What the hell is a treehugger? Is this supposed to be some childish attempt at putting a label on people that enjoy the outdoors. This has been on my mind for a while now so it is time for this blogger to clear the air. A month or so ago I was driving up the road and noticed a new billboard with an anti-mountaintop removal theme. The board had one simple statement… “Please don’t take my mountains.” A day or two later I drove past the sign again and someone had painted a big red line through the statement and had painted the word treehugger on the board. This pissed me off for a couple of reasons. First, everyone has a right to their own opinion. Even the person or persons that rented the billboard. Secondly, and mainly, it shows a severe case of childish ignorance. It is people like this that keep prejudices and controversy alive and well. I imagine this person was uneducated. He or she most likely wasn’t even smart enough to know that by writing treehugger on the board, they had firmly planted their feet on one side of a controversy and had lashed out at the other side in the most childish manner possible.
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Adding to this post: The first part of this post and the second are only related in that they both deal with hate for another person because of their beliefs or their position on sensitive issues. I wrote the second paragraph because hate was what came to mind when I saw the word treehugger used in an obviously slanderous context. I have my opinions on the big coal companies and they usually don’t coincide with other West Virginians view. I don’t think the coal companies have West Virginia’s best interest at heart, both as a state and as a people.
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Prejudice and stereotyping; two major weights that hold us back as a society. To the people that exhibit those signs of ignorance… please tell me what it is that makes you better than anybody else. Is it the color of your skin? The language you speak? Education? Money? The country you live in? Were you born on the other side of the tracks? Or were you just brought up that way? It is a shame that we get one lifetime and some people spend that time hating other people that are only living their one lifetime too. I guess I may be showing some signs of ignorance because I just don’t understand, and never will.
That’s just stupid…
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October 29th, 2007 at 11:13 am
The “sign artist” most likely works for a coal company. King Coal is doing their PR work on the miners, equipment dealers, grocery store owners, etc. They tell them that anyone who is against mountaintop removal wants to put them out of a job. They tell them that we are all transplanted treehuggers! Even the DNR uses the term against those who want to preserve wilderness areas. This isn’t about prejudice - though you make a good point. It’s not about right to an opinion. It’s about King Coal wanting to always get their way - without regulations or criticism. They run the state, they run the federal government, and they think that they can run us too. What they really want is to run all the people out of here so they can take it all - the coal, the mountains, the water, the lifeblood. They want it ALL!
October 29th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Thanks for commenting and enlightening me BJ.. It’s good to hear from someone passionate about their subject.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
I agree with BJ, and would like to add that treehugger is also an excellent blog that features some cool stuff to lessen our dependence on poluters outpourings and keeps a watchfull eye on their activities.
Bushwacker
No conection other than i read it
http://www.treehugger.com
October 29th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
thanks for commenting bushwacker…
November 1st, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Well,
I grew up in a small town not far from an environmental college. Everyone there was labeled a “tree hugger.” I didn’t agree with it either. It is indeed a stereotype. It means hippy, environmentalist et cetera (to those who use the term). I know it’s a very sad sickness in our society. Our ability to label and cast type people is a horrid by-product of commercialism, egocentrism, and superficiality.
November 4th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Funny that I’ve never been called a treehugger, since I literally hug a tree every time I get in and out of a deer stand.
Good post.
November 6th, 2007 at 5:22 am
Well, I am a tree lover… people can call me what they will. But then I love a lot of things, and so you cannot exactly place me into any single category. Some people are just greedy, angry or lonely, so they like to take it out on those who still have room in their hearts to love. I too have never understood prejudice… I just don’t get it. Everyone and everything is different, yet we all live in the same World (though as seen through different eyes) and some people just don’t care how they abuse their home and each other. Truly sad…
Teri
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November 6th, 2007 at 7:54 am
People like that put other people down to feel superior about themselves. It keeps them from having to face the shallow truths of their lives.
Yeh. I’m Miss Mary Sunshine today.
November 7th, 2007 at 3:59 am
Money, power, greed.
These three create more conflict and irrational decisions than any other.
While anyone can understand someone trying to preserve their job and cashflow, destruction and name calling help nobody.
I think you are correct in thinking this person is doing something very detrimental to your community.
Speedcat loves trees, even when they knock down my golf ball
November 11th, 2007 at 2:04 am
Thanx to all for commenting on this post. I hate that it took so long to respond.
I don’t like labels even though most of us live under at least one. Before, I was just a West Virginia Hillbilly. As the song says “They don’t call me by my name just hillbilly.” I live under that label and I wear it proudly. Since I love the mountains I guess I am now a Treehugger. As much as I hate that label I will wear it proudly as well. Because I do love the mountains and I stand and wonder about the giant oaks that have seen the passing of two centuries or the sapling that may or may not see the passing of the next century. It’s bigger than we are…
Anyway, I’m rambling…. Thanks