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Today's Nuze

"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others."

Ayn Rand

Nobody's listening.

THE AMERICAN SPIRIT

By
Neal Boortz
@ April 10, 2009 9:01 AM
Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBacks (0)

Alright. I know things lately have been doom-and-gloom. Look, the Obama administration just hasn't really given me much to feel all warm and fuzzy about. But in efforts to leave you with a good taste in your mouth for this Easter weekend, I'll tell you a quick story.

You can find the whole thing on CNN, but there is a state park on Hawaii's Kauai island. And this Polihale State Park has been closed since December after suffering severe flooding. In fact, the flooding was so bad that it destroyed an access road to the park. So even if you wanted to get to the Polihale State Park, you couldn't.

Local residents and business owners started to get nervous. Months went by and our wonderful, all-knowing, all-powerful government did not come to the rescue. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources estimated that it would cost $4 million to fix the damages, including the access road to the park. They also said it would take two years before it would be fixed. And that was if .. in these economic times .. there was money in the budget to do so.

So rather than sit around and wait for the government to do something, the people of Kauai came together and did the repairs themselves. It only took them eight days to finish all the repairs. Eight days .. compared to two years. And it didn't cost the taxpayers a dime.

One volunteer said, "We can wait around for the state or federal government to make this move, or we can go out and do our part ... Just like everyone's sitting around waiting for a stimulus check, we were waiting for this but decided we couldn't wait anymore."

Good for them!

The truly amazing of this story is that the government didn't step in and prevent these people from handling the situation themselves.



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What others are saying

  • was I right or was I right?
    Re: my earlier comment about the gov't stepping in and saying you can't do that, cause we didn't tell you it was ok...

    I was watching FOX earlier in my doc's office today, and lo and behold, what I said would happen did, just somewhere else.

    In a poor neighborhood...I think it was Chicago, residents had been waiting since 2006 for pothole repairs. They got tired of waiting (and these potholes were HUGE), got donations from an asphalt company, rented a roller, and fixed it themselves, for which they should have been lauded and congratulated.

    INSTEAD, some gov't sh*tbag got interviewed, babbling about how it was dangerous, they shouldn't have done it, they didn't know what they were doing, they could be sued, blah, blah, blah.

    Ten bucks says the schmuck was in some Union's pocket (it was Chicago, after all), and that Union got pissed about it. Union have outlived their original purpose. Now they are just parasites.

    I mean, come on, a low income neighborhood? Getting together with a show of community spirit? To fix a problem? And some gov't IDIOT saying that they weren't professionals, didn't know what they were doing, blah, blah, etc.? I saw the repairs, and they looked just as good as other "professional" jobs I've seen. Just more proof that the gov't is trying to force dependency on us.

    This type of crap is just plain making me crazy.
  • Hawaii
    Yes, truly amazing that the government did not try to stop this.They may yet try to condemn the road just so they can steal our money to do it "right".
  • Unions must be weak
    The unions in Hawaii must be weak. I was once in a student government association. We bought a dartboard to go into the commons area. We hung it ourselves. The union complained, and we had to pay first to have the dartboard taken down by union employees, and then to have the dartboard put back up.
  • Government wants More Anyway
    The government official who commented on how well the citizens did all of this then has the temerity to ask for an additional 240 million dollars for the parks saying that all of the bureacracy makes it hard for them to do anything.
  • Where's Biden?
    This situation is the paragon to Biden's interpretation of how the stimulus would help small businesses...you know... funds would help to 'build a bridge across the creek' so that customers could access at-risk businesses? Guess it only applies to bridges and not access roads.
  • The government wastes time and money on things it's not supposed to do...
    ...and taxpaying citizens are left paying twice, and handle things the government is actually supposed to do. It's like Chicago's 'pothole day.' While people doing for themselves and their community is a good thing, think how much more they could accomplish if they kept their wasted tax dollars and applied them themselves.
  • Just wait...
    Neal, Government is probably "preventing" them from doing it as we type. Preventing some people from cleaning up a park should only take a few years - watch this space :)
  • Best news of the week
    I like your last comment the most Neal. I also wouldnt be shocked if the government comes in, shuts down the road because it didnt pass inspection, and then charges the people(via tax) for the removal and re-repair of the road.
  • Polihale State Park
    Wow! Citizens in their own community taking the steps to rectify a problem? I'm surprised the labor unions are complaining about it, but it's still early. Maybe the folks down in NOLA should pay attention to this and see what a little initative and true civic pride can do.
  • Ownership
    Since the government proved they can't do the job, just like schools; then the ownership of the park should revert to the people of the town, just like schools.
  • Government OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people
    Sounds like the people of Kauai got it about right. What in tarnation is wrong with the rest of us?
  • I agree with Bill. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to come back and find that the park was closed because the work was not performed to the 'proper' specifications.

    And of course it will take double the previously quoted amount to go back and 'fix it'.
  • I wonder...
    I wonder what percentage of the people on this island are Jehovah's Witnesses? Jehovah's Witnesses build their Kingdom Halls sometimes as quickly as 4 days. They plan it and get together and raise a structurally sound, safe and attractive building for worship in record time - meeting all codes. When tragedy hits - like Katrina for example, they are among the first to arrive and provide help and repairs... and they take a low profile on all of it - never seeking publicity.
  • Polihale State Park
    No good deed goes unpunished.

    I doubt this is over. The state park bureaucrats have been embarassed. A loss of face to these life time losers usually entails a comback. These poor folks will likely get slapped around for not getting the proper environmental permits, studies, etc., not using State approved contractors, union labor, etc. The plans weren't approved by the proper engineering folks for design adequacy and they will lilkey be fined for starting the job without a local and State building permit.

    These guys sit in their cubicles and think this kind of stuff up.
  • finding fault?
    What will amaze me is if gov't doesn't send somebody down there to close the road permanently because the "road was inspected and found to be lacking safety features, structural integrity, blah, blah, blah".

    Yeah! that's what we'll do! Make the people who fixed the road look inept, and insist that they wait on government to help them next time, because it's obvious that they are too stupid to fix anything on their own! Only gov't knows how to fix a road, everybody knows that!

    After all, the people who fixed that road are a product of the pubic school system! They aren't bright enough to fix anything, much less a road, for pity's sake! Look how many things on this road they've messed up.

    God, I hope I survive the next 4 years. My blood pressure has never been so consistently high. I'm too old for a socialist/fascist government. This kind of crap is making me nuts.
  • This is in their nature
    My parents lived on Kauai during hurricane Iniki. The island was out of power for weeks, no phones, no access in or out. Many roads were blocked. People could not get anywhere. Instead of whining for government to fix it, these people came together and helped each other. They fed each other, hey housed each other, and generally took care of each other until there was access in and out of the island and around the roads.

    They are a small island that can be easily cut off. They realize they may need to take care of themselves and each other.... and they do. Self sufficiency is very important for the people on this island. It’s an old, small town, family oriented mentality that seems to be lost on most of America.

    Kauai looks for ways they can come together to solve problems themselves while much of America looks for ways to find someone else to solve their problems.
  • Road Repair by Volunteers
    What I want to know is, did 10 people stand around holding a shovel while 1 person worked??? Oh, sorry, thats government workers. My bad!!! No wonder 2yrs. worth of repairs were done in 8 days. I say bravo to these fine Americans.
  • Good Job
    This shows what happens when people realize they can't depend on the government. They came together, worked out a plan, and got the job done. This is one of the many things that built this country, making it the best the world to live in.
  • Good and bad
    Good to see people see the serious shortcomings of government. I fear there is bad in this too:

    These people "volunteered". It served the government by taking on its task. This is something big government lovers want more of. Volunteering to serve.
  • People vs. Gub'ment
    Reminds me of when Donald Trump humiliated the City of New York by repairing the Wollman Skating Rink in Central Park.

    Bobby 'D'
  • Great Story
    Great story of people realizing that government is a hendrance to the American citizen rather than what it was meant to be. Thanks for sharing.
  • Polihale State Park
    The residents finished before the government could react. Couple of messages there.
  • the government must not have known
    I think they are to be admired not only for doing the work but for preventing the government from finding out about it. One other thing you can be sure of.... if this road or any of these repairs ever fails for any reason... we will hear more about that failure than about this story. They did it themselves...WITHOUT THE GOVERNMENT... so naturally, it failed!
  • Bravo!!!
    Excellent example of American initiative, independence and resourcefulness. What? You never heard of that? It used to be more widespread.
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