Well, not for the native Hawaiians. Not anymore anyway (actually, there is no “heaven” per se as anyone not delusional knows but let’s just use that expression anyway). It’s a tale, like so many others, of a once beautiful and peaceful land that was irrevocably altered by Western contact. By the greed of those in the West, namely Western Europeans, the UK and their ugly, repulsive cousins in the US.
Hawaii, once a lush paradise untouched by foreign hands, thrived for centuries as a self-sufficient and spiritually rich society. When British Captain James Cook arrived in 1778, he encountered a flourishing civilization with deep cultural traditions, sustainable agriculture, and a harmonious relationship with nature. However, Cook’s arrival marked the beginning of devastation. European explorers, traders, and whalers flooded the islands, bringing diseases like syphilis, tuberculosis, smallpox, and measles. With no immunity, the native Hawaiian population plummeted from an estimated 400,000 to 1,000,000 before Cook’s arrival to fewer than 40,000 by 1890, in just a little over a century! That’s like Japan’s population falling from the current 123 million to 12.3 million in 110 years.
This kind of tragic fate was not unique to Hawaii; indigenous peoples across the Pacific faced similar destruction as a result of being “discovered” (Saipan, Guam, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, etc.). Yet despite this sad history, Hawaii remained an independent kingdom until 1893, when American and European businessmen, backed by US troops, overthrew Queen Liliʻuokalani. She was imprisoned, then forced to abdicate on January 24, 1893, paving the way for illegal annexation of the islands by the United States in July, 1898.
The theft of Hawaii reveals a despicable example of U.S. expansionism, marking it as a profoundly imperialistic nation, as this wasn’t the only such event in the United States’ short existence. Indeed, the list of countries where the US had interfered or tried to achieve regime change in the last three centuries is nearly endless. Wikipedia, while not an authoritative source, has a 17,500-word article about this very topic, a bit wordy but very eye-opening piece.
The hypocrisy is staggering. The U.S. prides itself on democracy and human rights while building its empire through conquest and deceit (of course don’t forget slavery). Today’s foreign policy rhetoric about spreading “freedom” and “democracy” is pure propaganda—a continuation of 19th-century imperialism masked in noble language. From Central America to Iraq to Libya to Syria to Afghanistan, the pattern remains: destabilization, regime change, and resource exploitation. The U.S. has not changed – it only hides its greed behind lofty words. So, whenever you meet an American never assume he is “coming in piece”, he is not. To paraphrase Malcolm X: “never trust the blue-eyed devil”. If you disagree just ask the natives of Hawaii of their experience. If you can still find one… Alex