Superman: Man of Tomorrow

6:01 AM

6:01 AM

Luthor picked up his coffee mug. His eyes were fixed on the image on his wall television.

It was a clip of him doing a town hall discussion in Jackson, Mississippi. He wondered what others thought when they looked at him. Power, strength, stability?

He wondered if they ever thought of the word 'honesty' when they thought about Alexander Luthor. Because he never lied about the kind of person he was, or what he wanted to do.

He was the youngest senator in American history, and the world's third richest man. He met with Gates and Buffet on weekends, when either of them could afford it, and golfed with Obama when he was president. As a Democrat, he had to steer clear of the current POTUS due to convention. But he appreciated what the man represented, in terms of setting precedents.

It was time businessmen had a go at running the country. A pity that he was playing for the other team.

"Hello Mr. Luthor. My name is Emily Sands Could you elaborate more on your Humans First position?"

Luthor nodded, smirking politely. He took the mike from Michael Moore, ignoring the disapproving stares from the other hosts.

"Thanks Ms. Sands for your question. I understand that there are many misgivings about my position on metahumans, but you will have to be a bit more specific."

"Could you elaborate on the measures that will be taken to ensure that privacy and security of superhuman operatives will not be compromised?"

Luthor nodded, his fingers pressed against his lips. He looked at the crowd: some hundred and twenty millennials, with a few older people thrown in for good measure.

"I have the utmost trust in our government, and the agencies that are sworn to its service. We are supposed to treat metahumans as any other normal human. And as such, they will receive the same kind of protection afforded to every other American."

Michael Moore twisted his underlip, dimples forming. He gestured for another microphone, and once he had received it, he leaned in, one leg folded over another.

"I think what the young lady was trying to say, Lex, is why are you running on a platform that's essentially built because you decided on a Tuesday that Superman can't be trusted? You are essentially risking your political career for a personal vendetta that serves no one but yourself.

You say that you have changed, but it doesn't seem like that to me."

Lex smiled, the kind of smile that a Mako Shark sports when its hunting prey. "That's very kind of you, Michael. I don't know if I have changed, because I have been working on the same issues for most of my life. I am glad you mentioned Superman, but let's be clear, the only reason we meet and converse so often is because, well, he chooses to drop by my penthouse in Metropolis every other weekend. Maybe he likes me more than you think? But enough about him.

The problem with framing a rhetoric around one individual is that it conveniently sidesteps the larger issue. If you haven't noticed that this world has changed, and not always for the better, in the last couple of decades, then maybe you haven't been paying attention.

Somewhere down the way, we stopped looking to ourselves for solutions and started depending upon others to help us. Why do we have to look up to men wearing capes? They aren't treating this seriously. These are our lives, and we don't trust cosplayers with our lives, do we?

As good as this long era of vigilantism has done for us, it has, perhaps, done a lot more harm to our moral fiber. Our inspirations have been infected. Since when did we stop looking at the stars and started looking up to big green men? Why do we need aliens to help us defend our turf?