The western belief that we are the most advanced, complex, humane, and valuable transcends our imperial core and the undeveloped countries we extract resources from. It expands to the universe as well through the continuous disregard for the reality that life exists elsewhere and might be eons farther ahead than we are in “development”. America believes itself to be the center of the world but also the center of the universe.

Thinking about how Earth is viewed in science fiction must be simplified and homogenized because of the perspective it is put into as one of millions of planets across space and time. When we imagine “new worlds” because of Earth’s decline, we do collectively dismiss the vastness of life and dimension that exists in such a relatively small point of the universe. In science fiction, the conflicts of our planet are reflected and magnified as conflicts and differences between planets or galaxies, making such a complex and nuanced world monotonous.

I’m not familiar with the term compost-ist but I understand the sentiment of not wanting to view the future of the world through the lens of a posthumanist. Rather viewing the world through the perspective that the humans of the present are important and integral to the humans of the future both physically and intellectually. This is a critical perspective to preserving the world for the next generation, not just shrugging our shoulders with incredulous indifference to what we our leaving our kin.

It is discussed and argued what the Anthropocene represents and how long it will last. Nixon talks about how the Anthropocene had started when humans affected the biophysical along with the climate and atmosphere. But it is hard to distinguish the exact time and space the Anthropocene represents and measure how long it may last. Thinking about our effect in the Earth as humans, some may consider us invaders or weapons of destruction. Haraway calls us “ refugees”. I would consider the refugees the people of exploited communities and countries where environmental destruction takes place at the fault of our imperialist core. Because looking past the nihilistic perspective that we as humans are a poison to a once abundant and plentiful Earth, there are people who have always valued the planet and their relationship to it over everything else. And these are often the communities that are most exploited and unsupported.