The Invisible Hand Meets the Dead Hand High Above Washington D.C.

44 the minnesota review Hunt Hawkins The Invisible Hand Meets the Dead Hand High Above Washington D.C. There! in the clouds can't you see the Invisible Hand prancing, tumbling? It soars over the Reflecting Pool, pirouettes atop the Washington Monument. I think it must be Adam Smith's, the Hand he said would harmonize all selfish interests, miraculously making whole a society of pure individuals. Down on the ground thousands of portly men wearing Adam Smith ties adore this Hand as the circle the obelisk, their hair slicked back and their flies open. Then suddenly they squat, the flesh of their upper arms quivering, and in unison croak: "Ketchup is a vegetable! No new taxes!" I figure them to be fiscal conservatives because they set out buckets full of loopholes into which they piss, claiming confirmation of the trickle-down theory. Next they chant: "Death to welfare queens! Send in the Marines!" With arm gestures, they indicate their belief that government should be small, but the army big because democracy must be defended even in caliphates. And what is the Dead Hand doing here, this skeletal yellow apparition? O, it just came to party. It chases the Invisible Hand, busy dancing in the sky line Mickey Mouse's immaculate glove. They clasp, shake, high five, then start to tango. ...