HAWAII'S Democrats held a symposium Thursday night in Pearl City. The MC spoke of community building to about 200 citizens and politicians, invoking ''a simpler time when we could leave the doors unlocked'' and prescribing that ''It may be time to go back to the future.'' No need to
lock the doors?The Hawaii of yesteryear is seductive. In those days neighbors took care of each other, crime and drugs were virtually unknown, kids learned the 3Rs and tourists came by the Matson boat load. You could farm in Manoa; buy a nice house for $40,000. The cane was high, the pines were sweet and the livin' was easy.
Hawaii revels in nostalgia. Why, not? Remember the big games at Honolulu Stadium, long boards on uncrowded waves, the Damien Building, real hukilaus, the Barefoot Bar?
What's wrong with this? ''People who feel overwhelmed or anxiety-ridden by change are likely to retreat into nostalgia,'' writes cultural anthropologist Jennifer James. ''Nostalgia locks us into beliefs about the way things were that may have little or no basis in reality.'' We remember how cheap a steak dinner was and forget our meager paychecks.
It makes us less able to adapt, improve and compete, James says. ''People who are steeped in nostalgia cannot even remember the present, let alone sense the future. Nostalgia freezes us in the headlights of change.''
Are we frozen in the headlights or headed back to the future?