Symbols January 14 2009: Enslavement

Symbols are not the meaning; they are the carriers of meaning, informational as well as emotional. When we invoke a symbol that is out of date, we are asking our meaning to be carried by a means of transport totally unsuited for it. It would be like having a fragile piece of crystal stemware, throwing it into a box, and giving it to a drunk lorry driver to transport across the subcontinent using the back roads. It does work, but the effect may not be that which we wanted when the object finally arrives at its destination. But we use it because it has something we like. In the example above, it is the cheapness. In the real world of politics, it is the the perversion of ethical sentiment we seek. We usually do this since we are able to choose what we already know to be inappropriate symbolically, but totally appropriate with emotional baggage. We will use symbols that will cause our hearers to respond emotionally in the way we wish. We know this since the symbols are tested over time and may be time worn, but effective. This is why we cannot see ourselves as others see us, for example. We use the time worn symbols of our self we present to the world, and we usually use the symbolism which makes us emotionally satisfied, not always the real deal, as the case may be.