Power of Symbols

When you think of the American flag, what words or ideas come to mind? The flag itself holds no power at all but instead is meant to be a physical symbol of what the people of America value. In the articles. Subject and Power and Alienated Labor, one of the alluded symbols is money. Despite the government's claim that our currency's worth is based on materials and money itself is inherently valuable, money would have no power or status if people did not give it meaning. Money is valued because people have given it name and meaning. People are in a competition for capital because they have been told that money  is the key to solving their problems and giving them happiness. However, if people were to lose interest in money, stopped believing that money was the key to salvation from hardships then as a result people would be set free from alienation and suppression. The power that individuals give to symbols such as money or the government is what create their oppression.  Also the fear of change drives people to continue to give power to the same symbols opposed to embracing new ideas.

Foucault believes that power has three distinct qualities: its origin, its basic nature, and its manifestation. In V for Vendetta, high chancelor, Sulter's power originated from people's gratitude towards him because they felt as though he had saved them from damnation. The people were once willing to become isolated from themselves and one another and placed their beliefs in Sulter; he became their symbol of hope and order.  When he left that he was losing control, he ordered the media to begin displaying stories of chaos to remind the people "what he saved them from".  Those attempts had failed because the originators of his power had decided to repossess it. As seen in the video, when one element of power fails, the power itself begins to falter.  As V so elegantly put it, the government should fear its people not the people fearing their government because the people are the facilitators of the government's power not the other way around.

Marx says the power we give to an object allows it to exist independently, autonomously without us even if we are the creators of the object. Just as we the people formed the government, but we have given that symbol so much power that the government now lives outside of us and runs itself and our lives. In V for Vendetta, the people could not even be themselves without the permission of the government. For instance, the homosexuals were taken from their homes and snatched off the streets just for simply not conforming to the government's desire. No one dared to question the government because at the time there was nothing else, no new symbol to put their faith in.

Power can be taken and given to a new symbol. Just as the mask of V began to be seen as a new hope and a fresh start for the people just as the government once did. The elimination of the old people in power and the Parliament building symbolized a destruction of old ideas and initiated people's boldness, daring to try for and believe in something better.