I used to watch “The Adventures of Superman” with George Reeves. The special effects were rudimentary compared to today: Superman jumped out of frame to take off and back into frame to land. But the ideals of “truth, justice, and the American way” still took root in my mind. I’m disheartened these days, because I’m no longer sure what “truth, justice, and the American way” means. It seems “America” now has a different set of values, and they are neither new nor improved.
I didn’t think much about Superman’s motives until many years later. I started to wonder why a practically invincible being would choose to act in ways that would benefit others and not himself. In other words, why would Superman choose to be selfless when he could use his god-like powers to rule the world?
The standard answer is that his salt-of-the-Earth parents taught him to be a giver rather than a taker, to seek truth and fairness, to help others rather than himself. Or perhaps he was reminded that he came from a noble lineage on Krypton and tried to live up to his name. Or maybe he just felt sorry for the less super.
Whatever the reason, Superman lived in a way that made kids like me want to be like him. Even if we couldn’t leap tall buildings, bend steel in our bare hands, see through walls, or fly faster than a speeding bullet, we still wanted to share Superman’s commitment to “truth, justice, and the American way.”
Some of my sadness comes from the realization that we have always had people who “look out for number one.” After all, the man of steel is just a comic book fantasy. Wealth, power, and fame come to those who fight for them and win.
We now have “influencers” who tell us we need to “manifest” success. I’m not sure how this is supposed to work, just as I’m not sure what the “prosperity gospel” has to do with Jesus’ teaching us to care for the poor, the sick, the prisoner, and the sojourner.
We tend to admire those who are rich, healthy, strong, good-looking, and able to play the game of life. We’ve been promised perks and protection, as well as wealth that trickles down in return for our continued support. We’ve learned to ask, “What’s in it for me?” We have become a transactional society, with transactional leaders, transactional followers, and transactional children. We elected a transactional president who rewards fealty and seeks “retribution” for opposition or criticism.
While Superman simply tried to do what was right, we are told we must do what is profitable. We must win. Not achieve a win-win, but make sure we gain and they lose. We no longer argue to clarify a point or get closer to the truth but to prove the other side wrong, to “own” them. Truth is now subjective. And justice is whatever benefits the winners.
What is “the American way?” Is it a never-ending game of extracting all the wealth we can? Is it blaming one outsider group after another for our problems until only insiders remain? Is it taking advantage of people while they are “useful” to us and discarding them when they no longer are? Is it defining fame, wealth, connections, and control as superpowers and redlining everyone who does not have enough of these?
When “what’s in it for me?” thinking wins, civilization loses. When all that matters is personal gain, we become like hyenas fighting over scraps left by lions. We might as well give up our humanity. In an era in which AI looks like it might soon substitute its judgement for ours, we’d better hope that AI will turn out to be less self-centered than we are. Or else, our AI Superman might grow up to ignore truth and justice, and “the American way” will become whatever it says it is.
MurrayWorks 