My buddy and I have been talking. And we have a theory.

For superpeople, metahumans, to become a part of ordinary day-to-day life, several things have to happen. First, and obviously, metas must exist in the real world. OK, that’s a given, but I had to include it at the top of the list. Second, the meta’s ability must be manifested rather than latent; it can’t be hidden. Sure, that SEEMS obvious, but it’s not so simple, as we’ll see as we go.

There are so many factors that can keep a meta from manifesting. The person has to have a talent that is obvious enough to actually show up, at least from time to time. If the talent isn’t obvious, the person will never become aware of it. He or she will never be aware that something out of the ordinary is going on. Then there is the fact that the person may not have what it takes, whether it’s intelligence or mental stability or whatever, to make any use of it; it may just be relegated to the status of “just another weird thing that happens every once in a while.”

Then there’s the way the person is programmed by his peers and by society at large. We are all programmed by those around us, whether they do it intentionally or not. That is the function of society, even in its most benign form. Let me give you an example from my own life.

When I was in high school, I think it was my junior or senior year, I had some olive drab coveralls. You know, those outfits that are long-sleeved and long-legged, one-piece, that zip up the front and cover everything you have on but your head, hands, and feet. Coveralls. So anyway, I had some in olive drab; can’t remember where they came from. I also had a pair of olive drab workboots that I had bought myself; I really liked those boots. Wore them all the time. I also had a navy blue trenchcoat-style raincoat. For a few days, I took to wearing them together to school, with the trenchcoat draped over my shoulders, just experimenting, trying out new things, trying to stretch my boundaries. Overall, just trying to be openly different and seeing what people would do. Basically, I was, for the few days I tried it, a pariah. I didn't exist, to anybody but my best friend. Everybody else pointedly didn't notice me, at least to my face. After those few days, thoroughly dissatisfied with the results of my experimentation, I went back to what I had always worn, and reverted to the stereotype I had been branded with. Society won. I had been successfully programmed to fit in.

People are always being programmed to fit into the slots provided by society. And ONLY into those slots; we don't get to pick any slots that society doesn't approve. And this goes on from the day we are born until the day we die. Now there are good things and bad things about this. The good part of it is that this is the root of how we make people abide by morality and laws and taboos. Without societal programming, we would have absolute anarchy and probably have killed ourselves off as a species. It's also common to many animal species, as well; look at a wolf pack. The bad part is that so many geniuses are stuck in dead-end jobs, miserable, and will never achieve their potential. I know of one guy I went to school with, a brilliant guy, wound up working at the local steel mill because he just couldn't get out of the "life slot" society had stuck him with.

The rest of the bad part is that metas regularly accept the slots they are given, and never ever even TRY to push past it. They are brainwashed, yeah, I said BRAINWASHED, into believing that they are no more than other people tell them they are. "Superheroes are impossible, so you must be crazy." And the meta believes it. More than that, even if the meta accepts that he is different, he will never ever step up to the plate and get noticed, because he is so well-trained to NEVER be more than mediocre. This is the greatest crime of our world. And it happens every day.

We are all trained to be just be what we are told is acceptable. We accept being less than we can be. We accept being less than we really are. And here's the thing, the sinister, insidous thing.

To really have progress, to really make things better, we need examples to follow, people we can look up to. We NEED heroes. Icons. Oh, society provides those heroes, those icons, by the dozens. But those heroes, those icons, direct us to follow society's commands; they only allow us SOME of the possibilities. No superpeople allowed. Why? Because metas are dangerous to the status quo. Let me say that all in caps. METAHUMANS ARE DANGEROUS TO THE STATUS QUO. So they get stomped on every time one arises. Whatever happened to the German Superboy? The Russian girl with the x-ray eyes? They have completely disappeared off the radar. The status quo requires sameness. The trouble with having everybody the same, is that nothing grows. When nothing grows, everything finally dies.

Metas are antibodies. We need metas to have a vital society. We need peaks and valleys. I'll even explain why. Rain falls on a completely level landscape. Where does it go? It just lays there. We need mountains before we can have rivers.

Otherwise, we will all just lay there.

"Feel no shame for what you are..."
(line from the theme song to the "Dead Zone" TV series)

Yes, we need metas. More than that, we need metas who are willing to stand up and be noticed. We need icons, examples, to rise up. And here is where society prevents that. You cannot be a legend if you only live half a life. To be all you can be, you must be fully alive. You must be willing and able to take the risks that come with being noticed and different.

Why don't we see metas helping out in places like the Twin Towers or the London Underground? Because they are all programmed to never step up.

STEP UP.
YOU ARE NEEDED.