Superman, Lex Luthor and Self Promotion

What Superman can Teach You about Unselfish Self Promotion?

Can Unselfishness and Self Promotion even be placed side by side in a sentence? Aren't Self Promotion and Unselfishness mortal enemies? A comic book scene comes to mind were the Hero called "Unselfish" battles the Villain "Self Promotion" in every month's comic strip. The Villain wants to rule the world powered by desire, greed, and …… The Hero wants world peace, prosperity and happiness for all human kind and took an oath to protect human kind and the essential universal values of society.

Think of Superman battling Lex Luthor in the comics. Superman stands for everything good, he is not doing this for fame, for fortune, for power, he uses his powers for the good of everyone. When it is all said and done, he returns to his Clark Kent disguise avoiding any fame or self promotion. On the contrary, making people believe he is a weakling and a coward.

Superman is an unselfish superhero His unselfishness started with his adopted parents (no surprise there). If you remember, Superman is not a native of "Metropolis". He grew up on a farm raised by traditional, honest, and good people. His parents were an elderly couple that instilled strong values. These strong values of hard work, respect and helping others made superman be unselfish, caring and responsible. These values he took to his adult life and became the "Universal Values" or "Here Values" we come to know and love in the superman stories, comics, cartoon and movies.

I choose superman in my "Unselfish" example because it is an easy example to understand and relate. More importantly, I chose him because his "Unselfishness" came from good old home grown values. You see, Superman or Clark Kent did not have a traumatic experience like other superheroes. He did not have an abnormal life with a single life changing event that convinced him to be good or do good. He was raised by his parents to be a good person. This is what we can learn, this is the message to kids, this is our goal.

Lex Luthor (the villain in the Superman sitories) on the other hand loves attention, money, fame, and power. He is willing to strip others of their freedom, their rights and their dreams to achieve his self promotion, self indulgent goals. He takes Self Promotion to the extreme, to a bad and evil place were he has to be the only one on top. Lex Luthor grew up rich and spoiled; thinking he deserves everything and he must get it. Lex Luthor is not just the villain of the story, he is the anti-hero, the anti-superman. He believes in a different set of goals, rules and values.

Unselfish Self Promotion takes Superman and makes him into a self promoter. Not into Lex Luther, but into an "Unselfish Self Promoter". Superman wants to save the world, to preserve human rights and spread happiness throughout the world. What is the kicker? Even if he does not want to be famous, respected and liked, he is. Why? Because he is unselfish and that my friends, is the biggest type of Self Promotion there is.