I love to talk about symbolism. It’s one of those things you can always do, no matter how dense or distracted you are. See a symbol, talk about it.
I’ve read 60 pounds of books about symbols. If I could remember any of what I read, I might have an advantage. I’m not holding out hope, but it could happen.
You all know the symbol I saw. I saw the video in which the birdie landed on Bernie’s podium in Portland. Everyone who has seen it says that was one heck of a symbol. All sorts of experts have written about what that birdie symbol means. I want in.
First, you figure out what “means” means. There’s two kinds of meanings, namely, what people tell you a thing means, which is to say meaning that other people give to the thing, and the meaning the thing smacks you with, which you take away from it by your own personal self.
So for instance, in the expression “Tuesday = elephant,” the equals sign has the given meaning “is the same as,” but the meaning you take away could be “huh, what?”
Ultimately, no one can tell you the meaning you will take away from a thing, not even you. You can’t know it in advance, that is. You see the symbol and the meaning hits you or it doesn’t. I can’t tell you what Bernie’s birdie means to you. I can only tell you the meaning he-she-it smacks me with and suggest casually that if you don’t get the same meaning, you’re a foreign spy.
In gathering the meaning from Bernie’s bird, first assess what the bird is. It is not a penguin, ostrich, or osprey. Were it one of those, its meaning would be quite different. There has been a lot of debate about this issue. The general consensus seems to be that the bird was a male finch still sporting his winter feathers at the onset of spring. He was nimble, lightweight, alert and perky. He was cute.
Context matters. This was a political rally and Bernie is running for office. So you ask, what does the bird think about that? Is the bird a Democrat? Is the bird a Democratic Socialist? Does the bird want to help Bernie go to the ball and win a prince and/or princess, in accordance with his orientation? The context sets you up for the meaning you’re going to be hit with.
When the bird landed on the podium people cheered. They cheered because the bird meant something they felt, that made them happy. That’s the sort of thing symbols do. They elicit feelings, and the feelings are what they mean.
Speaking of what things mean, share/wheel recently announced it had to close 15 shelters that sheltered 300 homeless people, on the grounds that it couldn’t pay to keep them going. The nonprofit organization said it was $75,000 in debt. The city of Seattle, specifically the Human Services Department, has decided that what share’s announcement means is an “advocacy move.”
This is like the birdie. When the city says, “advocacy move,” is what share’s announcement means, it is not talking about the given meaning, which was simply what was said (no money, no can do).
Instead, the city is talking about the symbolic, or take-away meaning. Which, like the birdie meaning, is based on how the city feels about what share has said.
This brings our discussion to a pivotal point. Namely when do I care about what something means symbolically to someone?
In the case of the birdie, I care about its symbolic meaning because that meaning may fire up Bernie supporters and keep the presidential race, at the least, interesting.
As for the city interpreting share’s symbolism, I do not care for that at all. I want my city to behave rationally. They know how much the shelters really cost. They know from their own audits share isn’t wasting any money. What are lives worth?