Somewhere in southeastern Ohio, I drove past two ranch houses sitting side by side with tidy sidewalks and neatly mowed lawns. The house on the left had a row of signs running down the property line between the two homes: Trump 2020, Law & Order, and Keep America Great. Their neighbor matched them sign for sign: Biden 2020, Black Lives Matter, and a handmade placard that said Love Wins. These two teams of signs blare at each other day and night, an endless argument by proxy.
I’ve been thinking about symbols lately, how we can condense entire worlds of history and sensation into an apple or serpent, a cross or a star. The image lingers, not the plot.
There’s a national coin shortage because of the pandemic. Fear of contamination. Reduced production at the U.S. Mint. But today the S&P 500 hit a record high and stocks are officially back in a bull market. That’s another symbol, but one without reference to reality.
