when america forcibly took over hawaii, it set in motion a whole slew of environmental and social disasters that are continuing to this day. the native hawaiian people were completely disenfranchised, and corporate interests took over the islands' resources. sugar plantations grabbed whatever they wanted, free of charge. water was diverted for use by plantations, then, later, when big plantations gave way to tourism, that water was owned by the corporate "water company" and sold back to the public at the company's discretion. hawaiians have been fighting to regain public water for years.
