An argument that keeps being used in the support of TMT, or sometimes to minimize the significance of the gathering at the base of the mountain, is that most Hawaii residents support building the telescope.

Recently, former Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa phrased it this way: “We’re going to let a handful of people stop what most people believe is a good project?” Arakawa’s estimation of a “handful” is way, way off, but there are other problems with that argument.

There have been opinion polls based on a sampling of Hawaii residents, but that’s not the same as a statewide vote or referendum. It is not an exact count or a measurement of engagement. To answer “yes” on a phone poll about supporting a project requires almost no actual commitment. You can say, “Yup. Build it,” from your lounge chair in your air-conditioned living room and go right back to your Doritos and evening TV. “Support” in this case is in theory, not in action. To say one “supports” the building of the massive telescope does not mean one has to actually do anything or give up anything or be connected in any way. It’s a passive kind of support as opposed to the commitment of the thousands who have kept the construction vehicles at bay for over a month.

But beyond opinion polls, a bigger question looms: Does everyone in Hawaii have equal standing when it comes to this particular issue? Does the opinion of a person who lives on Oahu and works in retail, who has no interest in astronomy and hasn’t been to Hilo since the fourth grade Big Island trip, carry the same weight as a mom who has been sleeping in her car with her kids for weeks at the base of Mauna Kea because this is a cause that she believes in more than anything else she’s ever known her full and good life?

When residents on the north shore of Kauai were arguing with the state that the community wasn’t ready to have the road opened up again after the flood repairs, there were no statewide polls or online opinion-gathering efforts to see what people outside of that community had to say about access on state roads. The voices that mattered were the stakeholders.

When the state was talking about establishing a lava-viewing site in Puna, there was no statewide poll to see whether all of Hawaii was good with the location. The people consulted were the people most affected.

In the debate over state permits for water in East Maui, folks on other islands aren’t invited to chime in on Maui water, even if it’s a state resource, because they are not directly affected.

We live in a democracy, but TMT is not being put to a vote and maybe not everyone has equal standing in deciding the future of a specific, highly significant piece of land. A casual kind of theoretical support does not compare to the devotion and determination of the people right there at the mountain.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.