Since moving to South Lake Tahoe over two years ago, I have spent a lot of time attending community forums and city council meetings. Soon, labels such as “local,” “patriot,” and “environmentalist” arose and are used to ignore or exclude others from community discussions. These terms are a clear example of the logical fallacy of “not being truly Scottish” that painfully and unnecessarily divides us.
The “there are no true Scots” fallacies works like this. That is, a person makes a generalization about a group (e.g., “No Scots put sugar in their porridge''). When you present a counterexample that negates the claim (e.g., “But my uncle Angus is Scottish and puts sugar in his porridge.”), instead of acknowledging the evidence, they ad hoc Just move the goalposts by adding the modifier (“but''). True Scots don't put sugar in their porridge. ”)
What I see most often is this flawed logic always being used with the “local” label. Those born and raised here often adhere to this terminology, excluding those who have immigrated from elsewhere as squatters and future stakeholders in Tahoe. Namely, the City Council recently awarded $50,000 to a consultant (after city staff spent time and effort studying the proposals) to clear the legal path for affordable housing projects to be “locally preferred.” They unanimously voted to spend money and are effectively spending taxpayer money to try and do just that. To protect the city's non-existent gates from almost non-existent invaders.
The same thing happens across the political spectrum. The word “patriot” is thrown around a lot on the right, and anyone who doesn't have enough respect for moral panic, religion, the military, “welfare housing,” or conspiracy theories about George Soros and the Communists. , he was given the dreaded label of “not a true patriot.'' and are excluded from the conversation.
The left is not immune. We see “environmentalists” employing this tactic to silence opposing views on how best to protect Tahoe's natural wonders. Any criticism of current policies and priorities regarding development, tourism and conservation is branded as 'anti-environmental'. Those who raise concerns are quickly dismissed as “not real environmentalists.” This fallacy allows one ideological camp to monopolize the “environmentalist” identity and denigrate all others as illegitimate, regardless of the evidence. You need look no further than Motel 6, Barnbot, and his 25-tree-per-acre buying/demolition debate to understand this behavior.
After all, no one has a monopoly on what makes someone a “local,” a “patriot,” or an “environmental activist.” These are multifaceted identities that encompass a wide range of perspectives, priorities, and lived experiences. By adopting the false idea that “there are no true Scots” we are creating tribal insiders and outsiders that only succeed in dividing us.
True community discussion requires respecting different points of view, not dismissing them through flawed logic. We often label others inappropriately as “locals” or “patriots” because they are newcomers, hold a different political stance, or advocate housing development, the tourism economy, or fire safety. ” We should celebrate our diversity rather than dismissing them as “environmental activists.” Productive solutions can only come from open discussion, not circular attempts to delegitimize others. We all have a say in Tahoe's future together.
