The Off Topic Topic

[Maladict]

Dogs, hedgehogs, trees. What else do Brits care about more than their fellow humans?

Their heritage. It's not that outlandish.

[Maladict]

Having said that, that tree does hurt more than it probably should 

[Sheilbh]

16 year old boy arrested over it -obviously no idea, but I fear it's going to turn out this was someone creating content

[Maladict]

16 year old boy arrested over it -obviously no idea, but I fear it's going to turn out this was someone creating content

FFS 

[HVC]

16 year old boy arrested over it -obviously no idea, but I fear it's going to turn out this was someone creating content

My guess was the closest!


Furst one, not the josq doing it

[Sheilbh]

That is just me guessing to be clear.

But also - your guess was literally the opposite

[HVC]

That is just me guessing to be clear.

But also - your guess was literally the opposite

Involved instagramer, just cut out the middle man . Yours was bitter loner and josq picked evil mustach twirling conservative

[Josquius]

16 year old edgelords are not unknown.

Surprised and glad they found someone.

And how the heck did a 16 year old pull this off? I couldn't cut down a tree at that age let alone one in the middle of nowhere.

[HVC]

Chain saws aren't that hard to use. It's the perfect (imperfect?) combination of easy and dangerous.

[Savonarola]

When I was at school I remember my biology teacher talking abou the oldest trees in the world - and there was some specific species in the western US. In particularly I remember him mentioning that someone had recently burned one or chopped it down and, in his view, "they should be shot" Always thought it was just a bit mad from a man who maybe loved biology too much, but I'm starting to be persuaded

Can't imagine what would provoke someone to do that

The great bristlecone pine;  here's the story that's usually cited about a man who chopped one down not realizing how old it was (though it wouldn't have been recent when you were in school.)

[Sheilbh]

That's probably it - might have been right for my teacher to remember the story though. He was quite old and this was 90s/00s

[Threviel]

Chain saws aren't that hard to use. It's the perfect (imperfect?) combination of easy and dangerous.

As a chain saw user I must say that the cut looked pretty good to me. Really good, I don't think I could have pulled of such a clean cut.

[garbon]

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/29/sycamore-gap-tree-attack-is-part-of-war-on-nature-in-uk-says-poet

Sycamore Gap tree attack is part of war on nature in UK, says poet

Robert Macfarlane says tree's felling was part of hostile culture and calls for forest to be planted in its honour

The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian's Wall symbolises a wider attack on nature in the UK, according to an award-winning landscape writer and poet.

Robert Macfarlane said the sight of the downed 300-year-old tree made him and many others feel sick. "I just see this as part of a piece with a much broader hostile environment towards the living world in this country," he told the BBC.

[Josquius]

Why eye roll? He's right.
There's a huge distaste for living things amongst many.
I hold by what I said that this is likely linked into the same social media bollocks radicalising idiots in other ways and the general air of toxic individualism that is the modern brit.

[garbon]

Why eye roll? He's right.
There's a huge distaste for living things amongst many.
I hold by what I said that this is likely linked into the same social media bollocks radicalising idiots in other ways and the general air of toxic individualism that is the modern brit.

Because we a) shouldn't overdramatise the chopping down of a tree that looked cool and b) we don't really need a symbol of how people are treating nature. We have more than enough instances of human's doing awful things (like the amount of waste that is being exported in to Britain's water) that we don't need to be performatively up in arms about one tree. actually, also c) feels like extreme naval gazing to try to draw out larger narratives from the actions of one person against one tree.

And I saw performatively because honestly is anything actually going to change from all this outrage or will we just carry on to the next hot news item?