The irony, paradox and power of ancient symbols finds contemporary
expression in America.

Paradox, because America was founded at the intersection of the symbolic
dualities of equality and freedom, two cyclic truths, which are both true
but cannot be true (or the dominant symbol) at any one particular point
in time. They have traded dominance back and forth under the guise of the Democratic Party of social equality and Republican Party of economic freedom, between the equality of American mass culture in the first half of the 20th century and the freedom of a segmented, pluralistic culture in the last half of the 20th century.

Irony, because America is as much a prisoner of its own symbols as the rest of the world. After all, symbols first persuaded America to worship capitalism, market populism and economic democracy. Only later were these symbols exported overseas. A culture itself locked into the subliminal trance of the power of symbols now finds itself the target of much of the world for exporting this power, a power it has never really understood itself.

Power because at no time in history have symbols (and the modern Pandora's Box they escape from called America) had such a ubiquitous effect on molding a global psyche.

* * *

In light of the paradox and irony of American symbols, one of the key questions of modern times (and certainly Samuel Huntington's hypothesized clash between western and eastern civilizations) is whether the power of symbols can be put into battle for all of America rather than just Hollywood or Madison Avenue.

Given the close symbiotic relationship of American symbols with Hollywood entertainment, Madison Avenue advertising and the economy in general it is doubtful this will happen. In the weeks after the atrocities of September 11th many American leaders have been adamant about Americans returning lock step to that trance of American symbolism under the rhetorical umbrella of getting the economy moving again.

Strangely, it is almost as if the events of September 11th distracted America from its "bowling alone" type of social isolation and its overindulgence for a moment in time, the pouring of more and more money into an economy mainly created through the clever, subtle use of symbols.

Columnist Maureen Dowd states the problem well in her article "All That Glistens" from the October 3, 2001 issue of The New York Times. Reflecting on the arrival of her new shiny red and silver Neiman Marcus Christmas catalogue she writes:

"It makes you a little sick and a little wistful. Even though it was printed only a month ago, it now seems as detached from the moment as cave drawings, a document of an extinct culture that reveled without apology in the trivial and gaudy, pushing luxury to absurd heights. A simple hanger could not suffice when there was a $65 mink hanger 'too beautiful to tuck away in a closet.' A simple jean jacket could not suffice when there was a $2,785 jean jacket with rabbit collar and cuffs. A simple baby carriage could not suffice when there was a $4,250 Burberry pram with matching $375 diaper bag."

The catalogue arrives in the midst of the growing economic downturn and the cheerleading efforts of leaders to get things back on track. She catches the irony of the moment when she notes "America has developed an aversion to consumer overindulgence at the very moment our leaders tell us the only way to prevail against the terrorists and prop up our economy is through consumer overindulgence."

But thanks to one of the offshoots of modern symbols—the creation of shorter attention spans— a continuation of this aversion to consumerism is unlikely to carry forward for this possibly long war. Ralph Peters, a retired Army intelligence officer, questions America's attention span in his article "Will Our Resolve Last?" from the September 14 issue of The Wall Street Journal. "Perhaps our greatest national weakness," Peters observes," is our short attention span, and I fear that in a surprisingly short time, we will forget our just anger." His points seem reinforced in the few days immediately after the atrocities by the sudden fall in Neilsen TV ratings from an audience of 60 million on September 11th to 43 million on September 12th.

* * *

Yet, if America is somehow able to rise above the paradox and irony of its modern incantation of symbol's ancient power, a formidable new ally might be recruited in the war against the enemies of America and worldwide freedom. In fact, using the power of symbols in this new way may be a large part of the ultimate destiny of America, a nation whose origin and history is so closely tied to symbols.

(The above is part of a longer work in progress titled "The Battle of Symbols" by John Fraim)

Copyright © 2001 John Fraim. All Rights Reserved.

John Fraim is a California based writer and publisher.