Superman's Purpose

 

Hayter for July 9, 2023

“The American Way”

The introduction to the original Superman TV series began with the announcement about Superman’s speed, strength, ability to jump over buildings, yadda, yadda… It ends with the announcement that Superman’s mission on this planet is to fight for “truth, justice, and the American way!

The series was sappy as all get out, and I really enjoyed it. As proof, I still remember the characters and can recite the intro. “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive.” I thought the “Able to leap tall buildings” example was dumb because Superman flew. The Man of Steel wasn’t noted for his ability to jump. Yeah, kids had to put up with a lot of moronic comments back then. 

The one thing about Superman that I never doubted was his purpose in life. He was here to fight for truth, justice, and the American way.

It’s hard to pull the wool over a kid’s eyes. Once a child falls for something that Dad or the Superman announcer told them, it’s pretty much in stone. As we aged, a lot of what we used to believe turned into sand. Over the years, I’ve noticed a few things that Dad told me that were exaggerations, and, in some cases, just wrong. I loved Dad dearly and am anxious to see him again somewhere on the far side of now.

 Over the years, I’ve discovered so many things that have caused me to seriously doubt the value of Superman’s goals. I think we’ve both noticed that in this nation we don’t all agree on what truth and justice are. One thing I learned less in school, but a lot in life is that since before the time of Superman, the American way was geared toward favoring the white, male, heterosexual. Some 70 years later, the notion is still defended by almost half of all white, male, heterosexuals.

 While I’m naïve as all get out, fortunately, I’m not stupid enough to introduce politics to the remainder of this article. However, I am going to introduce something that really stinks. Obviously, I‘m referring to garbage. – Talk about a clumsy segway!

 After careful research I have found that 90 percent of the garbage collected by trucks with decals that read “Recyclable” ends up in either the dump or the ocean. I knew that plastic grocery bags were never recycled. To sort and recycle plastic bags would cost a fortune. Part of the cost would involve covering up the pollution caused by the destruction of the bags during the recycling process.

 But forget plastic bags… if you dare. The powers that be, have seen fit to place numbers from 1 to 5 on the bottom of plastic bottles, containers, toys, and practically all of their plastic items. The numbers help the public and the trash collectors to recognize what item goes in which bin. Some of the numbers are meant to represent plastic that is more readily salvageable. Regardless of the number on the plastic receptacle, none of them are worth the time and trouble and cost of recycling. Add to that the realization that after plastic has been recycled once, it becomes more toxic. How would we know which plastic bottles have been recycled more than once?

 I had no idea that there are more than a thousand types of plastics. Nor did I realize that none of them can be recycled together. So, we’re to believe that our recyclable garbage is tossed into a truck that is labeled with a recyclable insignia and taken to a big factory where the dozens of workers sort out which plastic goes where. The cost of that is not feasible. Perhaps it will be worth it in time. Just not in my time.

 My understanding, which is way down there, is that City, County, and State officials have made agreements with certain corporations to promote the idea of recycling as a way to make us proud for helping the environment. I occasionally run across an article about someone who recycles 80 percent of their garbage. That’s something to be proud of, just not overall giddy about.

 From what I read, plastic is made from cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and crude oil. Most of you know that cellulose is a polysaccharide/carbohydrate that has minimal environmental, health, and safety risks. That’s news to me, but then, so is the thought that sharks don’t enjoy eating humans.  

 Obviously, plastic is not the only recyclable. Let’s see, there’s paper, metals, rubber, glass… uh, did I mention metals? I didn’t get around to researching those items. I would imagine that metal would be the most economically feasible commodity to recycle.

 After all of this, you may feel a need to kick and scream. I’m not into that, but I do hope against hope that all of the photos and published materials I saw during my research were fabricated by the few companies that produce our paper shopping bags. I don’t know where the grocery stores hide those bags, but I’m to understand that they’ve got ‘em. Let’s face it, paper bag making companies haven’t been making any money for years.

 I realize this will shock none of you, but I have no solution for our garbage problem. Apparently, no one does. Our only option is to kick and scream for being lied to for the last four decades. It won’t do any good, but it is by far something we’re good at -- kicking and screaming. We’ll never come up with a solution that will pacify most of us.

 Let’s face it, we may not all agree on what qualifies something as being the American Way. But we will kick and scream for what we believe it to be. And right now, it happens to be a reluctance to address our mounting garbage problem. Eventually it’s going to reach tall buildings in a single bound.   

end

hayter.mark@gmail.com