Four years ago the elected leadership of Maui County, betrayed the people of Maui. Betrayal is a strong word, but after much reflection I do not hesitate to use it. Many thanks to the Maui Independent for the excellent article (see link at bottom) reminding me of this important piece of history.
I am speaking of course about the “Maui Miracle”, and the shameful actions and inactions of the Maui government that followed.
The people of Maui, led by the grassroots citizenry, for the first time ever in the history of Maui County gathered the signatures required, placed on the ballot and voted in support of a moratorium on the growing of genetically modified crops until adequate studies were done proving their safety.
The elected leaders on Maui failed the Maui citizenry not in some esoteric, vague, or simply perceived manner – but directly and completely failed them by refusing to legally defend the will of the people in court.
The people of Maui followed the law, they worked hard, followed the rules and against all odds won with over 50% of the votes. And then a majority of their elected councilmembers and their Mayor, deserted them and climbed into bed instead with Monsanto and the GMO chemical companies.
This information presented now, especially in light of all that has come forth in the past 4 years with regards to the clear and present harms of glyphosate, chlorpyrifos, and a host of other pesticides used heavily on the GMO crops – makes the betrayal of Maui’s people by their Maui County government even more egregious.
Very recently in the Dwayne Johnson RoundUp trial the jury found that Monsanto “acted with malice or oppression” which is a mild and somewhat sterile expression for the kind of corporate thuggery that the chemical companies exercise in Hawaii and around the globe.
The government enablers of Monsanto’s behavior on Maui and throughout Hawaii need to be held accountable. The passage of four years does not absolve them of responsibility for the treachery dealt to democracy and the citizens of Maui County, specifically.
To my friends on Maui, stay strong and vote those who betrayed you out of office. On November 6th, my hope is for a second Maui miracle. If you show up, and if you make sure your friends, neighbors, and family members show up – you can make this happen.
In solidarity,
Gary Hooser
IMPORTANT: Please click on the below link, read and share this piece widely, encouraging others to do the same – especially to your friends on Maui.
GaryHooser's Blog 
Even beyond the betrayal of Maui, the entire world’s people were, and continue to be, betrayed. We are just the canary in the coal mine. After the Nuremberg Doctor’s trials and the 1994 US Congressional Cold War hearings humanity was “promised” that these kinds of de factor human experiments would no longer be allowed without the individual informed consent of those exposed. International courts would guarantee this and the US gave the responsibility to the regulatory agencies. Nazi doctors were executed for violations. The Maui vote was the closest surrogate to informed consent that we were allowed. It is one thing to think one might have our tacit consent (ever since the plantation days), but quite another to see from the vote that you really don’t. Rather than address the issue, an administrative end-run based on procedural arguments was forced on us. Bizarre! We were warned by the US Congress in 1994 that (like Nazi human experiments) no legislative, executive or judicial body of the violating country could be depended on to overcome the status quo. Only the US public and the international courts would be fair. We have the support of the latter but now address the former. The best part of this effort is public education. If someday we can gain traction in a government body that would be nice – but I am not holding my breath. One of the most unethical experiments in the US, the Tuskegee syphilis trials, went on for decades and no institution could stop it. Public outrage in the NY TImes ended that one.
Thank you Dr. Pang for the comment but more importantly for your relentless perseverance on this issue.
Yes!💪
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