Come on, man. Sharing is caring. Rasta's aren't all upset about white dudes with dreads smoking ganja; I probably hate that more than they do, and also, Pacific Island nations have benefited greatly from the exporting of Kava to pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the US. When the EU banned the import of Kava, no one was saying, "Good, now they'll stop appropriating our sacred Kava." No. They were pissed and wanted desperately to be allowed back into those markets.

@1: thanks for the whitesplainin'!

Seriously, there could not have been a more perfect response than CoyoteGrin's. Leave it to a white person to explain the global market benefit of kava exports to the Pacific Islander who is merely asking not to have shit casually appropriated. Fuckin' tool.

@3: it's not pathetic when it's true. Gotta love privilege.

Cultural appropriation? Whitesplaining? What a bunch of fucking bullshit. And people wonder why a bozo like Trump got elected. It was a direct result of middle of the road folk who can’t stand this extreme nonsense from the far left.

So go on and keep picking the wrong battles to fight with the wrong people and in the meantime the country will end up re-electing the moron in chief.

Having seen more than a few pop stars and hipsters wear rosaries like jewelry or make fun of Catholic devotions to Jesus and Mary in memes, and people treat statues of the Buddha like a beer stand, I actually understand what the Frustrated Samoan is saying. I've only had kava once, in some small restaurant here, and I remember after drinking it I was supposed to clap or something. And that' about all I know of it. I actually don't want to insult the Samoans, but just curious, was it white folks who decided to market it or Samoans? And is there any way you think it could be sold or do Samoans actually only want it for their own purposes? Serious questions.

@6:

I don't think a person of color being annoyed with a bunch of white hipsters/saviors not understanding the true significance of something in THEIR culture is some epic battle they're choosing to fight above all others. (You're making that assumption on your own, buddy.) This here is I, Anonymous; scroll down, and you'll see people picking fights about calling 911 on someone about to die from an OD; you see people complaining about low water pressure from a fucking toilet or some entitled cry babies losing their campsite. Feel free to disagree like a total idiot with the OP, but don't say that this is the CAUSE of why people like Trump get elected. (And don't get your panties all in a bunch because they're submitting an I,A.) It's not a far left rant to be a person of color watch parts of their culture get bastardized because some hipster enjoys the totally rad effects of Kava; it just seems like they've a right to feel annoyed. Sorry that it forces you to think about your privilege, but hey....you've had it long enough. Don't be threatened, and don't be an idiot.

yaaaaawwwwwwwn yet another thing to add to the list of behaviors only certain people are allowed to do. Enjoy that.

Interesting. I only had "kava" explained to me last week. I was confused at first because that's also the word for coffee in Polish (which I speak). I honestly thought there was some new hipster 5th wave coffee shop that was, like, serving "kawa" (it's just a long espresso) and pączki (a heavenly jelly donut, airy with just a bit of chew, usually filled with rose hip jelly and is just so nice with some slivered almonds and powdered sugar on top... actually, someone please appropriate the fuck out of this because I want one!)

Anyway, my friend who explained this Samoan "kava" to me is a latina. She was pretty enthusiastic about it. Definitely not Samoan though. Not even a little. And probably fits your perception of a hipster. Does she get a pass? I think she gets a pass? I honestly can't keep track.

"Kava" doesn't sound like something I want to try regardless, but please let me know so I can update my notes accordingly. Thanks!