We tend to take our assets for granted, especially intangible assets, even though they are at the core of our prosperity and well being. While outside business interests will factor the preservation of intangible assets into their for-profit equations, we can't depend on them to hold our best interests to heart in their pursuit of short-term wealth. It is up to us to define and preserve the qualities of our society that we value in the broad sense of what we call "our way of life."

In this way the ferry has made more relevant to the general population the same central issues as Native Hawaiian aspirations for sovereignty. It has always been a tenet that there is a place for non-Hawaiians in sovereignty models for the future. But that place has always been vague. The dramatic narrative of the ferry has shown that many of the most valid cultural claims of native Hawaiians are very similar to those that non-native groups are embracing in defense of their communities from the ferry. As one Hawaiian activist commented to the press, "The protesters at Nawiliwili were there to protect the concerns of the kanaka. It wasn't just brown skin anymore."

To our chagrin on Oahu, we've seen ourselves cast as the hordes who will inundate and overwhelm other islands. It gives us much to think about and perhaps it has opened a door for the general population to consider and participate in sovereignty issues. As an island state we all have many of the same aspirations and vulnerabilities as the native Hawaiian culture.

Chief among those is managing our finite resources. American-style commercialism and many American laws have a continental character. Steady and continual growth is intrinsic to the continental and global economic equation. Compared to our small isolated islands, the resources, variety of options, and opportunities there are almost infinite. Our ecosystems are tiny and fragile in comparison to the robust environment of continents. We are Americans, but we are not North Americans, the distinction is not trivial.