Post #46458 by AquaZombie on Wed, Aug 6, 2003 5:11 PM

I wasn't going to even post again on this thread, thinking it would die a quick and quiet death, but was shocked to come back a few hours later and see a heated discussion has erupted from my casual musings. I'm glad to see so many socially conscious folks are out there. And no, I didn't post this topic "to make an impression" (I get plenty enough attention via my Thrillville gig, warranted or otherwise, thank you very much) but to sorta test the local waters. I already know a lot of you posters personally and vice versa, but most I don't, since apparently people are posting here from all over the planet, hence the "faceless strangers" remark (also meaning perhaps it's best to bring up possibly contentious subjects in person,face to face - I'm new on this particular forum, but have been involved in other electronic disputes that ultimately proved futile, since basically it's a Clash of the Keyboards - I didn't want to stir up any trouble here just for the hell of it. I was truly curious, since Tiki is a cultural past time, and often where's there's culture, there's politics. But basically, it's true - when it comes right down to luau time, one's political persuasion is of no real significance.) Perhaps I should've posted this under the "Beyond Tiki" section, though I was specifically referring to politics as it relates to Tiki Culture. While I'm here, I should say I always sort of thought of Tiki as a pagan belief system, inspired by indigenous Polynesian culture, steeped in sensuality and personal freedom, making it a rather "liberal" lifestyle choice. Hawaii is one of the most liberal states, too - more so than California. But here on the mainland, for instance, Republicans often hold victory parties at Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills, andDon the Beachcomber in Palm Springs often attracted the Ronald Reagan/Bob Hope golf buddy crowd, and since Tiki as we celebrate it is basically a Caucasian version of a foreign culture, and a postwar suburban vision at that, you could also argue that our interpretation of it is basically conservative (i.e. politically incorrect - but the far left's tragic lack of a sense of humor is as offputting to me personally as the far right's "patriotic" form of fascism.)

But I already found out what I wanted to find out - philosophically and morally speaking, it's a healthy mix out there in Tiki land, and we can all get along. I thought I should contribute at least one last comment here so it wouldn't seem like I swatted a hornet's next then ran, only to stand back and witness the commotion I caused.

Thanks to all for their thoughtful feedback.
Now, back to the bar....

PS My wife, "The Tiki Goddess" and I are putting off procreation so we can travel and pursue our careers, and if we find ourselves ready to have a family beyond ourselves at some point, we will probably adopt, due to over-population concerns and our own philosophy about giving a a home to some poor lost kid who needs one, rather than just making another one ourselves. As for the idea that conservatives procreate more than liberals (never thought of that before) - perhaps most religious people tend to be conservative and don't practice birth control, but in my own experience, most of our married couple friends are poppin' out babies' like there's no tomorrow - and they're ALL liberals. So I think the future will remain pretty fairly balanced. At least I hope so.

The real division we need to be concerned about in today's world is :Those Who Know Tiki Existed Before Greg Brady and Those Who Don't. From that POV, we're all of the same persuasion hereabouts. Cheers!

[ Edited by: AquaZombie on 2003-08-06 17:23 ]