In Search of a Superhero

Column for week of February 20, 2012

                                 
     Superheros are popular, and not just with children.  What
do superheros do?  Why are they popular?

     Does the superhero arrive in a bus with his bag of books
and DVDs?  Does he then explain the causes of the great
problem and how individuals working together in voluntary
cooperation can solve their great problem?   If he did, he would
be on the next bus out of town.

     People don't call for superheros to tell them how to work
and solve their own problems.  Superheros are supposed to leap
into town, or arrive in a Bat Mobile.  They use force, magic and
perhaps a bit of superhuman cunning.  The helpless people
watch in awe as the superhero lays waste to all things evil.  The
rescued people are eternally grateful to their benefactor, at least
until next week.  They live in expectation of his return in their
hour of need.

     Superheros live only in the minds of children.  Many of
those childlike minds reside in adult bodies, often with gray hair
and wrinkled faces.  There are no superheros with magic powers
in the real world.  In the real world there is only one way to
solve our problems -- work  hard in voluntary cooperation with
others.  The most we need to add is leaders with good ideas.

     This formula doesn't appeal to childlike minds.  Children
turn to Daddy and Mommy who are the children's superheros.
Experience tarnishes the child's view of Mommy and Daddy as
superheros.  Often, instead of rejecting the fantasy of superheros,
the childish mind in the adult body endlessly searches for new
and  better superheros.

     Superheros are imagined to quickly annihilate evil with
force and magic.  It is only natural that the "adult" child will
seek his new superhero among those who command force and
violence and promise magic.  No one commands more force and
violence than does government.

     The "adult" searches for his superhero on election day.
Who will best use force and violence to conquer evil?
Candidates exaggerate their  powers and the powers of
government.  To win a candidate must portray himself as the
greatest "walk on water" superhero.  The candidate who appears
as a mere human won't get the "children's" votes.  Those votes
decide elections.

     It is impossible to live up to the superhero image.  All
elected officials disappoint the "children" who elected them.
The best a tarnished superhero can do in his quest for reelection
is blame others for his failures and claim he needs more time to
deliver.   These claims are a hard sell to childlike minds that
demand candy now and have tantrums when they don't get candy
(think Greece).

     The most successful campaign strategy is diverting
attention to something seen as an even greater evil.  A
threatening foreign enemy, real or imagined, trumps economic
problems (think Iran).  Painting the opponent as evil incarnate
diverts attention from the failures of the tarnished superhero.
Painting opponents as wimps is also an effective strategy. 
Those childlike minds searching for their superhero aren't
looking for a wimp.

     This year's election, like all elections within my memory,
will be decided by the childlike voters' evaluation of the
superheroness of the candidates.  Is Obama's superhero image
too tarnished to fly?  Is his opponent a more promising
superhero (no pun intended)?

     The voters who evaluate candidates as human and
consider what the candidates might accomplish with human
powers in the real world will be overwhelmed.  The childlike
voters in search of Superman in a Santa Clause suit will carry
the day.   When they discover that they elected Al Capone in a
joker's suit, the search for a new superhero will be on again.

     Even many supporters of candidates who don't claim
superheroship still see their candidate as a superhero.  Many
supporters of Ron Paul expect him to be the Heracles who will
clean the Augean Stables of Washington.  They don't see him as
merely a human leader of a work crew that must do the heavy
lifting.

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Copyright 2012
Albert D. McCallum
18440 29-1/2 Mile Road
Springport, Michigan 49284

WHO Am I?

Let's start at my beginning in an era that most denizens of the twenty-first century know of only from history. The great depression lingered on waiting for World War II. Horses still plodded the fields. Some farmers, including my grandfathers, still planted and harvested crops by hand. My parents earned their living from their country general store at a wide spot in the road that took root along a minor railroad. Almost at the moment Hitler launched World War II, I was born in the living quarters which were a part of that store.

Two gasoline engines in the garage generated electricity to run the meat cooler for the store and provide light. My mother cooked with a kerosene range in summer, and a coal stove in winter. Another coal stove in the dining room provide enough heat to warm that room and the adjoining bed room. At night the warmth ceased. Our only water supply was a flowing well by the back door. It could better be called a trickling well. It took 15 or 20 minutes to fill a pail.

By the time of my earliest memories, my grandfather was nearing 70. He still walked the fields behind his horse drawn implements. He planted corn one hill at a time with a hand planter. First, Grandpa, with someone to assist him, carried a pole with four chains dragging, back and forth across the field to mark where the rows would be planted. At harvest time he cut the corn one hill at a time and put it into shocks to dry. Later, he husked the ears one at a time. All of this, and much more, had to be accomplished between morning and evening milkings. What was it like to put in 12 hours of hard work and still have to milk the cows by hand?

Six years after my birth I walked down a dusty gravel road to the corner schoolhouse nestled in the maples. I joined about 45 other children distributed over nine grades. During four of my first five school years, the teacher and her husband lived in an old gray trailer parked beside the school. Travel trailers and motor homes today exceed the size of that abode. These modern toys also provide amenities that 1940's homes never saw.

In fifth grade the school grew to two rooms. The battle over spending $10,000 to build the second room, and to add such luxuries as inside plumbing, split the community. Fifth grade was my most productive year in school. Up to Christmas I attended school half days because the second room was not completed on schedule. Imagine that, a government project wasn't completed on schedule. Due to the shortage of class time the teacher urged us to proceed at our own pace, rather than waiting for him to catch up in class. This inspired such competition between the students that most of us actually completed our books. In other years the last quarter or more of most of our books only took up space.

After eighth grade I boarded the red, white and blue school bus for the 10 mile ride to high school. About a month later one of the new fangled yellow and black buses replaced the aging patriotic bus. Four years later I graduated near the top of my class. My nine years in the often crowded country school seems not to have stunted my development. The truth is that the interaction between students at different levels stimulated learning. Sixty years later some schools are rediscovering the advantages of abandoning lock step education. Other schools seek only to increase the rigidity.

My interest in math and bridges led me to the civil engineering program at Michigan State University. Long before I graduated I was well aware that I didn't want to be an engineer. Most engineering classes bored me to sleep. I usually managed to wake up long enough to take the exams. On one occasion I made an incredibly ridiculous mistake on an exam. The instructor wrote a note on my paper suggesting that perhaps I was now sleeping in exams too. A couple of years at the Michigan State Highway Department confirmed my feelings about engineering.

While Goldwater campaigned for the presidency, I moved to Ann Arbor and began law school at the University of Michigan. I didn't find law quite as boring as engineering. I stayed awake most of the time and graduated with honors.

After two years practicing with a small firm in Jackson, Michigan and teaching business law, I joined the legal department of one of the nations largest utility companies. It was there I discovered that what some call the practice of law can be as boring as engineering classes. There is a definite advantage to getting paid for boredom rather than paying to be bored. To keep life interesting I bought a farm. For several years I tilled 160 acres in my spare time. Farming is quite compatible with corporate law. Cleaning up after corporate executives involves shoveling the same stuff I cleaned out of box stalls on the farm. The only difference is that corporate officers produce more of it. Still, they are amateurs compared to government bureaucrats.

Before turning to farming to break the boredom, I served as a school board member and president. The final drive to eliminate meaningful local control of schools was under way. The schools were caught in a pincer between the teachers union and absentee government bureaucrats. Those four years were anything but boring.

During my later years at the utility company I took up writing. It was at least as stimulating as farming, and it didn't matter if it rained. Also, the computer broke down far less often than the tractor and combine.

In June of 1991 my employer announced an early retirement program with the qualifying age reduced to include anyone who was 53 by July 1. My birthday is June 30. I squeaked in by one day. Some said it was an omen. It was an opportunity too good to pass up. Two years later "Thoughts, Ramblings and Observations" began its run that is now in its 18^th year (including a one year break).

In the simpler world of horses and one room schools that shaped my younger years, most people worked for a living, and most children lived with a two parent family (one male and one female). Most people were literate. Crime was a non problem compared to now.

The generation that bore the brunt of World War II began to question the traditions and standards by which they were raised. In the '60s their children did more than question. Can anyone doubt that we lost something when we cast aside the old order? Few, if any, know why the old order worked as well as it did. We expanded the rooms of our civilization by tearing out walls. Unfortunately some of those walls were providing essential support for the structure. If we don't mend the fabric of our civilization, our down hill ride is going to have a most unpleasant ending.

I don't claim to have a list of answers. Before answers come questions. So far most of our so called leaders aren't even asking the right questions. My experiences that span the fault line of civilization, provide a vantage point denied to most among us. I seek to call attention to changes good and bad as seen from where I live. It is my desire to share my perspective in the hope that it will help others to obtain a better view of where we are, how we got here, and where we are headed. We all must fan the sparks of imagination and creativity. We must be inspired to break the bonds of myths and shortsightedness that bind us to the toboggan we now ride toward a new Dark Age.

(The above is only slightly edited from the original posted 15 years ago.)

                    Why Can't Convicted Felons Get Jobs?

     A news article considered the problem of felons getting
jobs.  One suggested solution was prohibiting employers from
asking if an applicant had been convicted of a felony.  This
solution doesn't pass the smell test.  Any "solution" that involves
increased ignorance isn't likely to be a reasonable solution for
any problem.

     Besides, how do you enforce the ignorance?  Will
employers also be banned from using the Internet and other
resources to find an applicant's record?  Must employers sign an
affidavit that they didn't investigate the job applicant?

     Consider why employers prefer to hire from some groups
more than from others.  Many employers choose college
graduates even though their degrees have nothing to do with the
job.

     Is this irrational?  No, it isn't.  Employers seek to hire
productive employees.  On average a person who puts forth the
effort to earn a degree will be a more dedicated, capable and
better worker than those who haven't.

     This does not mean that some non graduates won't be just
as productive or better than some, or even all, of the graduates.
The odds favor the graduates.

     When panning for gold, miners seek the richest vain.
Ore that yields an ounce of gold per ton is preferable to ore that
yields only half an ounce.  Gold from the two ores are equally
valuable.  One is easier to obtain.

     The same is often true of employees.  Some sources, such
as college graduates, are more likely to yield productive
employees than are others.

     When comparing a group of felons to a group of non
felons, the latter group is more likely to yield productive,
responsible employees.  Employers often choose to mine the
more promising ore.

     The employer's biggest concern isn't the productivity of
individual employees.  The employer's concern is the cost per
unit of production.  If the felon is to be paid the same as the non
felon, expect the employer to hire the non felon.  If the
employer has the option of offering a lower wage to the felon,
this could tip the scales toward hiring the felon.

     We have very little wage flexibility in our society.
Minimum wage laws, prevailing wage laws, living wage laws,
union contracts, etc. tie the employer's hands in setting wages.
Laws, practices and customs that limit wage flexibility
discriminate against all marginal workers.  Young workers,
poorly educated workers, and felons are only a few examples of
those who bear the brunt of inflexible wages.

     Prohibiting employers from asking if a job applicant is
young, poorly educated, a trouble maker, etc. isn't the answer.
The answer is to make it legally and socially acceptable for
employers to offer a wage he believes a worker is worth.

     This will encourage some, probably not all, employers to
seek to hit gold by mining the veins of marginal workers.  The
more employers are pressured and forced to pay the same wage
to all applicants, the more employers will favor employees from
the most promising veins.  Only when those veins are mined out
will employers turn to the veins of marginal employees.

     Many of those marginal workers, if given the chance, will
prove themselves and work their way up to more productive,
higher paying jobs.  The inelasticity of wages motivates
employers to deny the marginal workers the chance to prove
themselves.

     The average felon is less valuable as an employee than
the average non felon.  Trying to force employers to ignore this
reality isn't the answer.  The answer is to make the felons more
valuable to the employer by allowing the employer to pay lower
starting wages.

     One of the major reasons for chronic unemployment is
that employers try to fit the employee to the wage, rather than
fitting the wage to the employee.  The workers who don't fit the
wage don't get hired.  They must settle for no wages.

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Copyright 2012
Albert D. McCallum
18440 29-1/2 Mile Road
Springport, Michigan 49284
For week of 2/13/12