ISLAND VOICES
Dods must continue to speak out

By Arnold M. Bitner

It was quite interesting reading about the apathy of Hawai'i's registered voters, and Walter Dods' comments in last Sunday's Advertiser.

I wasn't a Walter Dods for Governor fan, that's for sure. But his brand of thinking, very much in line with my own, has caused me to change my mind.

Walter Dods won't run in this year's election, but perhaps a few more enlightening comments from both Mr. Dods, and other motivated, successful people like him, could be of some value in overcoming voter apathy.

As one makes his or her way around Honolulu over the years, both physically and through the daily newspapers, it becomes very apparent that voter apathy is very real. At the same time, something else comes to light: satisfaction with the status quo among the majority of those legally qualified to vote.

Perhaps people would like change in specific areas of state government, i.e. smaller government, less government spending, reduction in certain government programs, lower taxes, fewer illegal activities of government employees and elected officials, etc.

But while people may want change, more than anything else, they want to be left alone. They want to be able to complain; they want someone else to hear their complaints, but they themselves don't want to be any part of the solution. Being a part of the solution takes up too much of a person's time. People want to be taken care of, it's as simple as that, and over the last 50 or so years, this seems to have become the government's sole purpose.

Perhaps Walter Dods and other men and women with similar thoughts and ideas about our electoral system could speak out publically much more often through various media outlets, without injecting their personal thoughts about which political party or candidate they prefer to see in office.

If they would become involved in such a manner on a regular basis, then perhaps a few thousand more registered, and unregistered, Hawai'i voters will get the picture and get the urge to become a part of the system that has produced one of the best forms of government, and the most successful nation, in the known history of humankind.

Perhaps it is true that those in power don't want the public to become educated enough so collectively these same people can make better, more informed voting decisions. After all, keeping the status quo is much easier, isn't it?

Arnold M. Bitner lives in Waikiki