ATLANTA, Georgia, July 19 (IPS) – Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance and other speakers at the Republican convention gleefully referenced the party’s latest icon: a wounded Donald Trump, bloodied in the face, raising his fist defiantly beneath the stars and stripes of Old Glory.
The MAGA party realizes that they have a powerful symbol that will likely return Trump to the White House, because symbols are extraordinarily powerful in both politics and religion. Associated Press photographer Evan Vucci captured the photo, one of the most iconic ever captured in American history. It fits perfectly with the Republican campaign theme: “Trump is a hero and only he can save us.” The only other photo like it is the unforgettable photo of Marines fighting and raising the American flag on Iwo Jima during World War II.
Vucci’s photo framed a bloodied former president, wounded in the assassination attempt, heroically raising his fist in resistance beneath a red, white and blue flag against a clear blue sky. It was the perfect photo, taken at a moment of extreme danger to American democracy, and sure to win a Pulitzer Prize.
It could be the single most important visual message that motivates people to root for Trump as a hero and catapult him back to the White House. New York Times photojournalist Doug Mills captured a remarkable image of the bullet in midair just past Trump, but Vucci’s moving image of the wounded former president conveys a far more powerful message of heroism and patriotism.
Americans clearly prefer a tough, energetic, even combative, younger male leader (even if that image is incorrect) over an old, worn-out president, especially one who stutters when it comes to expressing himself and who has now been sidelined because of the coronavirus.
MAGA Republicans are urging people to vote for their hero Trump instead of Biden, who is being portrayed as a weak old man by a combative woman like Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris or even Republican Nikki Haley.
Older leaders throughout history have had to prove their manhood from time to time. In ancient Egypt, this was done by running a lap, and in communist China, it was done by swimming ten miles, or more likely, floating the Yangtze River, as Mao Zedong did in 1966.
His claim to fitness, particularly in the photo of him swimming, became an icon throughout China and brought him back into political power after the disastrous Cultural Revolution.
Americans consider themselves a tough race. That, in turn, requires a macho man to be our leader. Even if Trump isn’t exactly that, the image of a proud Trump surviving an assassin’s bullet and holding his fist in the air is an incredibly powerful icon at this moment of destiny in the country’s politics.
There were no photographs of Lincoln’s shooting, and the Kennedy assassination photos are blurs from the backseat of a fast convertible. The only other iconic photograph that could stir the emotions of patriotic Americans with similar intensity was photographer Joe Rosenthal’s snapshot of U.S. Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi.
That photo captured American patriotism so perfectly that it was later made into a colossal statue at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.
Not many people know about semiography, the science of symbols, but throughout history symbols have had an underlying, extremely powerful influence on religion, politics, and human behavior. This photo of Trump, like the one of the Marines, has the power to affect people on a visceral level and therefore change human behavior on a large scale.
There is no doubt about the overwhelming influence of such a powerful symbol at this point in a country that is evenly balanced and fiercely divided.
Symbols work like this: they are simple, convey meaning in a general sense, and have the ability to mobilize masses of people, sometimes for thousands of years. Many national flags in the modern era contain symbols.
The red, white and blue of the American flag can bring tears to the eyes, swell with pride and give soldiers the courage to brave the guns on the battlefield.
One of the most ubiquitous symbols worldwide is the Christian Cross, which has given meaning and identity to millions of people for thousands of years. The Nazi Swastika and the Hammer and Sickle brought Germans and Russians together, and functioned in a similar way for incredibly large numbers of people during WWII.
The swastika, or broken cross, was an ancient Aryan cultural sign, which to the Germans had the meaning of:Germany Uber Everything,” Germany’s racial-political creed. Hitler was thrilled to find it, knowing he could use it to rally the nation to his banner.
The Soviet hammer and sickle dominated much of the world for much of the twentieth century, symbolizing the rise of the proletariat. During the Vietnam War, millions of students protested with the peace symbol in support of the anti-war movement.
A symbol can have a different meaning for millions of people, allowing each individual to give it his or her own meaning, which often leads to action. In short, a symbol is a way to capture and intensify personal feelings.
An appropriate and timely icon can be used to attract, move or direct masses of people to a desired goal, even if the message is vague and diffuse.
Several modern psychiatrists have focused on symbolism, beginning of course with Freud. The study of semasiography became a major preoccupation of his most prominent successor, Jung. Both knew the power of symbols.
Soon, the icon of a proud Trump – the ultimate American tough guy – will appear on T-shirts and coffee mugs, helping to build a different national culture than the one bequeathed to Americans by Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Kennedy and others of the Greatest Generation.
This new political culture has already shown its true nature: domination, retaliation, reaction, discrimination, with threats of violence and coercion as the new control mechanism. Unfortunately, this is the way history works. Change is coming, prepare for it.
James E. Jennings is chairman of Conscience International and executive director of US Academics for Peace.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
