You can cross someone off your Mother’s Day gift list. A new article decrees our planet’s title of “Mother Earth” as a misnomer, and, even suggests that it’s problematic.
By engendering and personifying Earth as a mother, we’re looking at it as someone who is selfless, who absorbs human abuse, and who will, at the end of the day, solve everything with her wisdom. Essentially we’re comparing the planet Earth to someone so loving and nurturing that they’ll pack you a lunch for your first day of your internship…when you’re 22.
The reality is, the Earth doesn’t give that much of a damn about our well-being, and it’s our responsibility to take care of it. Yes, it sustains us with food in a looser sense, but it could care less about accommodating our needs. It’s dangerous to assume that the Earth will forgive environmental bad behavior, from littering to excessive deforestation to not recycling your frappucino cup when there’s a recycling bin right down the block. Maybe this still resonates with other people’s relationship with their mothers, but regardless.
Essentially, it calls for action for us to be the true caretakers of our planet instead of the other way around. Honoring and respecting our planet is done by actively treating it as something that needs to be taken care of. Because while it will not physically pack your lunch for you, it’s well-being relates to our quality and capability of living
Source: TIME
Image via Planet–earth.ca
