Ignifluous Debilitation: For those of you reading along on the blog, it’s been a week, but for Clark and I, it’s been long enough to brew another pot of coffee- and, since Clark hasn’t been drinking any of the coffee, for me to get rid of the last pot- but we’re returning to hear his thoughts on immigration.
And I’m not here to sling mud, but, since it’s father’s day, I don’t think I could not ask a question that sort of bridges the gap between that subject and today, but your father worked with illegals on his farm, right?
Superman: Yes.
ID: So what are your thoughts on that?
(pause)
S: Illegal labor has become part of the reality of American farm work- particularly for small, non-corporate farms. Bigger farms, corporate farms, can afford to buy and operate massive modern farm equipment; they’re also helped by the proportional stacking of farm subsidies. My father’s farm- my mother’s farm, now- is at least statistically typical of a normal family farm in Kansas. Last year, he received a subsidy in the amount of about $1000; he needed that money, and he was grateful for the money, but at the same time, the company that’s been buying up smaller farms in the area, that has an annual yield into the millions, received a subsidy worth more than his entire farm is worth, land, equipment, and the house where he lived. The point of subsidy is supposed to be to help farmers make it through bad growing seasons, not to finance the expansion of megafarms.
ID: Do you have a problem with the idea of corporate consolidation?
S: Generally speaking, no. But I was raised on a small family farm; I learned the value of work on a small family farm. I’m biased, I think, against the idea that we’re losing that part of our heritage, and our history- and I certainly don’t like the idea of a megafarm.
And I’ve also seen the sinister side of corporations. Lex Luthor often abused his position in places of economic power- the specter of corporate consolidation placing too much power in a single individual’s hands is indeed a real, problem is too strong a word, but maybe dilemma. But no- I think consolidation can increase efficiency, which at the end of the day frees up resources that can be put to use elsewhere; my only caveat is that it’s important to be sure the human element isn’t forgotten, there. In the long run, people really are the most important resource- as workers and as consumers- without people, the concept of wealth is meaningless.
ID: You mentioned subsidies a moment ago, and it’s nice for once for you to be the one pushing hot button topics onto our agenda. So, having been both the beneficiary of and on the uneven end of subsidies, how do you view them?
S: I think any time you talk about subsidies there are really two different discussions. The first covers who and how much, and the second deals with where. Farm subsidies, as currently implemented, have a disproportionate effect on the market, providing lots of capital to large, wealthy growers, and providing little support to smaller, struggling growers. Small growers are already working against the advantages of economies of scale, but when you add to it the larger subsidies, it really becomes easy to understand why small farms have become an endangered species. It’s gotten so that smaller farms are sometimes binding themselves together in collectives to receive the same oversized benefits. Can you think of any other industry where entrepreneurs are forced to merge in order to compete?
ID: Aside from the porn industry, no.
S: Cute. My point is I do think some kind of reform is preferable on the first question. On the second, well, broadly speaking, farm subsidies in this country are a good thing. The problem internationally with the way that subsidies are implemented, though, is they often pay a farmer to produce a crop at an artificially low “cost,” which disrupts the market because he can sell at an artificially low price and still make a profit. This is fine if the goal is simply to subsidize low prices in the country- then it’s just a socialized policy of spreading the increased burden of food prices more evenly across the nation- but once those artificially low prices leave the American market, they start to affect global crop prices, which disrupts markets worldwide- not to mention that it’s a waste of tax money.
It makes farmers in, say, Africa, where labor and production are actually cheaper, unable to compete with the artificially cheaper US agricultural products- which depress the value worldwide. It strangles out local farm industries which may be the only local labor available. It’s actually the same thing that illegal laborers coming into this country do, but in reverse.
ID: So you’re saying you’re against illegal laborers, then?
S: Put bluntly like that, yes, I’m against illegal laborers. But the solution isn’t as simple as push them back into Mexico and build a really high wall. I’d say we should have a two-pronged approach, maybe three. First, we need to go after the people who hire illegal laborers. Second, given that our system has, over the last hundred years or so, encouraged them to cross over, I think it would be a noble gesture, and there is some precedence for this, but to provide moving expenses for Mexicans or whomever to get back to their country. And the somewhat third prong would be to encourage trade with Mexico, but not at the bargain-basement prices, but to rewrite NAFTA with the caveat that Mexican goods have to be produced in conditions similar to American workplaces- that means safety, environmental. And over the next, say, ten years, you could mandate a minimum wage for goods bound for the US, until at year ten they reach the US minimum wage.
It makes Americans more competitive in the short term, and ensures better global competition in the long. And it could work.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Immigrant
Ignescent Diabetes: Last week you had an emotional moment, but I think I want to drag your good name through the mud again- wait, don’t make that face- this is a chance maybe for you to do some good, to put out the word, change minds. You’ve said you really sympathize with the immigrant experience, which which makes sense, given that, for all intents and purposes, yours is a mythic immigrant story. It’s also interesting to note that, until recently, yours was also an illegal immigration- that you were, no pun intended, an illegal alien- since your adopted parents never declared you to the INS.
Superman: Actually, the laws were a little more lax when I was "born"; my parents claimed that my mother gave birth to me at the family farm, and applied for a separate birth certificate and social security number. So legally
ID: But that was basically a lie, right? So really, up until your marriage to a US Citizen, you weren’t technically a citizen.
S: If I were to accept your premise, then I’m not now a citizen, either, because marrying a citizen only makes you eligible for citizenship. You still have to take the test, and I think there’s some fees involved…
ID: Okay, but I think my point is still basically there, even if you’re being crotchety today- that you’re uniquely attuned to respond to this. How do you feel about the current climate surrounding immigration?
S: I know you think you’re being cleverly divisive, but really, this is kind of a softball question. Historically, if you look at this country, and of course, all civilization, in times of economic hardship, people look for someone to blame. Classically, it’s been immigrants- foreigners, someone with just enough social or cultural or ethnic difference that you could claim it was someone who wasn’t like you whose fault it was. Look back at the Great Depression, and the mammoth uptick in deportations under Hoover. Hell, the 50s was a prosperous decade, but apparently not prosperous enough for Eisenhower, who rammed through the purely hateful “Operation Wetback”- it was actually called that- that’s still a black eye on our nation. But that we’re having similar issues today, people scapegoating immigrants, as if they were responsible for all of the economic woes of our nation isn’t surprising- though it is saddening to see it still going on today.
ID: Okay, granted, the anti-immigrant- and particularly anti-Mexican sentiment- is pretty indefensible, but it leads into the larger issue, and while the tone is often wrong, there is an economic argument at the heart of it, namely that illegal workers really do depress wages, that their work conditions are rarely kept to labor standards, that these workers can create a burden on social services- though I’d probably point out that a lot of illegal immigrants actually do pay taxes, often in the hope that it will help them later on when they want to become citizens. But the question is what do you think is the solution to illegal immigration?
S: You hate me, don’t you. Everyone else tries to give me an easier time, but you- I don’t think I’d like you if I met you even under other circumstances.
ID: I wasn’t under the impression you were fond of me under these ones.
S: Point. I think it’s important to recognize that illegal immigration isn’t the problem. It’s not. Illegal laborers are barnacles on the hulls of ships, but declaring a war on barnacles ignores the economic ecosystem that allows and even encourages them to thrive. Basically, they’re merely a symptom of our broken system.
The larger issue is that world trade is dysfunctional. The amount of money I spend on a nice dinner out with my wife in Metropolis could feed a family of four for a month in parts of Africa, could cover familial expenses for a week in parts of Mexico. The vast disparity in quality of life and cost of living is what drives this economic dysfunction.
Our current system creates a demand, on both sides of the equation. Farmers and a system that demands cheap agricultural products, just as an example, need cheap labor. But that labor that by our standards is cheap, by their standards is incredibly generous, and the small amounts they can squirrel away and send home amount to enough of a carrot to encourage them to act unlawfully. Dealing with it only from the supply side doesn’t eliminate the need- it’s like the cops seizing a heroin addict’s drugs- it doesn’t stop them from being heroin addicts, it just means they’re that much more desperate to fill their need the next go round.
ID: So you’re saying we’re addicted to cheap labor.
S: Yes, absolutely. It’s helped us maintain our lifestyle, because we can have artificially cheap food, build artificially cheap homes, buy artificially cheap goods from China- the American economy hasn’t kept pace with American desire, particularly on the lower end, but these sources have kept our perceived wealth propped up. We’ve all gotten used to living artificially well. The world is not as kind as it’s seemed to Americans. We’ve really been consuming more than our share of the world’s goods and resources, and at least some of our largesse has to come to an end- it’s just not sustainable.
ID: Okay… I think that all helps us frame the debate to your liking, but what’s the solution here?
S: I think enforcement has to play a part. And I don’t really consider myself a law and order person- at least not next to Bruce- but to curb it, what you need is strong regulation and fierce enforcement of the laws. That doesn’t mean abusive, coercive, or terroristic law enforcement policies- and our country, and I do take ownership and say it’s my country and partially my problem, as well, but our country has a history of resorting to domestic terror when dealing with illegal immigrants. And we’re better than that- we can and should continue to be and strive to be better than that.
ID: That tells us what you don’t want, but what do you think is the right approach?
S: I think immigration limits are probably necessary. Without them, people would leave poor countries and flood into rich ones- which would become poor as the distribution of that wealth thinned amongst a distended population. Strict enforcement of immigration limits comes in two ways: one, securing the border, which I honestly think the US has always done a decent job of, and two, in tight employment controls. This comes in both requiring proof of citizenship or eligibility to work from prospective employees in all fields, and in harsh penalties for those found skirting the law. Dry up that demand we talked about, and there won’t be any call whatsoever for a supply of cheap labor. This will, necessarily, increase the costs of goods and services across the country- but that’s the honest cost of living in America.
But more importantly, for our future and the future of the human race, what we must do is continue to develop the third world- the fastest way is to continue to encourage investment and competition in local economies, while cheaply sharing our technologies. It means setting aside the profit motive temporarily in those countries, offering up existing break throughs at or near cost to help kick-start their economic development- which in the long run is good for everyone, because it enhances worldwide production and increases total human wealth- which really is good for companies, because it means more potential customers down the line. And by working to equalize the quality of life and the cost of living across countries, we’d eliminate the draw of working illegally anywhere.
ID: My next questions a bit more contentious, and I’m thinking this discussion’s going to go long, so we’ll break it up, here, and return to it next week.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: Actually, the laws were a little more lax when I was "born"; my parents claimed that my mother gave birth to me at the family farm, and applied for a separate birth certificate and social security number. So legally
ID: But that was basically a lie, right? So really, up until your marriage to a US Citizen, you weren’t technically a citizen.
S: If I were to accept your premise, then I’m not now a citizen, either, because marrying a citizen only makes you eligible for citizenship. You still have to take the test, and I think there’s some fees involved…
ID: Okay, but I think my point is still basically there, even if you’re being crotchety today- that you’re uniquely attuned to respond to this. How do you feel about the current climate surrounding immigration?
S: I know you think you’re being cleverly divisive, but really, this is kind of a softball question. Historically, if you look at this country, and of course, all civilization, in times of economic hardship, people look for someone to blame. Classically, it’s been immigrants- foreigners, someone with just enough social or cultural or ethnic difference that you could claim it was someone who wasn’t like you whose fault it was. Look back at the Great Depression, and the mammoth uptick in deportations under Hoover. Hell, the 50s was a prosperous decade, but apparently not prosperous enough for Eisenhower, who rammed through the purely hateful “Operation Wetback”- it was actually called that- that’s still a black eye on our nation. But that we’re having similar issues today, people scapegoating immigrants, as if they were responsible for all of the economic woes of our nation isn’t surprising- though it is saddening to see it still going on today.
ID: Okay, granted, the anti-immigrant- and particularly anti-Mexican sentiment- is pretty indefensible, but it leads into the larger issue, and while the tone is often wrong, there is an economic argument at the heart of it, namely that illegal workers really do depress wages, that their work conditions are rarely kept to labor standards, that these workers can create a burden on social services- though I’d probably point out that a lot of illegal immigrants actually do pay taxes, often in the hope that it will help them later on when they want to become citizens. But the question is what do you think is the solution to illegal immigration?
S: You hate me, don’t you. Everyone else tries to give me an easier time, but you- I don’t think I’d like you if I met you even under other circumstances.
ID: I wasn’t under the impression you were fond of me under these ones.
S: Point. I think it’s important to recognize that illegal immigration isn’t the problem. It’s not. Illegal laborers are barnacles on the hulls of ships, but declaring a war on barnacles ignores the economic ecosystem that allows and even encourages them to thrive. Basically, they’re merely a symptom of our broken system.
The larger issue is that world trade is dysfunctional. The amount of money I spend on a nice dinner out with my wife in Metropolis could feed a family of four for a month in parts of Africa, could cover familial expenses for a week in parts of Mexico. The vast disparity in quality of life and cost of living is what drives this economic dysfunction.
Our current system creates a demand, on both sides of the equation. Farmers and a system that demands cheap agricultural products, just as an example, need cheap labor. But that labor that by our standards is cheap, by their standards is incredibly generous, and the small amounts they can squirrel away and send home amount to enough of a carrot to encourage them to act unlawfully. Dealing with it only from the supply side doesn’t eliminate the need- it’s like the cops seizing a heroin addict’s drugs- it doesn’t stop them from being heroin addicts, it just means they’re that much more desperate to fill their need the next go round.
ID: So you’re saying we’re addicted to cheap labor.
S: Yes, absolutely. It’s helped us maintain our lifestyle, because we can have artificially cheap food, build artificially cheap homes, buy artificially cheap goods from China- the American economy hasn’t kept pace with American desire, particularly on the lower end, but these sources have kept our perceived wealth propped up. We’ve all gotten used to living artificially well. The world is not as kind as it’s seemed to Americans. We’ve really been consuming more than our share of the world’s goods and resources, and at least some of our largesse has to come to an end- it’s just not sustainable.
ID: Okay… I think that all helps us frame the debate to your liking, but what’s the solution here?
S: I think enforcement has to play a part. And I don’t really consider myself a law and order person- at least not next to Bruce- but to curb it, what you need is strong regulation and fierce enforcement of the laws. That doesn’t mean abusive, coercive, or terroristic law enforcement policies- and our country, and I do take ownership and say it’s my country and partially my problem, as well, but our country has a history of resorting to domestic terror when dealing with illegal immigrants. And we’re better than that- we can and should continue to be and strive to be better than that.
ID: That tells us what you don’t want, but what do you think is the right approach?
S: I think immigration limits are probably necessary. Without them, people would leave poor countries and flood into rich ones- which would become poor as the distribution of that wealth thinned amongst a distended population. Strict enforcement of immigration limits comes in two ways: one, securing the border, which I honestly think the US has always done a decent job of, and two, in tight employment controls. This comes in both requiring proof of citizenship or eligibility to work from prospective employees in all fields, and in harsh penalties for those found skirting the law. Dry up that demand we talked about, and there won’t be any call whatsoever for a supply of cheap labor. This will, necessarily, increase the costs of goods and services across the country- but that’s the honest cost of living in America.
But more importantly, for our future and the future of the human race, what we must do is continue to develop the third world- the fastest way is to continue to encourage investment and competition in local economies, while cheaply sharing our technologies. It means setting aside the profit motive temporarily in those countries, offering up existing break throughs at or near cost to help kick-start their economic development- which in the long run is good for everyone, because it enhances worldwide production and increases total human wealth- which really is good for companies, because it means more potential customers down the line. And by working to equalize the quality of life and the cost of living across countries, we’d eliminate the draw of working illegally anywhere.
ID: My next questions a bit more contentious, and I’m thinking this discussion’s going to go long, so we’ll break it up, here, and return to it next week.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Believe A Man Can Fly
Superman: I want you to know I was affected by what you said a few weeks ago- the implication that I’d been spending more time away from people. I guess it was something I was doing, and and was conscious I was doing, but that I hadn’t really acknowledged. Anyway, there was a car accident a mile from my apartment; I heard the horrible crunch of metal, and I listened, and could hear a slow, depressed heartbeat.
Now, when I want to, I can move at such a speed that I’m little more than a blue and red blur, but what you’d said- I grabbed the man, an older gentleman, probably in his sixties, and took him to the hospital, left a note on his chest describing the scene of the accident for them- but then I rushed back to the scene, and did something I hadn’t done in a while: I stood there. Not moving, not flying, but I stood there, and I asked, “Is everyone else all right?”
And there was just shocked, stunned silence; I caught myself wondering if my fly was down or something
ID: And you might have even checked- though at such a speed that the world would never know.
S: Right. But the man the other driver hit, a cab driver, he put his hand on my shoulder, and that was when I looked in his eyes, and they were full of tears as he said, “Oh, Superman.” And looking around at the crowd, they were teary eyed, too, and I probably would have burst into tears right then, but the cabby took me into this big bear hug- I think any other time I would have resisted, just naturally, and I wasn’t physically weak enough that I couldn’t have, but emotionally, there was just no way I could have or would have even wanted to resist it.
After a moment, I summoned all the strength I had left in me, and I asked the crowd again, all without the cabby letting go of me, “Is everyone here all right?”
He pulled away from me, and his whiskers scraped against my neck, and I smelled his aftershave and I realized he’d left tears streaked across my shoulder, and none of that mattered at all when he said, “We will be when you are.”
“Thank you,” I told him as he let me go.
“No, man. Thank you.” I lifted off the ground, then; I didn’t try to hide that it was harder than it used to be, didn’t kick off the ground or try to put out an initial burst of speed to cover up that I’ve gotten slower. There was something… really humanizing in being able to admit that I’m sick, that it’s affecting me. And of course, being able to be that open, that vulnerable, with people, obviously, that’s affected me, too.
I guess… I’d just figured people might be sad, but that it was mostly going to hit them when bad things happened, and I wasn’t there to respond when they cried, “Save me, Superman.” I didn’t think, I just wasn’t prepared for the reality that they
ID: Might simply cry?
S: Yeah.
ID: And how’s that make you feel?
S: In a way, it makes me feel better. Everyone feels… disconnected from people sometimes; I think maybe I’ve felt it more acutely, being a small-town alien in a big city- but everyone gets lonesome, questions their own worth
ID: Even Superman?
S: Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever questioned the worth and the value of Superman, but Clark Kent, Kal El- I think I’ve often felt that those two people were often at odds with the good I can and should be doing as Superman. So their worth, I’ve never been certain of, but that man wasn’t just hugging the man in the suit; it’s hard to explain, but going out there like I am, I wasn’t only Superman anymore.
I wasn’t the ideal, virile, muscular farm boy with a college education and chiseled jaw, I was frail, I was weak- I’ve never felt more mortal. And when that man hugged me, it wasn’t just the suit, it was the man beneath it. It really, I think it really helped me feel something I’ve known for a long time, that Clark and Superman are the same, a slight hair tousling, some glasses and a few mannerisms to the side. In that sense, feeling connected, feeling appreciated- feeling loved, that makes me feel better than I ever have.
But it also makes the list of people I’m letting down, the list of people who are going to have a harder time of things without me, that much longer. I hate disappointing people.
ID: Do you honestly think you could be disappointing people?
S: I- I wanted to say yes, but the way you ask that question, I don’t know. I hope not.
ID: For my money, no. You’ve been facing this with the same grace and dignity you’ve always shown. If we lose you to cancer, we won’t be disappointed in you, but in a world foolish enough to take you.
S: Well thank you.
ID: No, Clark, thank you.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Now, when I want to, I can move at such a speed that I’m little more than a blue and red blur, but what you’d said- I grabbed the man, an older gentleman, probably in his sixties, and took him to the hospital, left a note on his chest describing the scene of the accident for them- but then I rushed back to the scene, and did something I hadn’t done in a while: I stood there. Not moving, not flying, but I stood there, and I asked, “Is everyone else all right?”
And there was just shocked, stunned silence; I caught myself wondering if my fly was down or something
ID: And you might have even checked- though at such a speed that the world would never know.
S: Right. But the man the other driver hit, a cab driver, he put his hand on my shoulder, and that was when I looked in his eyes, and they were full of tears as he said, “Oh, Superman.” And looking around at the crowd, they were teary eyed, too, and I probably would have burst into tears right then, but the cabby took me into this big bear hug- I think any other time I would have resisted, just naturally, and I wasn’t physically weak enough that I couldn’t have, but emotionally, there was just no way I could have or would have even wanted to resist it.
After a moment, I summoned all the strength I had left in me, and I asked the crowd again, all without the cabby letting go of me, “Is everyone here all right?”
He pulled away from me, and his whiskers scraped against my neck, and I smelled his aftershave and I realized he’d left tears streaked across my shoulder, and none of that mattered at all when he said, “We will be when you are.”
“Thank you,” I told him as he let me go.
“No, man. Thank you.” I lifted off the ground, then; I didn’t try to hide that it was harder than it used to be, didn’t kick off the ground or try to put out an initial burst of speed to cover up that I’ve gotten slower. There was something… really humanizing in being able to admit that I’m sick, that it’s affecting me. And of course, being able to be that open, that vulnerable, with people, obviously, that’s affected me, too.
I guess… I’d just figured people might be sad, but that it was mostly going to hit them when bad things happened, and I wasn’t there to respond when they cried, “Save me, Superman.” I didn’t think, I just wasn’t prepared for the reality that they
ID: Might simply cry?
S: Yeah.
ID: And how’s that make you feel?
S: In a way, it makes me feel better. Everyone feels… disconnected from people sometimes; I think maybe I’ve felt it more acutely, being a small-town alien in a big city- but everyone gets lonesome, questions their own worth
ID: Even Superman?
S: Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever questioned the worth and the value of Superman, but Clark Kent, Kal El- I think I’ve often felt that those two people were often at odds with the good I can and should be doing as Superman. So their worth, I’ve never been certain of, but that man wasn’t just hugging the man in the suit; it’s hard to explain, but going out there like I am, I wasn’t only Superman anymore.
I wasn’t the ideal, virile, muscular farm boy with a college education and chiseled jaw, I was frail, I was weak- I’ve never felt more mortal. And when that man hugged me, it wasn’t just the suit, it was the man beneath it. It really, I think it really helped me feel something I’ve known for a long time, that Clark and Superman are the same, a slight hair tousling, some glasses and a few mannerisms to the side. In that sense, feeling connected, feeling appreciated- feeling loved, that makes me feel better than I ever have.
But it also makes the list of people I’m letting down, the list of people who are going to have a harder time of things without me, that much longer. I hate disappointing people.
ID: Do you honestly think you could be disappointing people?
S: I- I wanted to say yes, but the way you ask that question, I don’t know. I hope not.
ID: For my money, no. You’ve been facing this with the same grace and dignity you’ve always shown. If we lose you to cancer, we won’t be disappointed in you, but in a world foolish enough to take you.
S: Well thank you.
ID: No, Clark, thank you.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Kryptonite
Igneous Dereliction: I have to ask. You’ve sort of made the assumption that your cancer is a result of exposure to sunlight, but I wonder if you have considered something: what if it’s been caused by kryptonite radiation?
Superman: The thought’s crossed my mind. Especially because Lex- well, he was riddled with cancer, and certainly would have died if he hadn’t transferred his body into his own clone- so there’s certainly a precedent.
ID: But
S: But I tend to reject that- I try to reject it. Because it’s a painful thing to admit if it’s true. On the one hand you have the fact that while I narrowly avoided the destruction of Krypton, it’s violent end seems to have managed to finish me anyway- almost painfully poetic. On the other, and, really, more terrible side, you have the fact that, if it’s even remotely true, Lex Luthor managed to play a role, however small it may have been, in my death. And I don’t like that idea. Even if kryptonite had the carcinogenic effects of a packet of Sweet’n Low- him taking any credit for my death is too much. In actual medical fact, it’s likely a combination of the two, added to all of the other various radiations and rays and, God, I’ve been exposed to all manner of things over the years. I suppose I should be grateful I haven’t been sprouting any extra eyes, through the years, or been rendered impotent.
ID: Uh
S: That is not an invitation to probe that subject deeper.
ID: Okay, but I'd like to probe your relationship with Lex Luthor, if we could. The two of you have known each other a long time- LuthorCorp's regional headquarters is in the same county where you grew up. If you can believe the WB show, you were actually friendly growing up.
S: The show's a bit more Dawson's Creek than my adolescence was, but yes, Lex and I knew each other, once upon a time.
ID: I wish he was in the room, because I'd love to ask him what you were like as a teenager, too, but what was he like?
S: Lex was Lex. A lot of his insecurities and frustrations were still only boiling at that point- rather than boiling over- but he was still brilliant- still self-absorbed, still ambitious and perhaps a little unbalanced. But he was nicer, then. He cared about people; I think, probably somewhere, deep down, he still does, but on his agenda anymore they rank so low as to be considered just pieces in a chess game, worth his consideration only so long as they retain some value to him.
ID: You have a grudging respect and disappointment for Lex, and some editorialists, perhaps sponsored by Luthor, have theorized that it's out of intimidation for Lex's mind. But I've also heard, mostly in gossip, but still, I've heard it often enough and from enough sources to know that you dabble in science, and not just human sciences, but with some of the Martian and Kryptonian tech you have access to. These same rumors say that you're brilliant in your own right, without ever going so far as to quantify. So just how smart are you?
S: Seriously? I've never taken an IQ test, or anything similar, but I've tried my hand at some quantum physics, but frankly my schedule rarely stays clear long enough for me to delve too deeply into intellectual pursuits.
ID: Okay, what about sudden world harmony. Maybe John Henry Irons figures out how to replicate Green Lantern technology across the world, eliminating all resource-related problems; virtually all globaly conflict dies, as no nation is capable of eliminating any other (or any of its own minorities). Basically, you and every other superhuman gets to retire. Do you see yourself retiring to your Fortress of Solitude to finish important scientific things?
S: I don't know. I think, because I didn't find out about my heritage until I was older, that I didn't get into science in the same way as I might have. And by then, I'd really gotten obsessed with watching humanity, and watching over them.
I guess I'm enough of my father's son that I've always wanted to try. I really was blessed with my Kryptonian father's mind, at least in general, and I think I have an innate analytical skill that I certainly never honed.
But it's always been an itch, like a person who picks up a guitar and finds out they have a talent for it, but never learns to play. It was sort of what I assumed I'd get up to in my twilight years, when my hair started to gray in a distinguished fashion at my temples.
ID: But now that doesn't seem like an option anymore.
S: No, it doesn't. But I have trouble giving up hope- even if it's fool's hope. I can't help, even when we talk about my death, even when I wake up aching, that in a year's time I'll be reading this interview with a smile on my face at how naïve and premature our predictions of doom had been. And I think, given time, science or whatever would catch up to me, and the chances of my dying would decrease substantially- but of course, time is the one thing I may not have. And maybe that's it- maybe time is my kryptonite, now.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: The thought’s crossed my mind. Especially because Lex- well, he was riddled with cancer, and certainly would have died if he hadn’t transferred his body into his own clone- so there’s certainly a precedent.
ID: But
S: But I tend to reject that- I try to reject it. Because it’s a painful thing to admit if it’s true. On the one hand you have the fact that while I narrowly avoided the destruction of Krypton, it’s violent end seems to have managed to finish me anyway- almost painfully poetic. On the other, and, really, more terrible side, you have the fact that, if it’s even remotely true, Lex Luthor managed to play a role, however small it may have been, in my death. And I don’t like that idea. Even if kryptonite had the carcinogenic effects of a packet of Sweet’n Low- him taking any credit for my death is too much. In actual medical fact, it’s likely a combination of the two, added to all of the other various radiations and rays and, God, I’ve been exposed to all manner of things over the years. I suppose I should be grateful I haven’t been sprouting any extra eyes, through the years, or been rendered impotent.
ID: Uh
S: That is not an invitation to probe that subject deeper.
ID: Okay, but I'd like to probe your relationship with Lex Luthor, if we could. The two of you have known each other a long time- LuthorCorp's regional headquarters is in the same county where you grew up. If you can believe the WB show, you were actually friendly growing up.
S: The show's a bit more Dawson's Creek than my adolescence was, but yes, Lex and I knew each other, once upon a time.
ID: I wish he was in the room, because I'd love to ask him what you were like as a teenager, too, but what was he like?
S: Lex was Lex. A lot of his insecurities and frustrations were still only boiling at that point- rather than boiling over- but he was still brilliant- still self-absorbed, still ambitious and perhaps a little unbalanced. But he was nicer, then. He cared about people; I think, probably somewhere, deep down, he still does, but on his agenda anymore they rank so low as to be considered just pieces in a chess game, worth his consideration only so long as they retain some value to him.
ID: You have a grudging respect and disappointment for Lex, and some editorialists, perhaps sponsored by Luthor, have theorized that it's out of intimidation for Lex's mind. But I've also heard, mostly in gossip, but still, I've heard it often enough and from enough sources to know that you dabble in science, and not just human sciences, but with some of the Martian and Kryptonian tech you have access to. These same rumors say that you're brilliant in your own right, without ever going so far as to quantify. So just how smart are you?
S: Seriously? I've never taken an IQ test, or anything similar, but I've tried my hand at some quantum physics, but frankly my schedule rarely stays clear long enough for me to delve too deeply into intellectual pursuits.
ID: Okay, what about sudden world harmony. Maybe John Henry Irons figures out how to replicate Green Lantern technology across the world, eliminating all resource-related problems; virtually all globaly conflict dies, as no nation is capable of eliminating any other (or any of its own minorities). Basically, you and every other superhuman gets to retire. Do you see yourself retiring to your Fortress of Solitude to finish important scientific things?
S: I don't know. I think, because I didn't find out about my heritage until I was older, that I didn't get into science in the same way as I might have. And by then, I'd really gotten obsessed with watching humanity, and watching over them.
I guess I'm enough of my father's son that I've always wanted to try. I really was blessed with my Kryptonian father's mind, at least in general, and I think I have an innate analytical skill that I certainly never honed.
But it's always been an itch, like a person who picks up a guitar and finds out they have a talent for it, but never learns to play. It was sort of what I assumed I'd get up to in my twilight years, when my hair started to gray in a distinguished fashion at my temples.
ID: But now that doesn't seem like an option anymore.
S: No, it doesn't. But I have trouble giving up hope- even if it's fool's hope. I can't help, even when we talk about my death, even when I wake up aching, that in a year's time I'll be reading this interview with a smile on my face at how naïve and premature our predictions of doom had been. And I think, given time, science or whatever would catch up to me, and the chances of my dying would decrease substantially- but of course, time is the one thing I may not have. And maybe that's it- maybe time is my kryptonite, now.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Monday, June 1, 2009
The C Word
Independent Domicile: I want to say, before we begin, because this interview's only being recorded and transcribed- that is to say there's no audio- and I know you've been staying away from the public eye as much as you can, but since we started the interview you've lost forty pounds. Your skin is pale, clothes fit loosely.
Superman: Well, for the sake of parity, I want to state you look like crap, too.
(laughs, breaks into a fit of coughing)
ID: How are you doing, really?
S: The days are harder. And I think it's all really sunk in. I've been living with the reality of my own mortality for a while now, but it's really starting to feel real now. I guess, I guess I got cocky. You know, I've been in so many strange places, been confronted with so many weird threats, there was a part of me that believed that God, the universe, whatever, had some kind of plan for me, that I was invulnerable until I'd done that one great thing that I'd been shot across space in a rocket to do. And I don't think I've done it yet; there's no sense of closure to my life, no finality to it yet.
You know, fighting Doomsday, there was something epic about that. It had grandeur, and spectacle; I could see paintings of that immortalized in the Smithsonian and the Louvre, and while the idea makes me blush a little, stopping him, stopping murder incarnate, that felt like something purposeful. When Lois held me in her arms, and I wasn't even aware enough or strong enough anymore to see, but I knew she was holding me in her arms, and I felt that maybe that was that, that I'd fulfilled my purpose, that what I'd accomplished was something really good and truly great, and that I could pass on from that point and be peaceful. And nothing since has had that kind of closure for me.
ID: So do you think there's something to that? I mean, and I don't know where I read it, so maybe it's just a gossip-column thing, but your father had a heart attack around that time, and went and found you in some kind of an afterlife and convinced you to come back. Do you think that, maybe, that was a mistake, that you were supposed to stay dead after that?
S: It's a thought, isn't it? But honestly, no. I don't think that's true because I was supposed to marry Lois. As sure as I know anything, I know that, and to do that, I had to come back after Doomsday.
ID: So what about that, then, marrying Lois? Isn't that closure enough for you?
S: I don't know. I remember the first time I found out my cells had stopped aging. It was at S.T.A.R. Labs, and they told me that, functionally, I hadn't aged for several years, and in fact it appeared like the aging process had partially reversed, so age-related damage that they had previously recorded had healed. And there was a kind of a quiet pause, before the head scientist, whose name escapes me at the moment, um, and I apologize for that, I'm sure it'll come to me, but I know it wasn't Emil Hamilton- he was on the team, but I remember he was preoccupied with Kara at the time- anyway, the lead scientist told me, “we don't know if you'll ever age another day again.”
And Lois actually got really upset; she turned to me, tears in her eyes already, and I excused us quickly before flying us out of the conference room. By the time we touched down in the arctic, she had regained her composure, but she explained, very carefully, why that upset her.
She said she'd always assumed I'd outlive her, that stress or cancer from her mother's side, or a building falling on her or even her own propensity for eating out of The Planet's vending machines would kill her, but the thought that she was just a blip on my radar, just the first ring on a tree that might never stop growing, that her part in my life was going to end up so trivial- it nearly broke her heart. And I told her the first thing that came to my mind, because even though I think faster than a computer she can always tell when I hesitate: that I couldn't imagine outliving her, because I was fairly certain that her dying would kill me. She hasn't had a problem with it since.
But I don't think the reverse is true; I don't think my death will kill her- and not simply because she's had to live through that once already, but because as much as I know she loves me, Lois doesn't need me the way I need her. She loves me, she cares for me and about me, and hard as it is to believe she genuinely likes having me around all the time- but she doesn't need me. There have been times when I've wondered if she wouldn't have been a better reporter, maybe a better person, if it weren't for me. And maybe that's one thing I wish I could hold on to see, the person my wife becomes without me.
ID: Okay. But closure. I know you'll never be happy with the thought of leaving Lois behind- that with her you'll always want one more day, but acknowledging your impending mortality, do you think it's even reasonable to seek closure at this point?
S: Hmm. I don't know. I just hate leaving business unfinished. Take the League- I think the League's in transition now. With all humility, I've been sort of a go-to for a lot of issues, and now that that resource is being taken away, there's been a bit of a scramble to figure out how things work when you can't just fling a Kryptonian at it.
ID: What about Kara?
S: Kara isn't me. There are a lot of things that, physically, she can handle, but there are a lot of other things, having to do with maturity, and experience, or even just rapport that I have, with a lot of world leaders, a lot of communities across the globe- I've been at this a fairly long time, and I've met a lot of people, made a lot of friends. That's something the League is learning to work around, now. And the same goes to an extent for physical threats. I mean, Kara can hold her own, but she hasn't been under a yellow sun for nearly the same amount of time as I have- there was more than one time where I was the weapon of first and last resort- because if I couldn't stop it there was no one else who could, and that's something the League is I think reeling from.
And I'm still healthy enough at the moment to contribute, so don't think I'm down or out. But I've been taking a backseat, trying to let others do things I might have done myself in the past. One person who's really stepped up of course has been Diana. Bruce and I have such conflicting styles of management, and such strong personalities, that people often saw us fight. It made people think we were in charge, that we were the ones running the League. But, and I think Bruce would agree with me, the League lives and dies on two people's shoulders- and that's Diana's and J'onn's. Diana has a quiet authority- like what Bruce always wants, but gets irritated about when you don't read his mind and do what he wants, so he goes with gruff schoolteacher. But Diana and J'onn are the people who soothe bruised egos, who make the calls afterward to make sure follow-up assistance is there if it's necessary, who make sure we haven't accidentally caused India to invade Pakistan, or make sure monitor duty's filled. But what I'm getting at is the League is maturing, I think, into a group that will function rather well in a world without me- and I'd like to live long enough to see that, too.
ID: So what it sounds like is you've made your peace with dying- you'd just like to stay after it happens.
S: Yeah, something like that. You think we could swing it?
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: Well, for the sake of parity, I want to state you look like crap, too.
(laughs, breaks into a fit of coughing)
ID: How are you doing, really?
S: The days are harder. And I think it's all really sunk in. I've been living with the reality of my own mortality for a while now, but it's really starting to feel real now. I guess, I guess I got cocky. You know, I've been in so many strange places, been confronted with so many weird threats, there was a part of me that believed that God, the universe, whatever, had some kind of plan for me, that I was invulnerable until I'd done that one great thing that I'd been shot across space in a rocket to do. And I don't think I've done it yet; there's no sense of closure to my life, no finality to it yet.
You know, fighting Doomsday, there was something epic about that. It had grandeur, and spectacle; I could see paintings of that immortalized in the Smithsonian and the Louvre, and while the idea makes me blush a little, stopping him, stopping murder incarnate, that felt like something purposeful. When Lois held me in her arms, and I wasn't even aware enough or strong enough anymore to see, but I knew she was holding me in her arms, and I felt that maybe that was that, that I'd fulfilled my purpose, that what I'd accomplished was something really good and truly great, and that I could pass on from that point and be peaceful. And nothing since has had that kind of closure for me.
ID: So do you think there's something to that? I mean, and I don't know where I read it, so maybe it's just a gossip-column thing, but your father had a heart attack around that time, and went and found you in some kind of an afterlife and convinced you to come back. Do you think that, maybe, that was a mistake, that you were supposed to stay dead after that?
S: It's a thought, isn't it? But honestly, no. I don't think that's true because I was supposed to marry Lois. As sure as I know anything, I know that, and to do that, I had to come back after Doomsday.
ID: So what about that, then, marrying Lois? Isn't that closure enough for you?
S: I don't know. I remember the first time I found out my cells had stopped aging. It was at S.T.A.R. Labs, and they told me that, functionally, I hadn't aged for several years, and in fact it appeared like the aging process had partially reversed, so age-related damage that they had previously recorded had healed. And there was a kind of a quiet pause, before the head scientist, whose name escapes me at the moment, um, and I apologize for that, I'm sure it'll come to me, but I know it wasn't Emil Hamilton- he was on the team, but I remember he was preoccupied with Kara at the time- anyway, the lead scientist told me, “we don't know if you'll ever age another day again.”
And Lois actually got really upset; she turned to me, tears in her eyes already, and I excused us quickly before flying us out of the conference room. By the time we touched down in the arctic, she had regained her composure, but she explained, very carefully, why that upset her.
She said she'd always assumed I'd outlive her, that stress or cancer from her mother's side, or a building falling on her or even her own propensity for eating out of The Planet's vending machines would kill her, but the thought that she was just a blip on my radar, just the first ring on a tree that might never stop growing, that her part in my life was going to end up so trivial- it nearly broke her heart. And I told her the first thing that came to my mind, because even though I think faster than a computer she can always tell when I hesitate: that I couldn't imagine outliving her, because I was fairly certain that her dying would kill me. She hasn't had a problem with it since.
But I don't think the reverse is true; I don't think my death will kill her- and not simply because she's had to live through that once already, but because as much as I know she loves me, Lois doesn't need me the way I need her. She loves me, she cares for me and about me, and hard as it is to believe she genuinely likes having me around all the time- but she doesn't need me. There have been times when I've wondered if she wouldn't have been a better reporter, maybe a better person, if it weren't for me. And maybe that's one thing I wish I could hold on to see, the person my wife becomes without me.
ID: Okay. But closure. I know you'll never be happy with the thought of leaving Lois behind- that with her you'll always want one more day, but acknowledging your impending mortality, do you think it's even reasonable to seek closure at this point?
S: Hmm. I don't know. I just hate leaving business unfinished. Take the League- I think the League's in transition now. With all humility, I've been sort of a go-to for a lot of issues, and now that that resource is being taken away, there's been a bit of a scramble to figure out how things work when you can't just fling a Kryptonian at it.
ID: What about Kara?
S: Kara isn't me. There are a lot of things that, physically, she can handle, but there are a lot of other things, having to do with maturity, and experience, or even just rapport that I have, with a lot of world leaders, a lot of communities across the globe- I've been at this a fairly long time, and I've met a lot of people, made a lot of friends. That's something the League is learning to work around, now. And the same goes to an extent for physical threats. I mean, Kara can hold her own, but she hasn't been under a yellow sun for nearly the same amount of time as I have- there was more than one time where I was the weapon of first and last resort- because if I couldn't stop it there was no one else who could, and that's something the League is I think reeling from.
And I'm still healthy enough at the moment to contribute, so don't think I'm down or out. But I've been taking a backseat, trying to let others do things I might have done myself in the past. One person who's really stepped up of course has been Diana. Bruce and I have such conflicting styles of management, and such strong personalities, that people often saw us fight. It made people think we were in charge, that we were the ones running the League. But, and I think Bruce would agree with me, the League lives and dies on two people's shoulders- and that's Diana's and J'onn's. Diana has a quiet authority- like what Bruce always wants, but gets irritated about when you don't read his mind and do what he wants, so he goes with gruff schoolteacher. But Diana and J'onn are the people who soothe bruised egos, who make the calls afterward to make sure follow-up assistance is there if it's necessary, who make sure we haven't accidentally caused India to invade Pakistan, or make sure monitor duty's filled. But what I'm getting at is the League is maturing, I think, into a group that will function rather well in a world without me- and I'd like to live long enough to see that, too.
ID: So what it sounds like is you've made your peace with dying- you'd just like to stay after it happens.
S: Yeah, something like that. You think we could swing it?
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Source
Imbecilic Desires: Now, at the conclusion of our discussion last week, you referred to the soul of America. And I know how much you hate discussing your politics, but how religious are you?
Superman: My parents were pretty religious, my mom in particular, and they raised me in a good Christian tradition. While there are still definitely aspects of that upbringing in my moral universe, I think it would be limiting to say my worldview is entirely Christian.
ID: What happened?
S: In part, I learned I was an alien. Christianity doesn't specifically deny the existence of extraterrestrials, but it also makes no place for them, either. And I've seen other worlds, thousands of other species, comprising probably a hundred billion other life forms. And each and every one of them has their own unique religious practices. Including Krypton.
But I remember the first time I actually doubted Christianity. One of the boys in my Sunday School class, and I wouldn’t have even been a teenager yet, I don’t think, and he was maybe a year or two older, but he asked about people in Asia, and Africa, who maybe weren’t given the chance to join the Christian church. Our teacher told us, in a nut shell, that everyone got at least one chance to accept God, even if only in a single moment.
And my problem with that answer is it isn’t fair. Here I was, fairly steeped in this “chosen” religion, when there were people, not just in Asia and Africa, but so many others, like pre-Christians who weren’t Jewish who, regardless of their moral caliber or location, were being given only a fleeting shot at salvation. And that was something my young mind had trouble wrapping around, the idea of a loving but unfair God.
And it came into starker relief a few years later. When I discovered my lineage, I discovered a religious heritage I'd never known. At first, I really felt the burden of being the last Kryptonian, and I went out of my way to absorb as much of the culture as I possibly could, including the monotheistic religion of Krypton, whose God is named Rao. And I studied well, religiously, and what I found was that I couldn't figure out which religion felt right, which of my fathers' religions was mine- and I think it weakened my conviction for both.
ID: So it has nothing to do with Diana, then?
S: Oh, with her um, origins, as it were? No, I’d formed most of my religious opinions years before I ever met Diana.
ID: But you believe the claim that she was sculpted from clay by the gods?
S: You know that lasso of truth? It’s no lie, what they say it can do. And she’s constantly in contact with it. Sometimes I think it affects Diana’s tact, but by and large, I’ve never known a more honest person. And when she tells me she knows the Greek gods, and that she was molded from clay by them- I believe her.
ID: And actually, looking at the way she fills out the costume, I think I can believe she was sculpted by the gods.
S: Will you ever tire of classing up this interview?
ID: Nope. But your reticence about Christianity, does that indicate a lack of faith in something, or simply in the specific Christian dogmas?
S: I don’t think it’s necessarily a lack of faith- it’s just a lack of fit. Like, I was unpacking some stuff from my parents’ attic that they’d been storing since I got out of college and got my first tiny apartment in Metropolis, and I found a pair of my old jeans. I didn’t feel like I’d gotten any bigger- and I certainly didn’t feel like I’d gotten any wider, but the jeans just weren't comfortable anymore. So I stopped using them (God, I hope no one finds that wildly offensive).
But honestly I kind of have to believe in a higher organization of some kind, probably even in some kind of big “G” God. I mean, I personally know an angel- Zauriel- who’s done a lot of work with us over the years, including organizing a large contingent of angels to stabilize world conflict during the Mageddon crisis. Mageddon himself was a weapon used by the warring Old Gods, according to the religious beliefs of New Genesis, whose inhabitants are called the New Gods.
Of course, the biggest and probably scariest argument for a God is the Spectre. If there’s anyone who wields more power than me, if there’s anyone who speaks convincingly of a heavenly authority- specifically of being the embodiment of the Wrath of God- it’s him. I’ve always been a bit uneasy about the Old Testament description of God, but the Spectre makes me think there might be something to that, after all.
And of course, Linda Danvers, who’s a devout Methodist and for a time was Supergirl, became an Earth-born angel. Then there’s the long list of people I know who’ve died only to later return to life, and a few of them, like Ollie, actually spent some time in Heaven. Bruce can probably hide behind circular reasoning and long explanations, but to me it seems obvious that there’s more out there than what even I can see.
ID: Okay, you believe in God, so what exactly do you take issue with, with the Christian faith, then?
S: I don’t think I take issue- that’s putting it far too strongly. I think I simply diverge slightly with any specific dogma.
ID: But where do you diverge?
S: I think it’s mostly to do with the specificity. Christianity really makes this argument for a very specific, exact reality- and my experience has deviated substantially from that. So I think it’s in the insistence that their branch of the religion is right, and everyone else- often even other Christians- is wrong and hell bound, that I have trouble with. I’m not, really not, arguing against Christianity or even religion in general- I consider myself a very morally grounded and spiritual person, and I owe that in large part to my upbringing.
Religion and, perhaps more importantly, the public servitude and social cohesion at the heart of virtually all religions, is good. I think, to answer Ayn Rand, man does need values. And I think religion is often the source for imbuing future generations with values.
It’s a spiritual connection, often found in religion but sometimes elsewhere, a connection to other people and, really, beyond that to existence as a whole, that’s important. I think it takes us beyond simple concepts of what’s nice or even what’s socially useful, to a place where our decisions are based on how we should act. If it’s religion that gets you there, if it’s an atheistic anarchy- I think the destination can be as important as the path. But I think it's a journey we all take alone, and though we often find ourselves with companions along the way, it's most important that we're all moving towards those same harmonious goals.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: My parents were pretty religious, my mom in particular, and they raised me in a good Christian tradition. While there are still definitely aspects of that upbringing in my moral universe, I think it would be limiting to say my worldview is entirely Christian.
ID: What happened?
S: In part, I learned I was an alien. Christianity doesn't specifically deny the existence of extraterrestrials, but it also makes no place for them, either. And I've seen other worlds, thousands of other species, comprising probably a hundred billion other life forms. And each and every one of them has their own unique religious practices. Including Krypton.
But I remember the first time I actually doubted Christianity. One of the boys in my Sunday School class, and I wouldn’t have even been a teenager yet, I don’t think, and he was maybe a year or two older, but he asked about people in Asia, and Africa, who maybe weren’t given the chance to join the Christian church. Our teacher told us, in a nut shell, that everyone got at least one chance to accept God, even if only in a single moment.
And my problem with that answer is it isn’t fair. Here I was, fairly steeped in this “chosen” religion, when there were people, not just in Asia and Africa, but so many others, like pre-Christians who weren’t Jewish who, regardless of their moral caliber or location, were being given only a fleeting shot at salvation. And that was something my young mind had trouble wrapping around, the idea of a loving but unfair God.
And it came into starker relief a few years later. When I discovered my lineage, I discovered a religious heritage I'd never known. At first, I really felt the burden of being the last Kryptonian, and I went out of my way to absorb as much of the culture as I possibly could, including the monotheistic religion of Krypton, whose God is named Rao. And I studied well, religiously, and what I found was that I couldn't figure out which religion felt right, which of my fathers' religions was mine- and I think it weakened my conviction for both.
ID: So it has nothing to do with Diana, then?
S: Oh, with her um, origins, as it were? No, I’d formed most of my religious opinions years before I ever met Diana.
ID: But you believe the claim that she was sculpted from clay by the gods?
S: You know that lasso of truth? It’s no lie, what they say it can do. And she’s constantly in contact with it. Sometimes I think it affects Diana’s tact, but by and large, I’ve never known a more honest person. And when she tells me she knows the Greek gods, and that she was molded from clay by them- I believe her.
ID: And actually, looking at the way she fills out the costume, I think I can believe she was sculpted by the gods.
S: Will you ever tire of classing up this interview?
ID: Nope. But your reticence about Christianity, does that indicate a lack of faith in something, or simply in the specific Christian dogmas?
S: I don’t think it’s necessarily a lack of faith- it’s just a lack of fit. Like, I was unpacking some stuff from my parents’ attic that they’d been storing since I got out of college and got my first tiny apartment in Metropolis, and I found a pair of my old jeans. I didn’t feel like I’d gotten any bigger- and I certainly didn’t feel like I’d gotten any wider, but the jeans just weren't comfortable anymore. So I stopped using them (God, I hope no one finds that wildly offensive).
But honestly I kind of have to believe in a higher organization of some kind, probably even in some kind of big “G” God. I mean, I personally know an angel- Zauriel- who’s done a lot of work with us over the years, including organizing a large contingent of angels to stabilize world conflict during the Mageddon crisis. Mageddon himself was a weapon used by the warring Old Gods, according to the religious beliefs of New Genesis, whose inhabitants are called the New Gods.
Of course, the biggest and probably scariest argument for a God is the Spectre. If there’s anyone who wields more power than me, if there’s anyone who speaks convincingly of a heavenly authority- specifically of being the embodiment of the Wrath of God- it’s him. I’ve always been a bit uneasy about the Old Testament description of God, but the Spectre makes me think there might be something to that, after all.
And of course, Linda Danvers, who’s a devout Methodist and for a time was Supergirl, became an Earth-born angel. Then there’s the long list of people I know who’ve died only to later return to life, and a few of them, like Ollie, actually spent some time in Heaven. Bruce can probably hide behind circular reasoning and long explanations, but to me it seems obvious that there’s more out there than what even I can see.
ID: Okay, you believe in God, so what exactly do you take issue with, with the Christian faith, then?
S: I don’t think I take issue- that’s putting it far too strongly. I think I simply diverge slightly with any specific dogma.
ID: But where do you diverge?
S: I think it’s mostly to do with the specificity. Christianity really makes this argument for a very specific, exact reality- and my experience has deviated substantially from that. So I think it’s in the insistence that their branch of the religion is right, and everyone else- often even other Christians- is wrong and hell bound, that I have trouble with. I’m not, really not, arguing against Christianity or even religion in general- I consider myself a very morally grounded and spiritual person, and I owe that in large part to my upbringing.
Religion and, perhaps more importantly, the public servitude and social cohesion at the heart of virtually all religions, is good. I think, to answer Ayn Rand, man does need values. And I think religion is often the source for imbuing future generations with values.
It’s a spiritual connection, often found in religion but sometimes elsewhere, a connection to other people and, really, beyond that to existence as a whole, that’s important. I think it takes us beyond simple concepts of what’s nice or even what’s socially useful, to a place where our decisions are based on how we should act. If it’s religion that gets you there, if it’s an atheistic anarchy- I think the destination can be as important as the path. But I think it's a journey we all take alone, and though we often find ourselves with companions along the way, it's most important that we're all moving towards those same harmonious goals.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Notre Dame
Incredible Danger: You dropped the Prolife bomb a while back, and you had to know it was something I couldn’t let go of quietly- especially in light of the flare up over the President speaking at Notre Dame. What do you think of all of this?
Superman: If you’ll recall, my statement was a little more nuanced than that; I’m personally against abortion, but have difficulty with the concept of telling someone what to do with their bodies.
ID: Too nuanced. What if a young woman who you cared about, say Kara, became pregnant? Now, you know she's still too young, emotionally and physically, to safely have and then raise that baby. How do you council her?
S: I don't know if Kara's actually having sex yet, um, and I don't want to know, actually. I've had that talk with her, with Lana, so I know she's at least heard the public service announcement version. It's kind of a difficult thing to know what to say on the fly.
ID: You can type as fast as I think- nothing's on the fly with you- but if you want to take a time out to think about it.
S: No. I'd really hoped to avoid politics as much as possible, but this is America, and a very specific time in the country; I guess avoiding politics right now just isn't possible. But before we get into that, I want to talk about the phenomenon itself.
I think the entire issue at Notre Dame hinges on polarization. I think too often in this country we abandon the common, middle ground, and retreat to our familiar fortress on the edges of issues. I think if you paid attention to the response from some people on the abolition side of the argument, you saw a lot of venom, and even hatred.
And here's where I get to say I'm proud of our President, because he addressed the issue and all its nuance in a real way, said that while the argument will eventually go one way or the other, it's important we continue to discuss it publicly in a rational, respectful way. But perhaps, more importantly, he didn't let the controversy consume his speech, and didn't forget that he was there because nearly 3 thousand students were graduating. I think he gave the debate its due, but then moved on, to show that it's less important than a lot of other things in life, that it has its place, but it shouldn't become an obsession.
ID: And what about Kara?
S: Like a dog with its favorite toy, you never let go, do you?
ID: My favorite toy is controversy.
S: I think you have a point, though. It's easy to oppose something in principal, especially when the collateral damage is so high, but when you try to put it in real-world terms, and examine the human costs on both sides, a kind of amorphous issue firms up a bit.
Now, I'll simply accept your premise, that Kara gets pregnant with a child she doesn't want, and that she isn't prepared to raise it- since I think coming to those conclusions myself would take more time and thought, and wouldn't really be appropriate to air like this. But I think I'd try to be honest with her, try to give her all the information, let her know everything she should know, about the potential physical consequences (though some of these are mitigated by her Kryptonian physiology), but most importantly about the psychological consequences. Since she isn't prepared to raise a child, in all likelihood this decision is also a bit beyond her, but I'd try and be as open and accepting and helpful to her as a resource and as a friend and a relative, as I could be. But I think what I'd try to stress the most is that it's her decision.
And I want to clarify, because I think it would be irresponsible from that to determine that I was against abolition. I find abortion to be abhorrent. The procedure itself, the concept.
But people who are “pro-life” aren't even having the same conversation as the people who are “pro-choice.” No reasonable person on this planet is pro-death, so the implication of calling someone pro-life is that anyone who's against them is against life. Likewise, no reasonable person wants the government to have the last say over their body; Green Arrow is the biggest lefty I know, and even he balks at the idea of too much government control. What I'm saying is nobody is anti-choice, either.
So when I say abortion is disgusting, and horrible, and may even be murder, I'm not in disagreement with 90% of the people out there- I'm not. But abortion is only half the issue. The other half revolves around the government's ability to dictate terms about our bodies, and back-alley abortionists, and all the corollary effects of abolition.
The real issue is whether or not a woman's right to determine the destiny of her own body trumps the right to life of a potential human. And that is most definitely a real question, and one I know I don't know the answer to. People lean back on pro-life and pro-choice because no one is comfortable standing up and saying they really know the answer to that conundrum, so they focus on the definitively darker sides of the issue, rather than discuss the merits themselves.
I think Obama framed the conversation rather well, and, like it or not, it is a conversation right now, that we as Americans are having and need to continue having. And I hope, for the soul of America, that it's one we can conclude peaceably.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
Superman: If you’ll recall, my statement was a little more nuanced than that; I’m personally against abortion, but have difficulty with the concept of telling someone what to do with their bodies.
ID: Too nuanced. What if a young woman who you cared about, say Kara, became pregnant? Now, you know she's still too young, emotionally and physically, to safely have and then raise that baby. How do you council her?
S: I don't know if Kara's actually having sex yet, um, and I don't want to know, actually. I've had that talk with her, with Lana, so I know she's at least heard the public service announcement version. It's kind of a difficult thing to know what to say on the fly.
ID: You can type as fast as I think- nothing's on the fly with you- but if you want to take a time out to think about it.
S: No. I'd really hoped to avoid politics as much as possible, but this is America, and a very specific time in the country; I guess avoiding politics right now just isn't possible. But before we get into that, I want to talk about the phenomenon itself.
I think the entire issue at Notre Dame hinges on polarization. I think too often in this country we abandon the common, middle ground, and retreat to our familiar fortress on the edges of issues. I think if you paid attention to the response from some people on the abolition side of the argument, you saw a lot of venom, and even hatred.
And here's where I get to say I'm proud of our President, because he addressed the issue and all its nuance in a real way, said that while the argument will eventually go one way or the other, it's important we continue to discuss it publicly in a rational, respectful way. But perhaps, more importantly, he didn't let the controversy consume his speech, and didn't forget that he was there because nearly 3 thousand students were graduating. I think he gave the debate its due, but then moved on, to show that it's less important than a lot of other things in life, that it has its place, but it shouldn't become an obsession.
ID: And what about Kara?
S: Like a dog with its favorite toy, you never let go, do you?
ID: My favorite toy is controversy.
S: I think you have a point, though. It's easy to oppose something in principal, especially when the collateral damage is so high, but when you try to put it in real-world terms, and examine the human costs on both sides, a kind of amorphous issue firms up a bit.
Now, I'll simply accept your premise, that Kara gets pregnant with a child she doesn't want, and that she isn't prepared to raise it- since I think coming to those conclusions myself would take more time and thought, and wouldn't really be appropriate to air like this. But I think I'd try to be honest with her, try to give her all the information, let her know everything she should know, about the potential physical consequences (though some of these are mitigated by her Kryptonian physiology), but most importantly about the psychological consequences. Since she isn't prepared to raise a child, in all likelihood this decision is also a bit beyond her, but I'd try and be as open and accepting and helpful to her as a resource and as a friend and a relative, as I could be. But I think what I'd try to stress the most is that it's her decision.
And I want to clarify, because I think it would be irresponsible from that to determine that I was against abolition. I find abortion to be abhorrent. The procedure itself, the concept.
But people who are “pro-life” aren't even having the same conversation as the people who are “pro-choice.” No reasonable person on this planet is pro-death, so the implication of calling someone pro-life is that anyone who's against them is against life. Likewise, no reasonable person wants the government to have the last say over their body; Green Arrow is the biggest lefty I know, and even he balks at the idea of too much government control. What I'm saying is nobody is anti-choice, either.
So when I say abortion is disgusting, and horrible, and may even be murder, I'm not in disagreement with 90% of the people out there- I'm not. But abortion is only half the issue. The other half revolves around the government's ability to dictate terms about our bodies, and back-alley abortionists, and all the corollary effects of abolition.
The real issue is whether or not a woman's right to determine the destiny of her own body trumps the right to life of a potential human. And that is most definitely a real question, and one I know I don't know the answer to. People lean back on pro-life and pro-choice because no one is comfortable standing up and saying they really know the answer to that conundrum, so they focus on the definitively darker sides of the issue, rather than discuss the merits themselves.
I think Obama framed the conversation rather well, and, like it or not, it is a conversation right now, that we as Americans are having and need to continue having. And I hope, for the soul of America, that it's one we can conclude peaceably.
We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.
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