Self righteousness and false assumptions
by Sid AndersonDecember 19th, 2005 at 14:25:40
Let’s say you’re out for a nice walk one day and you see some people hacking up a tree with a chainsaw. What is your first thought? Maybe it’s something like, “What are they doing! They’ve cut down a big old beautiful tree… how dare they… tsk tsk.” Or would you think, “Gee, that was a huge tree. I wonder if it was about to crash into their home and that’s why it’s been cut down.”
This past weekend we had the unfortunate opportunity to discover that most people make the first assumption, and one in particular had the nerve to “tsk tsk” us out loud as she walked past. She could have, on the other hand, looked at my mom who was teaching my husband how to use her chainsaw and thought, “How cool is that!” and considered asking us nicely what had happened. Her day would have been much happier. But instead she chose to be self righteous and ornery.
I wanted to put up a big sign that read: “THIS TREE HAD TO BE CUT DOWN. IT HAD SNAPPED AND WAS HANGING OVER OUR HOME AND WAS ABOUT TO COME CRASHING DOWN.” But in the end my sign would not have solved the problem of self righteousness and false assumptions.
Had I been an apolitical citizen or a political fence sitter, it’s likely I would have been totally put off by all the “liberal tree huggers” walking past. It may have been just enough to make me think that maybe those right-wing radio hosts had a point.
So, I ask my fellow lovers of the natural world, which includes big old trees, to chill out. Not every tree that gets cut down is done so for profit, the desire to cut down trees, or whatever other reason that makes us squirm. Just chill, seriously. Self righteousness is unbecoming, it turns people off and it does absolutely nothing to further our cause of preserving our wilderness areas.
December 19th, 2005 at 6:59 pm
Read your commentary on false assumptions. Here is something that has nothing to do with falling trees, but a lot to do with the environment and energy (which I see you also have an interest in.)
I’m in the nuclear power industry, and every day I hear pro-nuke and anti-nuke people say things that make it clear they don’t have a clue how nuclear energy works in the United States. There are lot’s of genuine good points and bad points, but they aren’t discussed much. Everyone assumes that because they’ve watched a movie or two, or read a magazine article, or caught the latest musing by some pundit, that they’ve got the issue down cold. Nope. I’m hoping some folks will step back, reconsider, and take a look at http://RadDecision.blogspot.com . Here they will find the first insider novel of nuclear power, “Rad Decision”. There’s no more entertaining way to learn about this controversial energy source. All sides of the debate will find facts to love and facts to ponder. And there’s no cost to readers.
“I’d like to see Rad Decision widely read.” - Stewart Brand, founder of The Whole Earth Catalog