not go together. People like you are the reason why Hawaii will never change. Idealism is for the protected halls of academia and rich people. The rest of us have to be pragmatic, and if you're not honest with yourself and your options, you'll be left behind.
Hopes and pipe dreams mean nothing in the real world. You clearly did not think hard about your suggested "industries". Growing produce by hanging it off of the buildings around Fort Street Mall is laughable. Then the last two suggestions of Astronomy and "Alternative Energy Research" are both Government/taxpayer funded.
Calling something an "Industry" means that it can produce goods/services, and sell them for a PROFIT.
If one wants to stay in Hawaii, one MUST take OFF the "rose colored glasses" and see Hawaii AS IT IS, not as how it "should be" or "could be" in your mind.
I was born and raised on Oahu, PCHS c/o 99. I got a bachelors and an MBA at HPU, grad May 2007. The subprime mortgage crisis hit hard. No jobs, lots of student debt.
I worked lots of small temp jobs for the State, including WIC services main office on Alakea.
All I saw over and over, was how people who went to college were behind people who just went straight to work at Pearl Harbor, Unions, Fed or State jobs.
I did my best to stay in Hawaii, joined the HI Army National Guard, and worked 2-3 jobs on top of that. Just couldn't make it.
I went Active duty US Army, and it was the best decision for me. I now own 2 houses and am financially free. Paid off my student loans years and years ago. I don't ever have to work again if I don't want to. I'm now pursuing a second career as a Dentist.
People here on the mainland are struggling BIG TIME, and complaining about gas prices, and real estate being out of reach for the next generation. All I see is what's happening now on the mainland was where Hawaii was 18 years ago, and now Hawaii is WAY WORSE.
The truth of the matter is, your kids, yes YOUR kids...won't own any property in Hawaii. That is, unless they are super smart, pragmatic, and get a ridiculously high paying job.
$800K-$1M for a $1,200 square foot home is ridiculous. Hawaii real estate will just continue to get out of reach.
As it is, I have a lot of Hawaii friends whose parents passed away and they inherited a house WITH A MORTGAGE, because their parents still haven't paid off the house.
Look around you Chris! Hawaiians have been getting priced out of Hawaii for GENERATIONS! OPEN YOUR EYES!
One of my good Army buddies is also from Hawaii and is from a Hawaiian family. His parents own a house in Laie, and his parents, his sister, his sisters 5 kids, and his brother, as well as his uncle and aunty live in that house.
When his parents die, they are gonna split the house evenly between their 3 children (my buddy, his bro, and sis). How the heck are 3 families supposed to live in one house?
So most of the time, locals either squeeze together under one roof, OR they sell the house and split it 3 ways. Then the house gets bought up by someone from the mainland, and that's that. Locals move away.
My other buddy has lived in Aliamanu by Radford HS since the late 70's. It's his in-laws house. He lived there with his wife and children. Father in law passed away, now mother in law is about to kick the bucket too. The parents left the house to their son, and the son has already told them that he will sell the house.
So my buddy is from Texas but has lived in Hawaii since the late 70s. Now in their old age, they're going to be destitute in Hawaii, or have to move to the mainland.
Reality will KICK YOU IN THE BUTT, Chris. It doesn't matter if you call it "gloomy". Reality doesn't care!
What you call "gloomy", is what I just call "open your eyes, and be honest with yourself".
If young hawaii kids want to stay in Hawaii, they should bypass college and go straight to work in the unions, Pearl Harbor, or State/Fed government. Only go to college for a degree that will actually get you a job in one of those areas.
I tell young kids, especially if they don't come from rich parents, that "following your dreams" is TERRIBLE advice. Don't waste all the time and money going to college to learn something that won't get you a good paying job. You don't have that luxury.
Instead of "following your dreams", I tell kids "follow OPPORTUNITIES! If you follow opportunities, you'll find your dreams".
It's just sad reality that there are scant opportunities in Hawaii. The last thing you should do is get a useless college degree that will put in you in crippling student loan debt ON TOP of all the high cost of living and struggles of Hawaii.
From watching your videos, you went to college on the mainland and moved back to Hawaii. You probably got a State job.
There are people from Kahuku High School who went straight to work out of high school for the unions. They make waaaaay more money than you now. AND they didn't have to pay any college tuition.
THAT's reality.
You need to stop pushing the go to college paradigm. College is a scam.
This is the best comment ever. As someone who left Hawaii for almost two years now. You are absolutely right. Hawaii is PAU already! its to deep into the hole. I love the culture, the food, the ALOHA. But for young family. Nothing can be done anymore. After coming back home last January, I was remembered why I left. I was homesick, but seeing the cost of living in Hawaii, I got over it real quick. Thanks bradda for being informational.
@@WhatNowTommy a'ole pilikia brah.
I can't tell you how homesick I get sometimes. It gets really bad. Plus my dad is buried at Mililani Mortuary, and I haven't visited his grave in over 10 years.
It's really UNFORTUNATE, that by pointing out truth and reality, that I get labeled as "negative" or "gloomy".
Hawaii residents are trapped. They are trapped economically, financially, and in their mindsets.
I live in Virginia now, so any time I want to visit home, it's a couple grand each time.
I was born and raised in Hawaii, and we were all lied to by our parents and teachers. Going to college set so many of us back. Instead of getting ahead, college held us back in debt.
The ones able to stay in Hawaii bypassed college and went straight in the the SYSTEM and ACCEPTED and WORKED the system.
Chris has all his "pie in the sky" positivity for sake of being positive and nice. Meanwhile, none of his suggestions are rooted at all it reality. He didn't even understand how profit is made.
Industries need to be able to reliably create products or services in order to sell them and turn a profit.
Chris is a good example of how so many people in Hawaii just don't get it because they have rose colored glasses on.
So they're gonna keep on encouraging young people to pursue empty opportunities in good faith.
Now THAT is WRONG.
@@michaelkiese7794 I 1000% agree with you. With everything you said.
I too got really really homesick. I think the first 6 months was bad, I wanted to go home.
But as you said everything so perfectly. The island is beautiful, the closeness of Ohana and friend is just amazing. But it really does feel like a trap. Like a never ending cycle of everything.
It wasnât till I left now that I am looking out that I realize wow. It really is a cycle. And everything you said about this whole.
I too was seen as someone who out rooted and went somewhere. Some Hawaiian friend of mine even said that I wasnât really rooted. What! Thatâs crazy.
But now it does feel a since of freedom from that cycle that is hard to notice when you are in Hawaii.
Now I get the concept when people say the âboiling frog syndromeâ and not many of realize in Hawaii that the heat is getting hotter thereâŠ.financially and just the way of living struggle.
Living in Hawaii for many years I think what makes us behind is that our laws are strict, can't do nothing or get nothing. too much "Not available in Hawaii" yadayada.
Laws or NIMBY mentality?
We need to think outside the box ...
Education ... why just local vs mainland education? Why not global exchange? I travel and meet Asia studying in Europe and vice versa.
Work.. why just college and technical?
Be creative and inventive ... development of PC and smartphones not from basic education
New and old ideas ... Many Hot Springs around the world... how come none in our volcanic Islands
Travel ... there is more to Disney and Vegas
Environment... why so many homeless? Why can't solutions from other countries be adapted?
Jobs can be created to solve all our problems and crime ...
Japan has travel information at each city and train station... Why does Hawaii not plan the same for each city?
The circle of life continues the same in Hawaii ... Diploma, Community College, UH, or Mainland
Who gets the scholarship? Needy
Who goes UH ... those without scholarship
In the old days $225/semester was expensive... ask your parents
Mahalo for sharing. I also wondered about hot springs. I'd think locals and tourists would love onsens.
@Hello From Hawaii Only Asia is nude, no tatoos. Everywhere is with bathing suits. Canada chlorine, Iceland is sulfur. Iceland Blue Lagoon is $90
why would a japanese national like your wife leave a homogenous country like japan to move to a foreign, diverse country like the usa? and why can't a local boy like chris date and marry a local girl from a local generational family? is it b/c chris is also homogenous to his japanese ethnicity?
Chris is not compatible with Local (Kalihi, Waianae) women. Plus, most Asian-American women marry White guys, so he had to go the picture bride route.
I love Hawaii, but why would I want to live in an unaffordable place. All of the high tech opportunities that Hawaii was on the leading edge of research they bundled and companies moved away. The City & County of Honolulu just updated their IT systems after 20+ years. The local economy isn't large enough to self market. Where do people in Astrology come from the mainland. One nuclear reactor could power Oahu.
That UPS store is so susđ I can't believe they got rid of Walmart
The main issue is the housing cost. If we can bring that down then local kids can stay. Honestly I don't think they can solve it. They'd need to do things like only allow Hawaii residents whom lived here 10 years or more to buy. That would never happen. It would be considered anti capitalistic and anti american.
Not sure how they can limit that. Currently, there are residency requirements, but those are pretty loose requirements. Anyone who moves here and has a permanent address could be considered a resident.
Great ideas but wont happen. Unless... YOU do it! Why not start the initiative yourself? You sound so optimistic and would make for a great story. If you did, I'd love to join!
Thanks. :)
State tax and employee regulation conflicts keep a lot of companies from offering remote work from Hawaii. Itâs huge waste of potential.
Or free hawaii
Advocating for entry-level Remote Work from Hawaii is a terrible idea. USA workers are considered expensive when compared to offshore counterparts. The ONLY way to secure remote work on a USA comparable salary is to bring years of experience and high quality to the table, and that is NOT going to happen at the entry-level rung of the ladder.
Mahalo for the comment. I think it's why the creation of a pipeline with internships or other opportunities to gain experience is important.
Exactly agricultural is the way to go. We learned from the pandemic how restrictive it was if you were not essential. Farming can be done especially on the big island or allow each island can grow a specific or a multitude of fruits and vegetables. There are homes on the mainland that have gardens on their patios. And I agree expansion on solar. Maybe in the future have roofs with built in solar panels. If all homes was given this. It would save some money in each home. The hawaii electrical grid need to be updated. So hose that have solar can sell back some it. And get extra revenue like Texas. I still donât understand why all building being built donât have solar. I mean good Solar companies. Trades Ike plumbing, welding, construction, business education. And money management should$ be taught in schools. Plus allow some these students to do heir apprenticeships through some Hawaii companies. In my opinion the unions need to go away. That drives up prices like construction cost, etc. just my opinion. Hands in work expos must. Iâm glad you brought it up. Make it part of their schooling requirements. Excellent topics.
My nephew moved to New York and thought he could survive after paying $4,000 for a small apartment with a another person for one year. And he wanted to come back and maybe work on Oahu for those rental prices. He said the sense of aloha is what he missed. That spoke a lot to me. The sense of aloha is what he missed.
Mahalo for sharing. Glad your nephew was able to tough it out, though. I'm sure he gained a lot of perspective while in New York.
Pay them moolah!! đ
One time lump sum.
đđkiss them with moolicks!
*Agriculture* fo' Real!
(Not kidding)!
đ
I agree with astronomy that it has a lot of potential which due to the controversies makes it less successful. This is one advantage that Hawaii has but due to the controversies, it will be curtailed rather than used for the benefit. Compared to some other fields, like heavy manufacturing, its impact on the environment has less damage. I could see Astronomy and usage of areas coexisting with the land and the people, compared to the land being sold to the highest bidders, who aren't the residents. The academic/scientific community could bring much needed possibilities for local born youth wanting to pursue their interests as well as well-paying jobs. It might bring in other interest/technology to Hawaii county which would benefit. The one concern would be overdevelopment on Hawaii island or Maui, where more urban development conflicts with the observatories being far brightly lit urban sprawls. The point on agriculture is valid too, in the vertical sense but also tied to aquaculture as well, as I've seen farms using water rich from nutrients of fishponds. There's more than can be done. I keep hoping that Animal Science, rehabilitation, and medical expertise could be expanded for the pacific basin. There's a Pacific wide distance from East Asia to the Continental U.S. It's still a far distance for ships and aircraft to reach either, with only Hawaii, the nearest point. Studying and specializing in ocean sea life, as well as supporting local/pacific basin animal should be considered. Rehabilitation for service personnel, veterans with disabilities for Armed forces is not readily available for all service personnel in Pacific based operations, could Hawaii be part of tiered support? As long as Hello from Hawaii & Chris keeps asking the questions, I can see the path being lit up for more wayfinders.
I think astronomy could be a great field for young locals to enter. We have access to the sky for a lot of calendar days and the link between the stars and Hawaiian culture is there. Hopefully it happens.
Aside from the obvious distance issues, the government there is a wreck and taxes out of control. No big business will move there with taxes and government as they are now.
Well we need better pricing on housing. Housing is so expensive, and being sold to outsiders that got the funding to afford the housing. Then, they rent it out to other "outsiders" with money. They are all just using us and our island to make their own money. I fear that in the not to distant future, true Hawaii will not be Hawaii anymore. All our local ppl will leave, and it'll be mostly the outsiders. Just another mainland town/city.
The reality is that Hawaii can only ever have tourism as its major industryâŠit is what it is.
Farming novelty products such as sugar, mac nuts, pineapples, etc. was a nice window to have open but farming as a viable industry in Hawaii was doomed to end given that labor costs could not remain cheap forever - itâs nice to have brought in indentured workers from China, Portugal, Japan, etc but those days are rightfully gone forever. The kids and grandkids of those workers certainly arenât looking to work in those industries for pennies on the dollar, and the Kanaka never were viable as a farming labor force of any size.
1) So, agriculture as a large statewide industry is a pipe dream. How can Hawaii agriculture compete in the marketplace when itâs shipping costs would make their price relatively sky high? Cute ventures like pakalolo, vertical farming, etc. are niche industries at best, and certainly not viable to sustain incomes statewide.
2) AstronomyâŠLOL. If the Fed Govt is trying to forcibly GIVE Hawaii a juicy telescope infrastructure that would actually be better and cheaper in Chile, and the local population fights loudly to stop Hawaii from getting this nice boneâŠthen Astronomy is clearly a non-starter as a large statewide industry. The saga with the TMT is literally the story of a dog viciously biting the hand that is trying to feed it.
3) Hi tech, remote working, etcâŠthese are low volume and impractical large scale operations for Hawaii as a state. The educational system cannot sustain a viable workforce and the sufficient workforce talent simply wonât move to a small island in the middle of the Pacific to make Silicon Valley Isle a reality.
Mahalo for the comment. As to agriculture, I don't think the State needs to necessarily grow food as an export, but to keep the food in-state. If we can keep the costs down, that would be huge. I'm thinking about things like strawberries that could be grown here. Wouldn't have to throw away so many in the carton from Costco since they would be fresher. And it's too bad they aren't considering the Waialua location to grow them. Would have been successful.
@@HelloFromHawaii The unfortunate reality is that farming is an industry that survives on scale since the profit margins are so thin. The idyllic image in oneâs mind of walking to the neighborhood grocer and picking up fresh fruits and vegetables is something we all would love no matter the place, but the reality is that affordable labor, watering, storage and shipping costs are the bulk of the cost to the consumer so farming is essentially profitable when all those costs can be achieved in very large scale.
It would be wonderful to go pick up strawberries farmed locally at an affordable priceâŠwho wouldnât want that freshness at a good price?
The problem is that a good price is not achievable. That price would have to compete against strawberries imported from California and South AmericaâŠso given the high cost of labor, of watering and the associated business costs of farming, the local Hawaiian farmer wonât be able to compete unless they offer a niche product at a premium price.
@@guslevy3506 I've been farming in Hawai'i for 6 years now. We're an organic farm so that's the niche. We've also been able to expand from 15 acres in production to ~60 acres. We're just starting to capture those economies of scale, selling to larger buyers like foodland, wholefoods, and farmlink hawaii. Another "niche" is selling to restaurants in tourist districts, these are areas willing to pay extra for local produce because the tourists dont mind paying for a farm-to-table experience. You could say these larger buyers subsidize our farmers market booth where we can sell direct to consumers at fairly reasonable prices.
Having diversified revenue streams has been pivotal to our success, we saw farms suffer during covid because they were ONLY selling to restaurants. There are ways for local ag to succeed in Hawai'i.
@@Joshuafukumoto What you describe is really the ideal for a farming operation on the islandsâŠI sincerely congratulate you because having grown up next to Salinas and Watsonville in Steinbeck Country, I know that true farming has no glamour - itâs all hard and dirty work.
And without sounding like Iâm being argumentative, my view would be that your business is really a function of the general Tourism industry given that those dollars are what you are essentially trying to capture. It is a very smart strategy for a person in Hawaii to pursue because the customers are willing to pay a premium for your products - of course, there is only a limited amount of those dollars which limits the size that niche organic farming operations could ever grow to.
Merriman, Yamaguchi, et al donât want to become McDonaldsâŠand certainly you donât want to become a megafarm with 25000 acres - nor could you.
Import some from chicago.
You guys are turning into California period. Cost as much as it does living here in California If not more. In all honesty imo you need the locals to change their mind sets from being a worker to being an entrepreneur and open up businesses. I honestly think that's how locals there would prosper. Stop limiting yourselves to work for these companies
Mahalo for sharing.
The agriculture Hawaii should do is in cannabis! Would be great to feel great on the beach and tourists would definitely buy it
Got to watch out for the consequences. A lot of Tourists may not like the pakalolo culture.
The beaches and Parks would smell like pakalolo smoke all over. You'd see roaches in the beach sand, etc.
That would be an interesting industry. Pros and cons to that industry here.
Bradduh not to bash you but your the one that wants to welcome others to come here. But your wondering why other locals and natives are homeless or leave. It is simple math.
Technology and AI is the future, and you can be anywhere in the world to do that, so why not Hawaii?
True. Remote work makes that possible.
Aloha Nephew,
There is an existing market for Hawai'i's medicinal herbs. This is a huge source of potential income. The plants are native and can be encouraged in Hawai'i's existing forests.
Aloha nui loa
Mahalo for the idea.
Brace yourself.
You are fixing to lose tourism dollars as well with the crazy prices.
make microchips, Taiwan is a island and makes microchips
How many nuclear power reactors are in navy ships and subs. we have military bases do not mnufacture anything . Hawaii does not have the political will the haves have but its not sustainable Almost all my family have left Hawaii
Nice to be upbeat, but not much going to change in liberal paradise. First it is an island with little to export, Second much of the land is protected, even if you do farming or manufacturing, the tourist business would complain, Third perhaps the highest cost of living and increasing economic class disparity. Theft and homeless are the Hawaii growth industriesi. Fourth, high taxes is business barrier. Fifth, highly competitive for few jobs, many over skilled workers stay at lower paying jobs just to stay in Hawaii. Sixth, wealthy people and their lawyers control Hawaii, they don't want development to destroy their Shangri-la. Seventh, the Hawaii culture is laid back, not ambitious or business eager. Hawaii could do off shore customer service like Phillipines, but they don't. Eighth is time, Hawaii is too far in time zones from mainland, it's not so easy to do business. Nine, Hawaii is multicultural but suspicious of outsiders, howies. Ten, Hawaii is a small place with just one major city, you can't go far in state to explore new opportunities. You are sea locked.
Mahalo for sharing. While there are a lot of restrictions and limitations, I think we need to find ways around that. Surely, we can think of something.
You want some haoles?
Haole here.... stop picking on Haoles and maybe we'll stay or come back.... simple as.
We don't necessarily want you to stay and move here, but you can always come to visit. đ
@@gailaquino1240 I was born and raised there brah, but thanks for proving my point
I'm not sure how this comment relates to the video, but thanks for watching.
@Hello From Hawaii you're not sure how whites (and blacks) being mistreated growing up on the island makes them want to leave and not want to come back? Umm, okay, next you're gonna say you never heard of Kill Haole Day
REALITY: This guy makes money from his subs and views on CZcams. He does that by covering a global holiday hotspot (just like Bali) but by being controversial and hitting people's raw emotions (their hip pockets). He actually talks Hawaii down which is self-defeating for everyone. Hawaii is, always has been, and always will be a global holiday destination and especially so for the world's largest economy the USA. If things are dull at any time, that is a perfect buying opportunity for property. Everyone says Hawaii is "expensive" for property, food and electronics? Well no it is actually cheap. Go to New York or Sydney Australia and see how you go.
Mahalo for watching.