Truth, Justice and the American Way

 

Look Up in the Sky!

Yes, it's Superman – strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
 Superman – defender of law and order, champion of equal rights, valiant, courageous fighter against the forces of hate and prejudice
who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for
truth, justice and the American way.

What so funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way?

In previous blogs, I had suggested that there are four attributes that can be used as a framework for human behavior.  The fourth  attribute, perception of public property, is really just a subset of another attribute.  Those who believe in  an extreme User Optimization also will have a perception that public property is only their property owned jointly with other users of the public. Those with an extreme System Optimization will have a perception that public property is owned by the public as a user, as opposed to any individual user.  Thus there really are only three attributes that can be used to define human behavior, and those attributes in the extreme are the same as those supported by Superman: Truth, Justice, and the American way.

Truth is an aspect of the  attribute of Reality vs. Fantasy.  While it sound silly to say that a fictional character supports truth, it is that truth does not care what you wish it to be.  Wishing doesn’t make it so.  Those who want the truth,  and I am not a fan of Col. Jessup’s “You can’t  handle the truth”, have to deal with the fact that eyewitness testimony and memory are poor tools for uncovering the truth. Rashomon anyone? The ubiquitous nature of cell phone videos has made the truth much easier to discover.

Justice is not the spirit of the Law, not the letter of the Law. The Law is about your rights.  Justice is about your duty.  Laws are what an economist would refer to as shadow prices, which are imposed to make a User Optimal solution, closer to a System Optimal solution. Killing your competitors is an extreme User Optimal solution.  Not killing anyone is an extreme System Optimal solution.  Following the letter of the Law rather than the spirit of the Law makes one a Pharisee.

The American way, as it aspires to be, is inclusive where everyone is judged by their merits, rather than exclusive. The reality is that it is too often an exclusive caste system where people are judged by qualities over which they have no control.  Remember Superman fought again the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis.  Superman was created by Jewish children of immigrants.    Based on the fact that Superman was an undocumented immigrant brought to this planet and country when he was a minor, if undocumented immigrants are excluded from the society, then Superman, the ultimate DACA Dreamer, also has to be excluded from society.

If human behavior can be judged by three attributes: Reality vs Fantasy; Rights vs Duty; and Inclusion versus Exclusion; then we know where Superman stands….and I don’t mean with his hands on his hips!