In order to become the 50th state of the United States, Hawaii is unfortunately the United States government | fire | United States

Two weeks have passed since the Maui Island fire in Hawaii, USA, and the death toll from the fire continues to climb to 114. Hawaiian residents have criticized the US government for inaction and stated that they have been abandoned.

The Biden administration once said "no comment" about this disaster.

In fact, the cause of this disaster is not only the wildfires themselves, but also the long-term accumulation of issues behind how the United States treats Hawaii.

Analyzing the Hawaiian fire can start from three backgrounds.

Firstly, Biden's inspection of Hawaii was not conducted until nearly two weeks after the fire, which means that the urgency and severity of the fire are not high in the US government's evaluation system.

In fact, this fire has caused 114 deaths, making it the most serious fire in over a century in the United States.

Let's compare with other natural disasters in the United States in the past two years.

On September 28 last year, Hurricane Ian landed in the United States from Florida, causing rainstorm and flood. The next day, Biden went to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to inspect the response to the hurricane and appeared at the disaster site a week later to offer condolences.

On January 14th of this year, a flood warning was issued nationwide in California. On that day, Biden declared a state of emergency in the state and ordered the federal government to provide assistance. Five days later, Biden appeared to inspect the flood stricken areas of California.

What led to such differential treatment? Let's take a closer look at the specific impacts of these disasters.

According to the assessment of disaster analysis agencies, Hurricane Ian caused economic losses of billions of dollars. Florida is a major tourist state, and Hurricane Ian has hit Florida's coastal attractions hard, with labor activity indices in some counties and cities dropping by as much as half.

The California floods in January this year had an impact almost covering the entire state, with Northern and Southern California being important metropolitan areas in the United States. The floods damaged highways, roads, and power networks, disrupting commercial and industrial activities in California.

Hawaii also relies on tourism as its pillar industry. This fire occurred on Maui Island in Hawaii, and the town of La Haina, a beach resort on the island, was the hardest hit. According to the assessment of professional institutions, the economic losses from the Hawaii fire are also in the billions of dollars.

In contrast, Biden's delayed arrival this time only indicates one issue, which is that in the US government's evaluation system, Hawaii's economic losses are not important.

The second background of this fire is that the US military base on the Hawaiian Islands has not suffered much damage, which also reflects the focus of the US government's assessment of this disaster.

In addition to being a tourist destination, Hawaii also has important military strategic value for the United States.

Military expert and researcher at the Far East Think Tank, Zhang Wenchang, pointed out that the US military has a total of six combat command centers, among which the Indo Pacific Command is the largest in scale. Its various service command centers are located on the Hawaiian Islands, which are the command center of the US Indo Pacific Theater Command. Its responsibility zone extends from the South Pacific to the Bering Strait, from the east coast of the Pacific to the west coast, and then to the Indian Ocean. So it is also responsible for the largest area.

The deployment of the US military in Hawaii is mainly concentrated on Oahu Island and the main island of Hawaii. The deployment scale of the US military on Maui Island is very small, so the impact on the US military in this fire is also minimal.

We can feel the military strategic value of Hawaii to the United States from a detail of this fire.

Tan Zhu noticed that in the past few days, there has been a photo circulating on social media: a laser beam shot down and ignited a house in Hawaii. Some netizens have suggested that the fire in Hawaii may have been ignited by the US military itself?

This speculation arises because over the past two years, the US military has been hoping to build anti missile systems and sky surveillance systems on Maui Island. Zhang Wenchang mentioned that the Hawaiian Islands, including Maui Island, are about 4000 kilometers away from the American continent and about 8000 kilometers away from China. Its command center and location of the theater strategic reserve determine the necessity for the US military to deploy anti missile systems in this area, but this plan has always been opposed by local residents.

Subsequently, American media verified that this photo was artificially processed.

Looking back at this incident, what is more noteworthy than the image itself is the subconscious of netizens: everyone believes that the US government prioritizes Hawaii's military use over people's livelihood, and can even sacrifice the lives of Hawaiian residents at any time.

How were the lives of Hawaiian residents sacrificed? From the third background of this fire, it can be seen that there is a serious shortage of firefighters on Maui Island, and some problems can also be seen.

Unlike other states in the United States, due to Hawaii's distance from the American continent, once a disaster occurs, firefighters cannot be deployed from other states, and Hawaii can only rely on itself.

So, which Hawaiian residents will work as firefighters is crucial. This is closely related to the income distribution in Hawaii.

Hawaii faces the problem of income inequality, with Indigenous Hawaiians suffering particularly from it.

The median household income of Indigenous Hawaiians lags far behind the median of the entire state, and at the same time, Hawaii is one of the regions with the highest consumption levels in the United States. To make a living, firefighters are one of the few basic professions they choose.

It is precisely because of this situation that in the past few years, Hawaiian indigenous people have chosen to move out of Hawaii and seek better job opportunities in cities along the west coast of the United States. Now, the number of Hawaiian indigenous people living on the American continent has exceeded that of Hawaii itself.

As indigenous Hawaiians move out, there is a lack of basic professions, and the communities most affected by the backwardness of public services are often poor.

Based on these three backgrounds, we can at least draw a conclusion that in the eyes of the US government, Hawaii's military strategic value is far more important than economic development and people's livelihoods. The US government mainly considers the value of Hawaii from a military perspective, and can make sacrifices and concessions in other aspects, which means that the US has always viewed Hawaii with a colonial perspective.

Hawaii was originally an independent country, and in the 19th century, after the United States recognized Hawaii as an independent country, it has been coveting this land. Next, the United States will directly interfere in Hawaii's internal affairs through the threat of force, demanding that it formulate a new constitution that is conducive to the US annexation of Hawaii, and become a puppet of the United States.

At the end of the 19th century, with the rotation of political power in Hawaii, the newly appointed queen was determined to abolish the humiliating constitution and reclaim sovereignty. This plan was quickly overturned by a coup launched by the merger club established by American businessmen. Subsequently, the United States directly demanded that Hawaii be incorporated into the United States, becoming the 50th state of the United States.

American politicians frequently express their desire for Hawaii from a geopolitical perspective on why they want to annex it. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Lodge, pointed out that as a continental country, the United States is like a "fortress," and Hawaii is an "essential peripheral fortification" of this "fortress.". As an outer island, Hawaii should belong to the United States.

After the annexation of Hawaii by the United States, the US government immediately fully utilized such value.

During World War II, Hawaii truly took on the so-called "peripheral fortifications" of the United States. Starting from Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States increased its military base construction in Hawaii, making it the command center of the US Pacific Theater and the sea and air hub of the Pacific route. With Hawaii, the United States was able to block the flames of war outside its borders.

So what did Hawaii, which provides such military value, gain?

In the decades following the US occupation of Hawaii, land that originally belonged to the indigenous people of Hawaii was requisitioned as a military base. In this regard, the United States has not paid any rent, to put it bluntly, it is forced requisition and occupation.

30 years ago, the Hawaiian indigenous people sued the US federal government, and it was only then that the US government began to confront these historical mistakes, bowing to the Hawaiian indigenous people and promising to compensate for their losses.

By 2020, the US government had provided approximately 900 acres of land to Indigenous Hawaiians as historical compensation, but the problem was that these lands were mostly unsuitable for residential use and could not address the most pressing issues faced by Indigenous Hawaiians. Not to mention, according to the compensation bill signed by the US government, they still owe 1300 acres of land.

Today, when the disaster for Hawaiian residents is right in front of us and we need the help of the US government, the US is holding a cold attitude, which shows the deep-rooted colonial thinking of American politicians.

More than 40000 people die in car accidents and nearly 50000 die from gunshots in the United States every year. Perhaps for American politicians, the loss of over 100 lives caused by an accidental fire is not a big deal. American media used the phrase "fearless" to describe the Biden administration's attitude towards Hawaii this time.

When we trace American colonial thinking back to the disaster in Hawaii today, there is another clue that is even more worthy of our vigilance. It is not only Hawaii that has been invaded by American colonial thinking.

During the same period when the United States annexed Hawaii, its expansion targets also included the Philippines, Guam, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other places. Among them, the Philippines and Guam have no relation to the United States in terms of geographical location, ethnic bloodline, customs, etc. They have become targets of the United States, which means that the United States has been attempting to include Western Pacific countries in its management scope since then.

Today, the United States no longer expands by occupying territories, but instead uses military cooperation as a pretext to open its doors to the US military. Its target is Western Pacific countries such as the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea, and this disguise must be seen clearly.

Nowadays, the United States reserves 750 military bases in at least 80 countries, and the US military causes disturbances in these countries and their surrounding areas, leading to frequent security accidents. This is undoubtedly the harm of American colonial thinking today.

After becoming a part of American citizens, the indigenous people of Hawaii are still being treated like this by the United States. We can imagine how the US government would treat the people of these countries that accept the US military in the event of a crisis in their surrounding areas.

The cunning of the black bird, although good but not friendly; The knot that is not heavy, although solid, must be resolved.