Project Vision 21

I recently read a report prepared by an electric company about a falling tree in a city near Denver. After a storm with strong winds, the tree in question, already high, fell on the power lines and started a small fire. Ten days later, the official report indicated that the culprit had been the tree for not having enough roots.

Although fortunately nothing happened in this case, in other similar incidents a tree falling onto power lines caused serious fires or property damage. But I honestly don't recall the tree being ever blamed for causing such an unpleasant situation.

In this case, however, the tree was accused of having fallen for not having roots, as if throughout the 50 years or probably 60 years of the life of this tree, the tree, for a matter of reluctance or laziness, would have decided on its own to have as few roots as possible, without thinking that one day a wind might come and knock him down.

In addition to the intense animistic flavor of blaming the tree (like hitting a table because you hit your foot on the table leg), it is incredible that the tree is the culprit and not any of the many human beings who interacted with the tree over many years. It is clear that by declaring the tree “guilty” all those persons evaded their own responsibility. 

For example, shouldn't the person who planted the tree so close to the house be held responsible, knowing (obviously) that the tree was going to grow as it actually did? And what about those who installed the cables in such a way that they were close to the tree? Or those who over time did not cut the branches of the tree to prevent them from touching the cables?

And what about the liability of the countless neighborhood inspectors who should have spotted the problem and didn't? And what about the "experts" from the electricity company who, after analyzing the issue for ten days, concluded that the tree was the culprit?

I wonder if it is possible that this was an isolated incident or if, on the contrary, this unacceptable level of thinking and analyzing reality is something widespread in our society. I must say that, unfortunately, everything indicates that the second option is the correct one.

In other words, we live in a world in which the desire to evade our own responsibility is so great that, for that very reason, we spend our lives looking for scapegoats, even trees, when something does not work as it should or as we would like it to work. 

But that attitude of constantly looking for scapegoats is dangerous because that attitude is the basis of the social field of negativity in which, when scapegoats are found and that’s not enough, people resort to deny the rights of others, even, if that is not enough. They try to destroy the others. Let’s open the field of positivity opening our minds and hearts.