http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34680564

Reading this reminded me of an electrician we hired to help us set up the CAT6 ports around the house. As he and dad chatted for a bit over tea, he explained the problems with his homeland in the West Indies. During his grandparents' generation they fiercely wanted independence and won it, but he thought at a steep cost because the island as a whole became impoverished. Although they now could control their own destiny, they lost the support from a larger, stronger nation. He compared his home to something like Martinique, which remained with its European overlord: They use the euro, they can send their children to Paris for education, and if there's trouble the French central government has the resources to help.

Unfortunately small, island nations rarely have enough natural resources to support themselves. There rarely is enough land for great swaths of agriculture and it intrinsically does not have enough space to support a large enough population to compete in the modern world. Usually they turn to one industry, which is not ideal: Much of the West Indies is dependent on tourism, which of course could shift the moment a hurricane hits. Or Cyprus which dabbled in banking and its entire economy tanked during the 2008 crisis.

What happened to Hawaii was pretty fucked up, but simultaneously I think they should heed what that electrician said: What is Hawaii gonna do if the US government pulls out?