On Being Broken

(With apologies to Douglas Adams for stealing a bit of imagery)

Broken is a relation to the world.
Unfit. Worthless for purposes intended.

The value of the broken is that of the nonexistent.
Or, more correctly, is less than.
For the nonexistent occupies no useful space nor useful time nor useful thought.

This chair is broken if it cannot support my body.
This heater is broken if my house is not kept warm.
This video recorder is broken if it does not watch television for me.

This leaves me standing, shivering before the tv wondering what went wrong.
A non-productive state, no doubt.


The solutions?
Repair. Replace. Repurpose.

Repair. If you're lucky.
Replace. If you have the means.
Repurpose... Well, so many things can prop open a door.


Broken is a relation to the world.
So what then of the broken amongst us?

For we seek fitness. And worth. And purpose.
Do we not?

Surgery, nutrition and exercise for the repair of body
Religion, therapy and narcotics for the replacement of thought.
Schools, job fairs and prisons for the repurposing of ability.

A pretty tidy system.


But broken is a relation to the world.
And the solutions before us, it seems to me, focus somewhat unevenly on that relation.
There is us, or it as the case may be, and there is the world.

What is it then that needs repair?
What is it then that needs replacement?
What is it then that needs repurposing?

I ask that you consider the world.
The world of the relation.
The world in which you are broken.
Is it so solid?  So immutable?  So real?


Broken is a relation to the world.
And, simply put, sometimes it's the world that needs to change.