sugar and stuff.

Sugar. Military power. And religion. 

Well, really, just a religion that pretended to be about God but was really about sugar (or economics) and military power. That's what transformed Hawaii from the pretty Eden-esque paradise it was, to what it is today (well at least according to a book I recently read). 

You can decide whether those three things (or one) made Hawaii better. 

You can decide whether those three things (or one) continue to make things better, or worse, in the world today. And then you can decide whether you want to be a part of them (or it).