The Trust Territories - Essay Example

Question Islands in the Pacific after World War II have been placed under a Trusteeship Program of the United Nations to take them over from being colonized by Japan during the war. To maintain control over the Polynesian islands and prior to fully giving them their independence, these Trust Territories were subjects of the United States where the main thrust is to teach them on how they shall govern themselves and enhance their own economy. This was a particularly calculated move since the super power would not want other states to exercise power in these strategic islands. Subsequent to these changes, military bases were established on some of the islands but no real intervention came until 1961 when the U.S. allotted $15 million annually to aid them. This brought about the sudden change in the people and had significantly impacted on their culture but did nothing to enable them to implement a self-sustaining economy (Dunford and Ridgell, 1996, p. 60-62). The people came to be overly dependent on the financial aid extended to them and started the commotion fuelled by greed and disparity primarily because of the mismanaged resources that landed constantly on an ill-prepared group of people. The concept of family before the advent of dependency in Micronesia had drastically changed over the last decades. The social unit was characterized by nuclear families that lived together in a compound with harmonious relations with each other. Hezel describes this community where in Chuuk for example dwellings would be in a single cluster of land where extended family units live and in this area there would be what is called a fanang which is basically a cookhouse where the families would take turns in cooking the meal enough for every member of the nuclear family. The will also be an uut which serves many purposes such as a meetinghouse or a dormitory for the unmarried men as well as a place for them to learn. Other islands would entail similar practices such as Chuuk where most would be centrally matrilineal such as Marshalls and Pohnpei. This would take its turn and change when Western imposition found its way to them (Hezel, 2001, p.9-10). It was in 1991 after having been bona fide member of the United Nations when the Federated States of Micronesia had to elect their own government officials in a legislature who will choose among themselves the person to represent them as president. The people were allowed to migrate to the United States of America where approximately 2,000 flocked to Guam, Hawaii and mainland United States, a great block settling in the two previously mentioned U.S. territories (Dunford and Ridgell, 1996, p. 90-91). The people found this mass migration to be a necessity in order to provide for their underprivileged families by sending them remittances from foreign land instead of staying in a direly impoverished country. With many of its productive citizens abroad labouring on foreign land, Micronesia suffered continued economic immobility for lack of effective economic policy carried over from its years as a trust territory. The islands became excessively dependent on the annual budget provided by the United States and they were not able to cultivate a sense of economic stability since aid regularly comes their way. Father Hezel maintains that though a great number of Micronesians have settled in U.S. soil, many still find themselves deeply rooted to their native land. “Anyone who thinks that Micronesian emigrants abroad simply vanish one day never to be seen again need only to scan the departure area of a return flight to the islands to discover that this is far from the case (Hezel, 2001, p.159). The mass of Micronesians who were able to immigrate to the United States affects health care and education in the sense that they add up to the government expenditure necessary to finance public education and health care. Most of them have found a permanent home far from their native land and this equates to additional families that rely on government support to live according to decent standards. Question #2 Prior to the colonization of these people, violence was nothing new within the communities with people often resorting to confrontational means to settle scores that include tribe rivalries, family disagreements and even land disputes. But they are not particularly violent in comparison to other groups of people though they are by no means absolutely peaceful as characteristic of any other community. To a certain degree, violence is accepted as a natural occurrence within the family group. This actually varies from one group to another. Corporal punishment as meted by parents to their children is a conventional custom and a widely accepted exercise of parent’s authority. This has worsened in recent years and much of this could be largely attributed to alcohol and how it has affected abusive members of the region. “Domestic violence has worsened in some Pacific towns and cities as migrant families live apart from their extended kin whose presence once would have provided various sorts of support and also restraints to keep violence from getting out of hand” (Rapaport, 1999, p.203). This greatly indicates to the loss of family values as it once had been. The nuclear family, as earlier described, is no longer the central force that brings life and directs the course of the family. The main thrust of the members of the home is varied and at most times not directed towards the betterment of the entire unit. The Polynesian and Micronesian families have succumbed to the calls of consumerism and the need to satisfy modern needs that go beyond the traditional meals and the communal upbringing became a fate that must be avoided. The absence of a central group that comprises of several adults who are able to discipline children and guide them to a moral life became a thing of the past for most families. The need to look for a lucrative life usually points to migration as the easiest route or to at least die trying leaves a generation who are just as unsatisfied. Children form a dysfunctional notion of wanting to be something they are not by leaving behind who they could have become. Micronesians do bear similarities to the issues of Samoans. Much like in Samoa, they are left by colonizing countries that have imbued a distorted view that contradicts their culture. In the process, a young impressionable man would easily fall victim to confusion by representing what he believes to be appropriate behaviour. The recent problems in these islands are by no incident the same social problems seen in Western countries such as the United States. The problem of street violence and suicide has also considerably increased where most of the victims are young male adults belonging to low classes in society who have no other means to express themselves. There is no avenue for them to release frustrations and they find attention in the wrong places (ibid). Question #3 The history of Polynesia as a Trust Territory for so many years prior to their independence fostered a culture of dependence and the fact that external governments has allowed for easy migration by inhabitants who would like to has not helped in any way. Instead, the hardworking members of the population had opted to take the fastest plane out of their country and get a job abroad. But the dollars they send does not come without any consequence. In effect, families are inadvertently broken up and the social cost of migration has taken its toll. Economy did not develop and today a large part of what keeps these countries afloat comes from foreign remittance. “They were supposed to teach the territories how to govern themselves. That is the meaning of trust in Trust Territories. They were supposed to help the islands develop their economies” (Dunford and Ridgell, 1996, p. 61). This is the biggest contradiction in their history. The money that was supposed to help in paving the way to a stronger economy and modern facilities that will stimulate fruitful endeavors only impeded potential growth. But the desired case did not transpire and perhaps the copious amount of effort necessary to attain it was not exercised. Central Polynesia has become a region complacent on foreign remittances, whether it be for the government from other more financially stable countries or from the families left behind by their migrant loved ones. The next generation who have grown up on foreign land has in one way or another lost their identity and in effect had moved further from their roots because of distance and toward the familiar culture they have seen. It is inescapable that thousands of miles of distance would bring a rift among families. The home territories with more members overseas would have confused and misguided people who could not properly identify who they are because of the disparity in the cultures that they know. There will definitely be difficulty to reconcile their identity in due time and this only leads to more social problems. References Dunford, B., & Ridgell, R. (1996). Pacific neighbors: the islands of Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Hong Kong: Bess Press, Inc. Hezel, F. (2001). The new shape of old island cultures: a half century of social change in Micronesia. Hawaii: University of Hawai’i Press Rapaport, M. (1999). The Pacific Islands. Hong Kong: Bess Press, Inc. Read More