When I was a kid one of my favorite shows on TV was The Adventures of Superman. Yes, the old back-and white show with George Reeves playing the Man of Steel. I got goosebumps every time the theme song played, not to mention the introduction. Superman! He fought for truth, justice and the American way! What could be cooler than that?!?
But wait a minute. What is the American way?
When I was a kid, watching those old episodes in syndication, I didn’t think about it much. I just sounded cool. I just thought the American way was how everyone lived. Growing up in an upper middle class family I had no notion of racial inequality. I didn’t know what Communism was. It was before Ronald Reagan’s cold war with the USSR. I didn’t dislike anyone, really. Kids have to be taught to hate and judge, and that wasn’t part of my world (thanks, Mom and Dad!).
What about now? What is the American way, and if a child were to land here from a doomed planet, would that child choose to fight for it?
Let’s start with “truth.” If America we no longer have a clear grasp of what the truth is about a growing number of issues. Some of that is a general lack of curiosity among our people, of course, like those who can’t name the capital of a given state or even pick their government representatives out of a lineup. The bigger issue, though, is that those of us who are actively trying to stay informed face a daunting challenge. CNN? MSNBC? BBC? PBS? Each contain kernels of truth, some more disbursed than others. Then there are outlets like the ironically named FOX News and News Max, which don’t even attempt to convey the truth. Would Superman fight for these truths? Which truths? How would he decide?
What about “justice?” This has become something of a joke in America. We have laws and we have consequences for breaking those laws, but to what extent you serve the consequences is largely dependent upon your status. Superstar athletes, performers and especially politicians don’t actually serve the same consequences as regular citizens with any consistency. People of color face demonstrably more injustice, even from law enforcement officials, than their whiter brothers and sisters. Poor and uneducated people also fare worse in the American justice system. Is that really justice?
That brings us to the “American Way.” If an outside observer were looking down on America from a safe distance, what would that observer see? How would they define America? A few words come to mind: xenophobic, ignorant, uncivilized, short-sighted, lazy, greedy… large swaths of our population are too apathetic to bother participating in representative government, which results in those elected officials turning to big-money interest groups for support… large swaths of our population are only looking out for themselves without any concern for humanity or the planet… many choose to believe in fairy tales and mythology rather than trust science and embrace a provable reality…
Would an outside observer find this worthy of defending? Would Superman?
This is not the whole story, of course. There are also plenty of good people who work to make the world a better place. Communities unite in the face of tragedies, some churches and synagogues feed the poor and care for the sick, volunteers get behind causes and work tirelessly to advance the cause of human rights. Unfortunately, more often than not, it seems like those of us who would do good are vastly outnumbered and certainly outspent.
What if Superman saw what’s going on in America and decided to try and help? How many people would sue him for saving them? How many would cancel him for helping a trans person, a Jewish person, a person of color…someone from a group not on today’s cancel culture “approved” list? How long would he put up with our stupidity and thanklessness?
A being with the power to traverse the universe wouldn’t be blamed for deciding to seek his fortunes elsewhere.
Ishmael's Legacy 