Ruin & Departure: a brief introduction

-- also Empowerment

R & D

Ruin becomes a technical term in the present context, and doesn't have the normal sense when capitalized in these writings. The same is true of Departure. The two terms, in their special technical sense, function like aspects of a whole, two sides of the same coin. These terms are helping me to manage an immense amount of complexity in a vastly simpler conceptual container. 

Ruin, then, is several things all at once.  It is ...

• a mode of livelihood which is obsolete in the sense of "no longer useful". Obsolete | Definition of Obsolete by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com) 

• perpetuation of an obsolete, destructive mode of material culture and economy which exacerbates rather than ameliorates overshoot. The Human Ecological Predicament: Wages of Self-Delusion | MAHB (stanford.edu) 

• the capture of human culture, human agency and will by technologies which impose and enforce Ruin, making alternatives to Ruin at least almost impossible.

• an entire way of life which can only result in ever worsening ecological, social and economic crises and catastrophes.

• a way of life which can only exist in disregard for ethics and aesthetics.

• a way of life which conflates capital accumulation, GDP, and material acquisition with "wealth". (The word, wealth, was derived from a middle English word, wele, which means well-being. Well-being is actual wealth. Ruin is a culture which destroys well-being in the name of "wealth creation".  (I find this utterly perverse in a pathological sense.)

Departure is ...

• a social practice / praxis of leaving Ruin behind, moving on to and collaboratively creating an alternative or ‘parallel’ culture in which livelihood is no longer dependent upon Ruin.

• a social, political, economic and livelihood revolution--in the non-violent and non-insurrectionary sense of 'revolution'.

• a process of returning to human agency vis-a-vis technological capture of human agency.

• a collaborative journey from ecocidal and destructive ways of living to ways of living which are socially and ecologically regenerative, sustainable, socially just and otherwise beautiful and good. 

Now that we have these terms and concepts at hand, we can use them as guides to deepen our understanding, knowledge, skills and insight in service to goodness and beauty.  They are shorthand terms which allow us to communicate effectively and think clearly and honestly.

Having written this, I can reference this brief article in future writings here in The R-Word, in order to avoid having to repeat these explanations.

Empowerment

Empowerment is the essence of the social theory and praxis — politics — I’m advocating for here in The R-Word.

When I originally wrote of Ruin & Departure in another venue, it occurred to me that these can be spoken of in a common shorthand for Research & Development -- that is, as R&D. How fortuitous & serendipitous! For this thing I'm called to explore in depth here — R&D — can certainly be understood as a process of research and development, but one which is essentially post-industrial, post-capitalist, post-ecocidal. It is research and development for what we might call World Medicine, or healing of the world (human and beyond). 

What is Empowerment?

1: the act or action of empowering someone or something : the granting of the power, right, or authority to perform various acts or duties -- Empowerment | Definition of Empowerment by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com) 

Of course I and you cannot "grant" such a right or authority to anyone, as we have no such authority. We are not authoritarians, nor government 'leaders,' or cops.  So in the R&D lexicon, Empowerment, our next capitalized technical term, means essentially capacity building. It means creating (nurturing, supporting, facilitating) the synergistic conditions in which the apparently impossible is made at least possible, if not likely.  In Departure, this is overwhelmingly a collaborative endeavor.  

Why is Empowerment almost always a collaborative endeavor in Departure? There are many good reasons.

• We are more knowledgeable in groups than we are in isolation.

• Which potentially makes us more creative and imaginative in groups than we are in isolation.

• Group problem solving and innovation is a much more robust, powerful process than it can be in isolation.

• Groups are (ideally) diverse, which means we have many cumulative perspectives, skills, knowledge sets, talents, interests and passions to draw from in collaborative groupings. 

• Just as it is impossible to lift and move a very big heavy table by oneself, it is impossible to lift and move the world in isolation, alone. 

• Together we can pool resources, e.g., money, land, tools, books, music, inspiration, care, food, time, talents, skills.... 

• Together we have the power of liberation from Ruin and the emergent and emerging power of Departure. Alone we do not.  

So in the R&D lexicon, Empowerment means (mostly) lifting up the capacities of individuals and groups by drawing on the synergistic capacity building which emerges within collaborative groups. It means nurturing possibilities where otherwise Departure is impossible. It means creating conditions of possibility. 

Let's say you are lost in a forest and it has been raining for days. It is cold and wet, drizzling a little, and your clothing is moist. The sun is lowering toward the horizon and it will be dark soon. You realize it is essential that you build a fire in order to dry off and keep warm. But you only have two matches in a little watertight box. And all of the fuels in the forest are saturated by days of rain. What do you do?

I'd search for places where there may be an overhang of rocks, or especially dense tree cover, where perhaps there may be found some fine dry fuels (very fine sticks, moss, pine needles) which are dry enough to kindle a tiny fire with. If I have a tiny fire I can use those flames to begin to dry out and (hopefully) combust yet more fine fuels, but those which may be moister than the original dry fuels. The dry fuels make drying yet other fuels potentially possible. I call this process 'potentiation'. Potentiation | Definition of Potentiation by Merriam-Webster (merriam-webster.com) 

Or say you want to grow an edible garden, but your patch of soil is of poor quality, rain is infrequent and inadequate and deer and rabbits would eat your garden if you grew one anyway. What do you do?

I'd build a fence around the garden site. I'd improve the soil by methods like growing cover crops ('green manure'), adding compost, etc. I'd catch water from roof drainage and store it in a tank or cistern for future use in the dry season.  This I call turning the impossible into the possible, or potentiation. 

All of my writing here in The R-Word on R&D has been an effort to create a common vocabulary and conceptual system which would -- or could -- empower Departure.  I want to get on with Departure. Ruin is a very uncomfortable place to live! But I cannot really, fully get on with Departure without collaborators and companions. We need one another! Departure is a journey, and it should not begin or end in isolation.  It is also a conversation, not a monologue. So please do share your thoughts and ideas about Empowerment with me.  Let's imagine a new world into being together.