Merry Christmas! We hope your day is filled with joy and the simple pleasures of the holiday — sharing the love of friends and family, perhaps exchanging gifts to demonstrate that love.
For those who don’t celebrate Christmas, we wish you the same joy, today and every day.
And we hope that the spirit of the season — peace on Earth, goodwill toward all — will inspire us to pause and reflect on how we can spread that good cheer going forward, especially since it appears we’re headed in the opposite direction.
On the national political scene, the vitriol spewing forth through all forms of media have revealed a disturbing willingness to abandon our better selves to the cheap pleasures of vilification: Donald Trump is an idiot. Barack Obama is an America-loathing socialist. Democrats love taxes and hate freedom. Republicans are greedy capitalists who want to steal from the poor.
And so on.
We can be blind to our own faults and hyper-vigilant against those we oppose — so-called “whataboutism” run amok.
A deliberate lack of empathy, this unwillingness to see the other person’s point of view, can breed hatred and contempt. It is like slow poison to the health of any diverse community.
While politically Hawaii may be more tolerant and less shrill, we face related challenges — most evident in our growing impatience with the persistent homeless, who are fast becoming a permanent, separate underclass.
That’s why it’s so important to fully embrace the true spirit of the holidays. Those more fortunate give thanks and share with those who have little.
It’s also a good time for all of us, from the wealthiest to the poorest, to reflect on our common humanity and how we help contribute to building a better world.
According to Christmas tradition, Jesus’ parents were temporarily homeless, making use of a borrowed stable when they could not find appropriate lodging. Christians celebrate this story as a demonstration of their savior’s humility and humanity. Countless Nativity scenes of gentle animals, worshipful shepherds and three kings have softened and distanced us from what would have been a harsher reality.
It’s not really the same, of course, but we see a version of that harsher reality every day in the homeless encampments that are popping up everywhere. Mostly we see the stuff: tents, blue tarps, piles of junk. Occasionally we make note of an anonymous human being or two. But mostly we maintain our distance, leaving it to the police, social workers, do-gooders and journalists to deal with this growing population of Hawaii residents. We don’t want to associate with them.
For some of the homeless, the feeling appears to be mutual. At Mother Waldron Park in Kakaako, about 50 people described by city officials as the hard-core homeless — those who refuse to get off the streets, even if they could — have taken up residence amid the shiny new residential towers and trendy restaurants.
Their presence isn’t just a symptom of poverty; it’s an act of defiance, a rejection of the societal norms that help us live together as a community with mutual respect and aloha. Their refusal to join the larger community can be seen as a deliberate rebuke to our shared values.
It seems obvious that the homeless problem, like our political one, will not be resolved without mutual cooperation. It requires reaching across a seemingly vast divide. It requires finding common ground.
It requires our better angels for goodwill to — and by — all.
