The earth, to a philosopher, can mean everything and anything, which sucks for them. To a writer, something potentially meaning everything and anything is awesome. It can fit into any story we want to tell! Isn't that great?
...
You're not getting as pumped about this as I thought. What, you minoring in philosophy?
Alright, let me explain.
You're writing a story for Big Oil Inc., who will pay you a million-gabillion dollars to make a story that makes the earth, the only planet we can call home, a distant, foreign thing. So, you take a note from Kingsnorth, and alter the perception in your story to make the planet come across as a machine, or some kind of factory that needs figuring out. You make riches beyond your dreams, and retire in the mountains, since they're the only bodies of land safe from floods.
Or!
You're writing a story for Fuck Big Oil Inc. Inc., who will pay you thirty cents and a 'Stupid Is As Stupid Does' bumper sticker from 1996 to make a story that makes the earth, the only planet we can call home, a familiar, lovely thing. So, you ignore Kingsnorth, call yourself PeasantSouth, and alter the perception in your story to make the planet come across as a lovely pre-teen keen to adult verbiage and sentence structure. Corporations don't stop polluting, but you feel better about yourself and the new habit you picked up of shaming friends and family who use plastic utensils.
Or, or, or!
You're writing a story for you.
You don't need anyone telling you what to make the planet.
Except you, of course!
Yes, listen to some philosophers, listen to Kingsnorth, and compare their thoughts with your own. Craft a perception of the planet from all of these thoughts that fits you and your writing.
Go nuts, don't make us look like Mars.
-beaked tentacle monster unaware of their creator
Many philosophers were/are also writers... So, good and bad for them, according to you. How do you write about something that is all at once, anything and everything, but also one very certain thing? How do you write about something that constantly changing what it is? This is Earth; out lovely dirt is always changing. The inhabitants of Earth - Earth being their ecosystem and home - are part of the planet, and will, of course, contribute to the changes that take place on and in the planet itself. Many hands are shaping the earth, and many voices shape our thoughts; can we then write with a singular mind, or must we all band together and write of one mind to change the minds of others about the planet we ALL call home?
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