the Diotima of DIY neo-punk collectives, and Plato

here is some of the text about a new installation at Space 1026:

"Paper Rad began a long, long time ago in Boston, during a living room seance. Everyone in the house that night was sitting Indian-style, holding hands, saying magic words, when they summoned a long-dead Spirit back to the Land of the Living. This ghost was half-Lioness and half-Terrier, and her codename was Moonglade. Eager to impart the wisdom of the Spirit World, she talked a lot about eschewing hesitation, self-seriousness, dollars, ego, drama, professionalism, and about getting on with the project of total affirmation. The true end of culture, she said, was to deliver us every last head on Earth into a rich and rewarding, eternal adolescence. This definitely struck a chord with everyone there. After she finished talking, she blew a whistle and vanished again, into the carpet forever."

okay, so, they're artists, so they don't really have to be serious about any of this. i've been to one end of the irony cul de sac and back, and i enjoyed it. what struck me, and what i so helpfully italicized for you, dear reader, is (1) the list of vices that Paper Rad offers via Moonglade (apparently the Diotima of - what? - DIY neo-punk collectives?), (2) a similarly Greek-happy (ie, eudaimonist) "project of total affirmation," and (3) Moonglade's vision of "the true end of culture" (telos) as "a rich and rewarding, eternal adolescence."

heck, it sounds good to me, too. i've always been a fan of, for example, Mat 19:14, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" yes i looked that up.

just one quibble: are we, or they, or anyone who these days has visions of human flourishing, able to conceive of rich and rewarding, eternal ADULTHOOD? in other words, why choose adolescence, which i remember as, yes, heady, and full of excitement, but just as ensnaring as these more grown-up fittings, if not more so? wherefore the imaginative impoverishment of adults, and why do we ever ever ever agree to it?

as for the list of vices, it is one configuration in a long line of such. the history is one i'm reading about these days in Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue, rapidly becoming the bibliographic mascot of my friend group. drama and professionalism seem the newest contributions; hesitation, self-seriousness, dollars, and ego being perhaps counteracted by courage (Homer &c), amiability? (Austen), charity and humility (Christianity). drama and professionalism. huh.

and, for your edification and mine, Diotima proper. it's about Love.