by James Kunstler
For all of you out there disposed to twang on me for riding a jet airplane all the way to Maui, please consider that United flight 35 would have flown from San Francisco to Maui with or without me on it. Here's the deal: I had to go to San Fran to give a talk at the Commonwealth Club. From there, I had a lecture gig on Maui. I stayed three extra days and nights — since I'd come all that way. So, sue me. Now, to the business at hand, which is my impressions of Maui.
Beautiful as much of it may be, it is hard not to view it through a tragic lens. Most of the damage on Maui has been inflicted over the past 30-odd years — that is, since the Pepsi Generation got their mitts on the island. Certainly, there were massive prior insults, starting with the first landings of the Haole (foreigners, in particular Caucasians) in the late 18th century, the introduction of cattle, eucalyptus trees, the mongoose, the monoculture of sugar cane, and other intrusions that upset the island's ecology. But the boomer-hippies really iced it.
Those who managed to stop smoking marijuana long enough to string two consecutive thoughts together grokked the related notions of tropical paradise and land development with predictable results. That is, they turned the place into just an annex of California. The flatlands were allowed to develop along the lines of Fresno or Lodi, while the uplands became Pacific Palisades Lite. The longest stretch of the best beaches in the place with the least rainfall was converted into a strip of jive-plastic supersized resort hotels. The automobile was given first dibs in all civic design matters.
The island's beauty has not been entirely defeated, but the
usual complaints are heard for the usual reasons — mainly, that the
overwhelming majority of buildings, both residential and commercial
(including the big hotels), are graceless industrial sheds, deployed
artlessly on over-engineered streets, which has conditioned the public
to believe that all man-made things are worthless pieces of shit. This
in turn conditions the public to believe that nothing man-made can be
ultimately beneficial, which makes it impossible for us to imagine
coexistence with the rest of nature, and so on into the usual swamps of
suburban dialectic.
The terrain, of course, has largely determined the situation with the
car. Maui is mostly composed of two rugged mountains, and cars have
made it possible for people other than farmers to settle the slopes.
Without motor vehicles, a person living up in Makawao, maybe two or
three thousand feet above sea level, would be lucky to get down to the
main trading town once a month, let alone to a job every day. But
work-a-day Maui operates just like work-a-day California, and all the
associated norms of behavior are in place. You drive everywhere for
everything.
As far as I could tell, even the educated locals out in Maui today are
consumed with the same trivialities about traffic and "density" that
you'd hear back in any mainland town. They are not thinking beyond the
usual NIMBY issues. But it seems perfectly obvious that Maui life will
change drastically in a future of oil-and-gas scarcity. The commercial
airlines are the "canaries in the coal mine" of advanced industrial
civilization, and they are very sick canaries right now — even with the
price of oil relatively stable the past six months.
The airlines have pared down their employee ranks about as far as
possible. The scene at the Maui airport this Sunday was a clusterfuck —
largely due to the fact that United Airlines had only one person
manning the ticket counter, and 98 percent of the visitors have to
check through luggage. A couple more rounds of oil price spikes and the
airlines are going to be lying tits up with glazed eyes. Perhaps
aviation will then reorganize itself on a smaller scale serving only
the elite, for a while, anyway. In any case, that will be the end of
the mass middle class consumer phase of commercial aviation — and also
of mass middle class type tourism.
Few people on Maui I spoke to were mentally prepared for the
implications of this. But it's perfectly obvious that the Hawaiian
Islands will become much more isolated again, and that the way of life
that has developed there since 1970 will have to change drastically.
I'm glad I went. I don't know if I'll ever go back. Beautiful as it
was, I got tired of being in the car all the time and there was really no place to walk.
Your vacation sounded like mine coming from Fort lauderdale to Cancun. Fly Spirit airlines, and see how clusterfuck it is checking in and the agents are slow, and by the time two hours international check in comes and goes you are told that the flight is closed out one hour before and sorry you can't get on board. We will rebook you on the next flight tomorrow. I don't enjoy traveling anymore by plane. The service you get from Spirit Airlines, is the worst as it comes. They really don't care you lost your flight and once you write the letter to the company they just write you back and say sorry we hope you come back and try us again. I don't think so. I think the corporate office is smoking crack. Maybe one day aviation will come back to the elite. We just have to stop flying and run the bad ones out of business. Joseph "Fort Lauderdale"
1
March 27, 2007
a guest: Why apologize?
I don't see the purpose in apologizing for your flight. While Gore got slammed for his personal home consumption, it was purely for the lack of any real attack on his message...attack the messenger or ad hominem. It's absurd.
For those aware of Peak Oil, learning how to conserve and modifying your lifestyle to fit into a more energy tight future is critical. But my kids will still get a trip to Disney each and every year...until we can't anymore.
2
March 28, 2007
a guest: An apology (possibly) explained
Well, one might otherwise wonder about the frequency with which Mr. Kunstler travels by air. I find it surprising that neither of the venues for his talks was equipped for teleconferencing, thus making it necessary for him to appear in person.
I also think that the argument that Flight 35 would have gone with or without him is actually hurting his case. It's analogous to the Tragedy of the Commons: the damage done is minute on a per passenger basis, but collectively large. If that's the best justification, better not to mention it and draw attention to the fact.
His decision to stay on in Maui for a few days is mitigating: it increases the benifits of the trip substantially but the costs only slightly.
3
March 30, 2007
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