The Vital Child
May 11, 2009
Money is not the ultimate status symbol in our world. Energy is.
When someone asks what you do for a living, they are often wondering not how much money you make, but how dynamic and energetic you are.
Civilization in the advanced stages of nihilism exhibits this worship of energy, Seraphim Rose argued. At Lawrence Auster’s site, interesting discussions about what a commenter calls “Vitalism,” can be found here. Auster has written a summary of Rose’s ideas.
The cult of energy is everywhere. Let’s focus on one aspect: the Vital Child.
The Vital Child is not a creature of repose. He is a dynamic, rapidly evolving being, capable of “socialization” even as an infant. He does not gaze at the walls wondering as children have done since the dawn of history why childhood is so long. His days are a blur. Television and electronic games fill any meager void and all useless cracks in a life of scheduled activity.
The Vital Child does not indulge in random play, except in small, accidental doses. His play is organized, efficient, directed toward rational self-improvement. He pursues sports with careerist intensity. This is not play, but a means of demonstrating his inner dynamism, of activating his miniature will.
Never pause: that is the inscription carved on the threshold of his youth. Standardized tests, sports, clubs, long school days, all at a pace that far exceeds that of sleepier times – these fill his teenage years, plus more television, games and popular music. Never pause. All this prepares him for the raw energy he will need later. This is his vital initiation into vitality. The Vital Child will keep on moving. He has no expectation of repose and no acquaintance with reflection. He reveres movement: the movement of his own emotions, of his own half-formed will, and of an ultimately meaningless world beyond the self.
