I liked the suggestion someone had on Reddit to take the wood from the tree and make clubs out of it to flog the kid.
Famous, centuries old Sycamore tree chopped down by a brat.
- Thread starter Specter Von Baren
- Start date
I liked the suggestion someone had on Reddit to take the wood from the tree and make clubs out of it to flog the kid.
This isn't that far from me (it's a car drive, I wouldn't be walking it).
It's a shit and pointless thing to do, but some of the calls for punishment I've seen are disproportionate. I'm perturbed at the change in calls for punishment as it became apparent that the perpetrator (alleged) was a child rather than a disgruntled farmer - that is, the calls for violent punishment of a child increased, whereas few people had suggested we beat an angry farmer to death.
I'm not sure what justice can be served in a case like this. The kid can't buy a new tree to put there (though he could be engaged in a large-scale tree-planting programme as part of community service, if we're actually doing something like that), and prison would be a ludicrously over the top punishment. Sacrificing a child will not make a new tree grow (beyond the natural provision of nutrients which you can more easily obtain from B&Q). So what do you do? (I actually quite like the tree planting idea.)
It's not like he pushed Stonehenge over.
It's a shit and pointless thing to do, but some of the calls for punishment I've seen are disproportionate. I'm perturbed at the change in calls for punishment as it became apparent that the perpetrator (alleged) was a child rather than a disgruntled farmer - that is, the calls for violent punishment of a child increased, whereas few people had suggested we beat an angry farmer to death.
I'm not sure what justice can be served in a case like this. The kid can't buy a new tree to put there (though he could be engaged in a large-scale tree-planting programme as part of community service, if we're actually doing something like that), and prison would be a ludicrously over the top punishment. Sacrificing a child will not make a new tree grow (beyond the natural provision of nutrients which you can more easily obtain from B&Q). So what do you do? (I actually quite like the tree planting idea.)
It's not like he pushed Stonehenge over.
Sucks to be that reckless dumbass. What do he think was going to happen? That he would get a medal? His life is basically over.
Yeah, saw this on FB.
As mentioned, there's not really anything that can be done about it. Put the frighteners on this one kid, and maybe you can stop him cutting down famous trees, but I doubt he had a good long think about the consequences beforehand, so good luck stopping the next likeminded one.
As mentioned, there's not really anything that can be done about it. Put the frighteners on this one kid, and maybe you can stop him cutting down famous trees, but I doubt he had a good long think about the consequences beforehand, so good luck stopping the next likeminded one.
I think sometimes the reaction reflects the petty transgressiveness of the act. Someone might shoplift because he's greedy, selfish, etc. It's something people can easily grasp and assume motivations to. But why the fuck would you cut down a much loved tree? What sort of petty spite, a desire to just make people unhappy, would make someone do that?
I remember reading a book by Robertson Davies where a kid, with some mates, invade someone's empty house and start messing it up. Then the leader of the gang takes some family photos, dumps them in the centre of a room and defecates on them. And that is the act that makes the boy suddenly realise how awful what he is a part of is - not the breaking and entering or smashing stuff.
But you're right, it's an overreaction, it's very doubtful that prison would help. At the end, it's just a cut-down tree and some sort of community order sounds about right. And yet I'd still want to know what exactly was going through that child's head. We can always plant a new one, even if it will take generations to grow to the size of the old.
Arguably, that'd be better because we could just put the stones back.
I actually think there's a valid case to be made for restoring them where relevant. We rebuild and restore castles, cathedrals and all manner of old stuff, there's no reason we shouldn't do that to a neolithic stone circle because it happens to be much older.
But because of how easy this was, someone might think pushing Stone Henge over would be "cool" to do. I've seen a lot of comments talking about how a lack of punishment will just encourage more such vandalism against other important objects.
And I don't think that's a stretch either. 2020 saw the bringing down of a ton of statues, activists have attempted to vandalize famous paintings over the last year, it's not hard to see this being another step in that. And with things like it the renovation of Notre Dame having difficulty getting wood to replace what was lost in the fire, it's not hard to see why people feel there's a serious threat to important monuments and locations.
Also, this isn't just a case of "oh that's a pretty tree". It was also a source of income from tourism, so there's going to be actual monetary repercussions from this.
Also, also, I said I liked the idea of flogging him. I didn't say they should flog him to death.
If the guy gets his name in all the papers, perhaps. The way media coverage encourages spree shooters.
From what I understand, it won't be hard for people in the area to figure out who it was in due time. But I don't live there of course, so I don't know.
Also, clout isn't the only thing that can lead someone to do this. A lack of respect for the significance of something can lead to people doing something because it's "no big deal, it's just a rock/tree/statue/building/picture etc".
We'll have to disagree, because I think it's a massive stretch to say this could lead to further vandalism that would otherwise not have occurred. By accounts I've read (the child has been named locally, but not officially) this is a personal matter dealt with the way children deal with things (stupidly).
I'm not convinced it brings in a lot of tourism (the area itself is a tourist attraction that the tree happens to be a famous marker in because it was in a film). I've been a few times and it's nice and all, but (a) there's nowhere to spend money there really, and (b) it's not that amazing. The views going the other way are actually much nicer. I think the tourism the area sees will do just fine (it's part of a large national park) with or without the tree.
Honestly, if you want to look at tragic loss of trees, look at the redwoods. Those are some otherworldly giants, and losing those would be a real tragedy (they're listed as endangered now I think, too much logging).
Honestly, because I don't think kids thinks things all the way through from A to B. It's been a long time since I was a kid, but I think I just sort of did stuff without thinking about what came next (I did not own a chainsaw though). Anyway, rumour is that it was a revenge felling.
I'm well aware the West Coast has no intention of changing the way they live to help the redwoods but I'm from the Midwest, there's not much I can do about it.
Out of interest, has anyone suggested that the owners of the burned down Crooked House pub should be mercilessly beaten with the bricks?
I know. It's just that I AM actually sad about what's happening to the redwoods but I can only keep going on in life while knowing of those things by reminding myself there's nothing I can do. The area I live in has been seeing lots of urbanization in the last five years or so which is slowly turning the sparsely populated forest area into a concrete sprawl and I'm not happy about that either.
Absolutely not to take away the gravity from this heinous act, but in America (well, ANYWHERE,) I would seriously take anything like this over a disgruntled kid shooting up his school or a mall or any place where innocent people can reasonable expect to just go about their everyday lives.
I don't know where people's heads are at, but it seems this surge of willfully, broadly, and intentionally hurtful acts seem to almost be the norm for every type of angst you can imagine, and it's infuriating. I'll show my age by saying I think our society has been coddled to the point that everyone has been lead to believe they can do no wrong, so they feel the need to do wrong to stand out and be significant. "Mental health" is recently such a broad, catch-all blanket that seems to have emboldened people to eschew personal accountability, and simply hold to account everyone but themselves when they're unhappy.
I don't know where people's heads are at, but it seems this surge of willfully, broadly, and intentionally hurtful acts seem to almost be the norm for every type of angst you can imagine, and it's infuriating. I'll show my age by saying I think our society has been coddled to the point that everyone has been lead to believe they can do no wrong, so they feel the need to do wrong to stand out and be significant. "Mental health" is recently such a broad, catch-all blanket that seems to have emboldened people to eschew personal accountability, and simply hold to account everyone but themselves when they're unhappy.
Oh, agree with that.
Er...very much disagree here. Or rather with the implication that this is a new problem with society., and not the same sort of malice we've seen forever.
That tree had it coming. As an internationally known eco terrorist firebrand - its influence now removed means our industrious fracking markets can move to deregulate and thrive in peace finally.
Didn't imply any of it is new, just that a lot of it is happening NOW, and in bulk.
Give the little scrote a shovel and have him dig out the entire root ball, refill the hole, and plant a replacement tree, for a long as it takes. Might teach some appreciation for how much more time and effort it takes to grow something than destroy it.
Take the wood of the old tree and use it to create a nearby artwork to commemorate the old tree.
Take the wood of the old tree and use it to create a nearby artwork to commemorate the old tree.
I don't know how municipalities operate in the UK, but in Canada trees on public right of way have a monetary value attached to them that must be paid if they are to be removed. There's a whole formula in my city and I'm not an arborist so I can't be exact but in general its about $1000 per year of age after five.
So this was a pricey tree to fell.
Personally I think the fine would be enough. Make them pay the permitting costs, do all the applications and then follow ordinances for proper full removal.
So this was a pricey tree to fell.
Personally I think the fine would be enough. Make them pay the permitting costs, do all the applications and then follow ordinances for proper full removal.