Editor’s Note: This op-ed was written in direct response to Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie‘s recent remarks defending…

UH Professor of Hawaiian Studies writes that while independence from the U.S. may have been considered absurd less than two decades ago, the idea is gaining traction as people become disaffected with global modernity and international consumerism.

Professor Jonathan Osorio: I cannot imagine how any Hawaiian, knowledgeable about history and feeling any sense of kinship with his or her 19th century ancestors, could celebrate the Fourth of July.