How about you have a shred of respect for the people whose sacred land it is and whose understanding defines what's acceptable use? Rather than being a selfish, arrogant colonialist.
There are many conflicting beliefs and values held and no way to keep everyone happy. You don't avoid beef because it's a sacred animal to Hindus.
And if your attitude and approach reflects that of the protestors, then that certainly helps mine move towards "fuck them".
Lets have a look at how history has gone. "We need a nuclear test site. The French decided Tahiti would be the best place". "We need a site to test the hydrogen bomb. The Americans decided Marshall islands would be the best place". Both those victim populations now suffer the consequences of those actions of a much more powerful country. Hawaii's history is also muddied with colonialism. Perhaps having a shred of empathy and respect might be a better way to start engaging with them about building a telescope rather than using the "tried and true" "fuck them" approach you're implying is appropriate.
>How about you have a shred of respect for the people whose sacred land it is and whose understanding defines what's acceptable use? Rather than being a selfish, arrogant colonialist.
This was not that.
And hell, look at what is actually happening here. First, he allowance of the TMT was in exchange for the closure of 5 other telescopes of which their areas would then be restored. Second, and perhaps more importantly, most natives are perfectly fine / support the telescope too, judging by the provided polls (72/15 support/oppose). The anti-telescope group is a minority of the natives.
A nitpick though, the analogy that you're using is absolutely terrible. In what way is a telescope analogous to a nuclear test? Where is the "more powerful country"?
No, but you wouldn't build a slaughterhouse next door to a temple, would you?
The request here is for respect. You're moving from "no way to keep everyone happy" to "fuck them" in the space of two sentences, which tells me you put effectively zero value on actually keeping anyone happy. That... just doesn't say good things about you as a person.