A World Worth Saving
Every year, I declare the day after Christmas to be Mom’s Day. I will be sitting on the couch, reading my book. Y’all can go play with your Christmas presents and cousins and leave me alone. Towards the end of the day, I may be persuaded to go to a movie and get Chinese food. Maybe.
On the couch this year, I was immersed in the world of The Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys.
In about 2080, An alien ship lands on the eastern seaboard. The door opens and the strange-looking aliens more or less say in English, “Oh, thank god, we are not too late! We're here to help you move!”
The first people to greet the aliens are predictably surprised, “Um what? We're not moving.”
The aliens have already visited three other planets with plans to rescue societies that have reached the technological stage at which they start to outgrow and poison their planets. By the time they arrived at those planets, the societies were dead, destroyed by their growth and technology. The aliens are so relieved to find Earth still populated that they are dumbstruck by the idea that we are not eager to join them in their gigantic and still growing manufactured habitat. “Are you kidding?” they more or less ask. “Haven't you noticed the carbon dioxide in your atmosphere is causing a greenhouse effect and your water is polluted?”
Well, of course the people had noticed. They’ve been focused on fixing these issues for decades, in the midst of terrible and frequent storms. “We’re moving in the right direction! If you think this is bad, you should have seen us 50 years ago!” they more or less respond.
Thus, Emrys sets up the question: Is the planet Earth worth saving?
There are those who immediately say yes. It is. This is where we live. The Earth is alive and it is part of us and we are a part of it.
There are those who say no. The environmental problems we have are issues of resource limitations and waste management. In space there are virtually unlimited resources and unlimited space to jettison waste. Why should there be a limit to growth if that growth can no longer soil our nest?
The aliens, feeling trapped on this dying planet, frankly can’t believe there is a discussion. They can just barely accept the idea that humans have planetary autonomy and should be able to make this choice. But…Wouldn’t you pull a person out of a burning building even if they didn't want to go? And what about the children? If the human adults decide to stay on this burning planet, would it be ethical to allow their children to stay too?
Back on the couch, I’m disappointed to remember that we don't actually have a choice to make. No one is inviting us to start over in a new habitat.
But what if we did? Are we here on Earth because we have nowhere else to go or because it is home?
During the part of the pandemic when businesses and schools were shut down, we stayed in our homes because we didn’t have a choice and there wasn’t anywhere else to go. My home suddenly seemed small and inadequate. There were too many people and dogs for the space. The kitchen cannot feed all of us all day long. Some of these people haven’t showered and are starting to reek.
Now, when I stay home, I do so because I want to. It’s cozy and warm and all my favorite people are there. It makes a difference to be somewhere because we love it–because it’s home–and not just because we can’t leave.
We may not be able to save people by pulling them off this burning planet, but we can choose to live here intentionally and hold each other accountable for not stoking the flames. Because, in the end, this world is worth saving.