The Felling of the Sycamore Gap Tree

How We are Failing Our Children

For 300 years the tree stood at this little indentation in the old Roman construction known as Hadrian’s Wall at Northumberland in Northern England. It hosted marriages and the scattering of ashes. It gave shelter and shade to passerby. It was one of the great trees of the world.

Until, on September 27, 2023, it was felled. The first arrest was of a sixteen year old boy. The press called him a man, but we should know better. The frontal cortex is not fully developed at 16 in humans. And it is worse for boys.

Yesterday a 60 year old actual man was also arrested. The connection between the two is not known at this time.

The boy shows no remorse.

And because the tree was beloved the world over many are weighing in. I am doing the same.

My first thought is how we are failing our children.

They were born into a dying world and the effects on mental health are inestimable.

We are literally going insane as a global culture and the kids are getting the brunt of it.

Best case, civilization collapses globally but the biosphere survives, including enough humans to avoid a genetic bottleneck.

He felled one of the world’s great trees and that is a terrible thing.

The capitalists are felling entire forests, oceans, rivers, lakes, and natural systems. The natural systems all life requires for survival. They are killing the earth’s biosphere. The world is dying and its murder is on their hands.

There is no word for that level of evil.