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Eric: Omnipedia: Meta'd
I did this a while ago, as part of a background for a role playing thing I was doing. Hand in hand with it was some noodling with old Superguy concepts, and the odd notes for background materials for some potential fiction I wanted to write.
Why I did it in the style of a faux Wikipedia article I can't say.
Anyhow, it interests me, and I figured it might interest some of you, too. So enjoy.
(Taken from 2025 Omnipedia article on Meta'd, under a Creative Uncommons License.)
OMNIPEDIA "One Tome to Rule Them All, One Tome to Find Them. One Tome to Bring them all and in the Darkness Define Them."
Category: Culture: Modern Street Gangs
META'D
The Meta'd (pronounced 'metaed') are a loose network of related 'sets' or street gangs in major metropolitan centers of the United States. Originally centered in the Midwest, particularly Chicago and Detroit, the Meta'd now have significant concentrations in Los Angeles, New York, Miami and the Pacific Northwest. Unlike most street gangs, the Meta'd typically organize around paranormals (thus the word 'meta'd,' which is derived from the slang term 'meta,' which means superhuman or paranormal human), and so often individual sets of Meta'd can rival much larger non-superpowered (or "norm") gangs in power and influence. Meta'd are typically identified by wearing blaze orange (the color typically worn by hunters), with different sets using different applications to denote their individual set allegiances. Some sets of Meta'd have rivalries as intense as any the Meta'd have with external street gangs. Meta'd are often associated with the more militant side of neo-punk music.
History
The Meta'd first appeared in Chicago, when Ted "Slash" Condit and Roberto "Burn" Gabriel struck up a friendship, though they were members of rival norm street gangs. The pair realized they had more in common than they had with their gang members, and both knew other paranormals (generally with limited powersets) who found themselves marginalized even within their own gangs or separate from themselves. Forswearing their old allegiances, they founded the L-Train Loop Meta'd in 2014.
The Meta'd grew in Chicago and the ideas began to spread to other cities almost immediately. To a certain degree, this caught authorities by surprise, since there was little indication that paranormality had become quite this common. (The conventional wisdom to that point had the rate of American paranormality -- which was believed to be a higher concentration than the rest of the world -- was approximately 1 in 1.1 million. By that standard, statistically there should have only been two or three paranormals in all of metropolitan Chicago. Instead, the Meta'd of Chicago had grown to 50 members in various loosely affiliated sets by 2015. While some no doubt came from other cities, there was clearly a much higher native paranormal population than was previously expected. Some sociologists believe that due to discomfort with their abilities (and the differences perceived between themselves and normals) a high percentage of metahumans with limited powersets never reveal themselves as paranormal -- with the appearance of the Meta'd, these paranormals -- particularly those from disenfranchised, disadvantaged or economically depressed or otherwise dysfunctional conditions -- found the idea of a safe haven very appealing.
Over the next several years, the different sets of Meta'd have grown and flourished in and around other gang cultures. As Neo-punk began to gain traction in urban areas, many Neo-punk artists have developed strong ties to the Meta'd community, with groups such as the Cheshire Kittens and Death of Superguy using Meta'd as security for their venues. (The Cheshire Kittens typically wear blaze orange on stage, identifying themselves with the Meta'd directly, though it's not not know what if any set they were ever actually part of.)
The Meta'd Today
The Meta'd have known sets in Chicago, Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, New York City, Miami, Baltimore and Boston. The sets are at best loosely affiliated, and rival sets have been known to emerge in the same city. At the same time, Meta'd typically stick together when threatened by norm gangs, so many norm gangs simply leave the Meta'd alone.
Gang income comes from the usual sources -- protection/extortion money from their neighborhoods, crime, petty theft, being hired out by bodyguards (particularly among neo-punk artists and the neo-punk community), and in some situations controlling drugs and/or prostitution in their areas. Most sets -- even those who run drugs to norms -- eschew drug use themselves for safety reasons and to set them apart from norms. Some sets specialize in the so-called Power drugs that grant some measure of paranormality to normals for brief periods of time as part of their effect (or side effect). There are rumors that some cut these drugs (or make them unusually pure), either in an attempt to injure norms or to drive the creation of new permanent metahumans. Gang representatives dismiss such claims as propaganda.
One interesting division between sets are their attitudes towards sympathetic norm gangs. Some sets of Meta'd form alliances with norm gang sets as part of a mutual protection pact (these are called the "Live" Meta'd, for "live and let live."). Others eschew all such alliances as a violation of what the Meta'd stand for (these are known as the "Pure" Meta'd). One of the best known of these schisms is in the Seattle Meta'd community. The Aurora Street Meta'd are a set of Live Meta'd directly tied to a norm street gang that calls themselves the Aurora Street Metabees (for "Meta-wannabe"). The Metabees wear bright shocking green bandanas on their left upper arms. The Aurora Street Meta'd wear their orange bandanas on their left upper arms and a darker green bandana underneath it. In contrast, the Broadway 2-Told Meta'd, from the Broadway neighborhood, are a strictly Pure Meta'd set who guard their territory from any encroaching norm gang activity, and wear their blaze orange on their right arms. (And naturally wear no green colors at all.)
Politics and Sociology
One common trait between Live Meta'd and Pure Meta'd is in the political arena. Many Meta'd actively campaign for broader acceptance of metahumans in society. The restriction of paranormals from such lucrative careers as professional sports (often seen as a route off of the streets for athletic norms, but denied to metahumans as unfair to human competitors) and various legislation designed to maintain public order and enforce fair business practices are seen as blatantly discriminatory against the metahuman community by a significant percentage of the Meta'd.
More radical elements within the Meta'd hold forth that the superior abilities the Meta'd possess should yield superior privilege -- that if metas were given unrestricted access to the opportunities the norms enjoy, then metas would swiftly displace norms at the top of the social order. They call for immediate abolition of all legislation restricting paranormality and its expression in legitimate business, holding forth that given equal opportunity, metahumans will swiftly outcompete normals. They also hold that this truth is self-evident to the point that normals actively conspire to oppress metahumans, in order to preserve norm prerogatives. Finally, some sets of Meta'd believe themselves wholly above norm law, since the laws are written to benefit norms over metas.
One prevailing theory among cultural anthropologists and sociologists is that with the decline in the past two decades of so-called "Supervillain activity" (in particular the grandiose schemes of potential world-conquerers, many of whom employed low level or otherwise less potent metahumans), the paranormal elements of law enforcement are seen less as protectors and more as oppressors by the underclass. Absent a more ritualized "supervillainous" outlet, they find themselves collecting and developing into ganglike structures. Certainly, a key component of the Meta'd philosophy is that "super heroes" are traitors to their race, acting to protect norms instead of exalt metas. Meta'd have similar responses to the concept of secret identities -- finding such 'passing' behavior to be the social equivalent of closeted homosexuals, who feel they will have their rights infringed upon and become social outcasts should their secret be revealed. The act of concealing one's paranormalities so that they can appear 'normal' is referred to in Meta'd circles as "bluesuiting," from a speech given by Meta'd activist Helen "Cold-T" Taylor:
"You know what I'm talking about. The god lands on Earth, and conceals his spandex suit and bright red cape. He puts on a blue suit and tie that makes him look stiff and awkward, and combs his hair to look unexceptional. His eyes are much better than human eyes, but he puts on glasses so he looks weak, and frail. He clothes himself not only in mundanity but in depectitude, and acts the part of the awkward fool, so no one suspects he is not a man, but a god. The Meta'd reject these blue suits. They reject these glasses if we do not need them to see. We reject the idea that we must not just conform but present as inferior to the normals around us. We stand before you proud, distinctive, and dare I say it superior. We embrace our godhood."
Another catchphrase of Meta'd philosophy is the principle of "Just Clever Enough," which is held up as a key component of norm oppression of metahumanity. This too comes from a Meta'd activist's speech -- in this case, Charles Foster White ("I.Q. Nu") of San Francisco's Wharfside Meta'ds:
"We threaten norms because we outdo them in every way. The golden trait of humanity over all other species has always been intelligence. They think, they rationalize, they use language, and they conceptualize, and so they can master lions and tigers that are stronger and faster and more physically robust. And now there are metas. And one of the four most common metahuman expressions is enhanced intellect. Metas think better than norms. Metas rationalize with greater facility and sophistication than norms. Metas can develop languages and concepts norms cannot begin to keep up with. If intelligence is the great advantage of humanity, then humanity is doomed.
"However, the norms have figured something crucial out. While they stand at the top of the heap, they do not need to be smarter than metas. They do not need to be more clever than metas. They do not need to be better than metas. They simply have to be just clever enough. They have to be just clever enough to pass laws that say we cannot use our powers in the course of human affairs. They have to be just clever enough to lift some of our most powerful up, and convince them to act on behalf of norms over metas, to negate our advantages. They have to be just clever enough to consistently act in their own best interest instead of in the interests of a greater justice. They have to be just clever enough to know that if they keep us minimized and disorganized we cannot pose a threat to them no matter how powerful or clever we are.
"And so I say we must not strive to outthink them. We must not strive to use brute intelligence or strength against them. Instead, we must come together. We must recognize their tactics. We must understand that if we act as one, with organization and with cunning, we can defeat the impediments they put in our path. We do not need to collectively be more clever than all of them -- we need to be just clever enough to act in our own best interest, in a way that counters them. Once we do that, our natural superiorities will let us outstrip them, and we will assume our rightful place without any need for violence or pain."
This sense of inevitable superiority over norm society is a common trait among Meta'd. Some sets of Meta'd (particularly Live Meta'd sets) feel that as metahuman expression becomes permitted in norm society, the natural advantages paranormals possess will elevate them to prominence. Others -- particularly among the Pure Meta'd -- believe that being "just clever enough" involves knowing when to actually strike back. The debate is typified by Evolution versus Revolution -- the former believing that Metahuman superiority is inevitable and will come in due course, the latter believing that only by shattering the old world order can a new world order take place. Neither camp, however, is particularly concerned with what happens to norms as society changes. "Norms don't care about me," Cheshire Kittens guitarist Tabitha "G-Listening" Strong once said. "So why should I care about them? I'll look after my own kind. There's a lot of norms out there. If they got off their fat asses and did for themselves instead of letting Uncle Tom metas protect them, they'd be able to take care of themselves, right?"
The use of paranormals as 'super heroes' and other forms of law enforcement -- which some might say is the traditional use of paranormals in American society -- is seen as direct evidence of a cornerstone of the Meta'd philosophy: the oppression of the paranormal on behalf of the normal. The recognizable tropes of Superhumanity -- the distinctive (often sexually exploitive) costuming, the adoption of codenames so as to make them archetypes instead of identifiable people, the use of "secret identities" to allow super heroes to assimilate into norm society when they aren't acting to protect that society, and even the use of 'signals' and other dramatic devices for norm police to summon paranormals at their whim to fight (generally metahuman) opposition are seen as clear signs of the devaluation of superhuman identity hand in hand with the exaltation of superhuman acts on behalf of norm society. "Good" superhumans strike down antisocial metahumans on behalf of norms, then change into their blue suits, put on their glasses, pretend to be norms themselves, and don't even ask for thank yous in return. Meta'd activists claim that these acts marginalize and devalue metahumanity on both sides of the equation -- "uppity" metahumans get struck down by docile "superheroes," thus preventing norms from having to do anything about paranormal rights.
Paranormal poet, writer and philosopher Dr. Harold T. McGinnis (himself a public Meta'd sympathizer), wrote about the issue this way in The New Yorker:
"My heritage is African, my birthplace is America. And, like many African Americans of my generation, I have reaped the benefits of the Civil Rights struggle that began previous to the Civil War in this nation and culminated in the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties. And while we have not yet achieved all our goals, we are vastly closer than our grandfathers were. And so I have studied the Civil Rights Movement and the attendant movements that surrounded it, and I have been struck at how differently the Metahuman Rights Movement actually is.
"Blacks used to extol 'Black Power,' but more telling was the Black Panther's exhortations of 'all power to the people!' All people, not just black people, and not just white people, should share in the power. This was the key to our struggle in those days -- we were not asking to be made masters in the house where once we were slaves. We were demanding that our former masters look us in the eye and shake our hands, both sides free and equal in all things.
"This is not something metahumans can say, with a clear conscience. We cannot claim a desire to be equal in all things with our normal brethren, because we cannot be equal to them. Our powers and abilities make us demonstrably, obviously superior in too many ways for us to claim 'equality.' If all barriers were stripped away tomorrow -- if metas could compete with norms in all arenas, then the next day would see the sun setting on norm dominance. They simply cannot compete.
"The Zooside Meta'd of New York once challenged the New York Knicks -- that year's World Champions -- to a pickup game. The Knicks declined, which was probably smart on their part. The Zoosiders have four different metas with enhanced dexterity, speed, agility and accuracy in different ways, not to mention a character whose arms stretch far enough to let him 'dunk' free throws and another who could leap for a dunk from center court. However, the idea that these tall men of basketball are "world champions" is ridiculous on the face of it. I say, let them play a team of Meta'd. In 2019 the NBA Salary Cap was made $142 million per team. All right. Do a best out of seven series between the Knicks and a given local Meta'd gang. If the Meta'd win the best of seven series, give them the next year's one hundred and forty-two million and let the Knicks try to make ends meet. Do you think the Knicks will take me up on that offer?
"Put metas of intellect into 'publish or perish' positions in direct competition with norms, and they outperform the norms four to one in research and publication. This has been shown time and again, to the point that private laboratories typically have clauses in their contracts that restrict meta researchers from claiming full patent rights or exercising stock options in the same way, lest they overwhelm their less gifted colleagues and end up running the company de facto if not de jure. American business learned the lessons of Awesome Amalgamated and Harxxon Energy well, and norm executives have moved to secure their industries and their positions against the encroachment of the next Andy Awesome or Chalandra Harkness.
"Give metas a chance to use their paranormalities to make a living, and they will always -- always -- exceed norms in that same position. I don't care if we're discussing steelworkers who can withstand the heat of blast furnaces or nanotechnicians who can shrink to atomic size or even ditch diggers who never get tired and can dig a ditch in fifteen seconds instead of fifteen minutes. When give absolutely equal opportunity alongside norms, with all preference or prejudice taken out of the equation, the metas win every time.
"That means that we cannot demand equality and expect to be heard. It cannot be done. And we cannot even blame the norms for their perceived prejudice or short sightedness. The norms are not short sighted -- they can see all too clearly the inevitable result of metahuman equality, and they don't like the looks of it one bit.
"And yet, metahuman equality -- the reduction and elimination of all barriers to metahumans in society -- is inevitable. It is inevitable because it is the only fair thing to do, and it is inevitable because if America doesn't open its society to metahumans, some other society will -- and that society will overrun America in the long run. Darwin is alive and well, and the most fit will take over the right niche, like it or not. The question is, will American norms figure out that their long term best interest is in embracing their future quickly, letting themselves take a subordinate role to their gifted and superior children, and letting our Nation be the leader in the changes to come... or will they hold onto their power and suppress the smartest, fastest, strongest and most capable members of their society, marginalizing them and calling them "villains," until one day they discover that the Europeans are colonizing Titan and curing cancer and running their flying cars without gasoline, and no one will even trade with us because of our backwards ways?"
{This article has been MARKED FOR DIVISION into "Meta'D," "Meta'D Philosophy" and "Just Clever Enough." Please go to our forum and make your opinions heard!}
{See something wrong with this article? Submit revisions and help Omnipedia's DOMINATION OF THE WORLD OF FACT!}
Posted by Eric Burns at August 29, 2006 1:26 AM
Comments
Comment from: Paul Gadzikowski ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.websnark.com/nav-commenters.gif)
posted at August 29, 2006 9:15 AM
When I first looked at this I misread the date as some five centuries into the future instead of two decades. Now I've corrected myself, and read it, I'd be interested to see a similar article that is set five centuries into the future.
Comment from: Will "Scifantasy" Frank posted at August 29, 2006 9:25 AM
Very interesting, reminding me of some of the questions that arise in X-Men.
One thing: Dr. Harold T. McGinnis
Does the "T" stand for Terrence? I know, he's a black poet, and a metahuman; but I swear, the name--even the spelling--twigged for me. Especially since many of these ideas appeared in Justice League Unlimited too...
Comment from: Doublemint posted at August 29, 2006 10:43 AM
It seems like that if one were to extend out the logic of the Superhero Universe eventually the changes super-people would affect on society would transform the story into something like science fiction (or fantasy). For example, how even though Reed Richards is a super genius, he never seems to invent something that anybody really uses. If he did, it would fundamentally change the setting of the Marvel Universe. Fantastic Four: Big Town ran wild with that idea, but it was a What If? deal.
I am curious about one thing: in the world of Meta'D, are there non-powered vigilantes (ala Batman)? And if so, how do the Meta'D view them? Are they just super-powered wiggers to them? Or do they get a measure of respect for being "More Than Clever"?
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 10:56 AM
Will -- yes. When I steal, I acknowledge. ;)
Doublemint: it varies from person to person in the Meta'D. I have a followup article on neo-punk I wrote (neo-punk being something of a blend of the punk movement and the harder edges of hip hop), and mention is made how the leader of one of the premier supergroups is a norm Captain America type who's bossing around metas. So there's tension, there.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 10:56 AM
Oh, man, I've seen some unbelievable fantasy, but this takes the cake. The Knicks winning the NBA Championship in the near future? Man, nobody's *that* deluded.
I'm a bit curious as to the workings of this world... could a meta with super strength, for example, start a one-man construction company? I get the vague impression that he couldn't.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 11:07 AM
I'm a bit curious as to the workings of this world... could a meta with super strength, for example, start a one-man construction company? I get the vague impression that he couldn't.
He could start a general contracting firm, the same as any other general contractor can. He couldn't, however, start a full construction firm without meeting all the same requirements for such a business that norms do -- which among other things means hiring sufficient staff to support such a firm even though he doesn't need them. He would have a hard time getting building permits. He would have a hard time joining any unions (because he would be "management") and getting major work (because he's not in the union.) And so forth...
Comment from: MasonK posted at August 29, 2006 11:09 AM
I play in this world, so I can comment, too. :)
32: There's no legal reason one couldn't. He could get the permits, print the business cards, rent the office space, and advertise.
And some people would hire him for the novelty value, more would avoid him, and some would only be concerned with whether or not he did good work at a reasonable price.
One background element of this universe is Intercontinental Salvage. It's generally the company used to clean up after metahuman battles, and employs a fair number of metas itself. It's the reason New York is rebuilt the day after Godzilla strolls through Central Park.
Comment from: Robotech_Master posted at August 29, 2006 12:06 PM
Puts me in mind of some of the points made in this episode review, a little.
Comment from: miyaa posted at August 29, 2006 12:20 PM
A couple of questions come to mind...
1. What was Godzille doing in New York anyway? Was he on vacation? Did he have a hankering to see the Mets possibly win the World Series, a feat that seems to occur as frequently as Halley's Comet?
2. Could you possibly use another quote other than some veiled Lord of the Rings mantra? I'm expecting meta hobbits with super jumping, running and invisiblity abilities. It would kind of be like roleplaying Super Mario Bros.
3. Here's one thing I've never gotten about worlds where there are people with mutated or superhuman genetic altering abilities: if there are so few of them (as this page seems to suggest), why would the main reaction by the masses and the goverment be of fear and hysteria to them? It's just what, fifty people versus what hundred million people or more?
4. Wouldn't the initial reaction be one of exploitation, not panic?
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 12:34 PM
2. Could you possibly use another quote other than some veiled Lord of the Rings mantra? I'm expecting meta hobbits with super jumping, running and invisiblity abilities. It would kind of be like roleplaying Super Mario Bros.
In this universe, "Omnipedia" is a resource made by geeks for geeks. They are apparently slightly geekier in this nebulous future time than the Wikipedia folks are in our time and universe, which is itself a scary thing. (This also goes hand in hand with the DOMINATION OF THE WORLD OF FACT thing.) It's a side-note, setting a tone. You know what you're getting with Omnipedia.
Here's one thing I've never gotten about worlds where there are people with mutated or superhuman genetic altering abilities: if there are so few of them (as this page seems to suggest), why would the main reaction by the masses and the goverment be of fear and hysteria to them? It's just what, fifty people versus what hundred million people or more?
One of the points of the article is the realization that there are more metahumans than were previously suspected.
Another is simple genetics. A superhuman -- especially one who thinks better than human beings do -- can potentially displace humanity.
However, you are assuming there is a general fear and hysteria over metahumans in this universe. There really isn't. What there is is a majority who acts in the interests of that majority. This isn't necessarily conscious or active on anyone's part. This isn't necessarily (or even likely to be) malevolent on their part. If you postulate a world where there are superhumans, and they are a small percentage of the population, what do you do when those superhumans are put into direct competition with human beings? Especially if some of these superhumans are mutants -- literally born this way? What if Quicksilver of the Avengers tried out for the Olympics, or entered the Tour de France. No one else on the tour, no matter how hard they trained, could possibly compete with him. He'd be finished in a fraction of the time they were. Why shouldn't a super strong person be allowed to enter the weightlifting competition?
What about high school sports? Why couldn't Clark Kent go out for football and really show off what he could do? (And yes, I know Byrne said he did -- but even there, Kent was holding back in every game. Otherwise, the score would have been several thousand to whatever the other team managed to score off of Smallville's defense.)
The answer is, 'it's not fair.' But who isn't it fair to? The people not fortunate enough to be born Kryptonian? Why do their rights trump Clark Kent's?
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 12:46 PM
Also, consider the ending of The Incredibles (and yes, this constitutes a spoiler, so duck away if you... um... haven't watched the movie from... over a year ago -- man, we need a statute of limitations on this thing.
Anyway. Dash is finally allowed to go out for track, and there is a bit of triumph there. And yet, the entire thing has an element of the ludicrous to it. It's not a competition, because there's no chance he could lose unless he throws the race (which he does, coming in second on the advice of his family). He is for all intents and purposes playing with the other students. It's a moment of triumph for Dash, as he gets to show off a little bit in front of people, but it's also a sick joke on the other athletes. And if his identity were ever revealed, one expects all those "second place" finishes would be revoked, because using superpowers would almost certainly be considered cheating.
Jack Kirby also touched on this, in his Fourth World works. Clark Kent, at one point, interviewed the heavyweight boxing champion of the world -- and found the man to be sullen. Almost broken. Certainly cynical. When pressed, the champ explains: sure, he was the 'heavyweight champion,' but only because Superman never decided to be a prizefighter. No matter how good the champ was, no matter how many people he knocked out, he couldn't ever consider himself the world's best. Not when he knew Superman was out there.
Superman was wracked with guilt and ultimately began trying to seek out Supertown/New Genesis, where he could just be one man among many. The question is, what if his response had been "wait. Why can't I be a prizefighter?"
It's interesting to ponder, because there's no actual good, fair answer.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 12:51 PM
Well, I could easily see him hiring an accountant and an office manager, because if our theoretical strong meta is focused on just building stuff, he won't necessarily have time to worry about the finances.
But if we're talking about hiring random laborers... you're telling me he couldn't just hire a bunch of guys off the street to sit around? He might have to hire them, but there's nothing to say they have to work.
Though I am curious as to why our meta-builder would have a hard time getting the appropriate permits. Is it institutionalised powerism? Is it theoretical needs for a contracting business, meta or no? That's currently escaping me.
As for sports leagues... I wonder what would happen if metas tried to start their own leagues (I'm presuming the "no metas" rule is applied on the league level and not an overarching rule by the government - and that begs the question of whether all sports leagues and governments treat metas the same way). I don't know about anyone else, but I'd get tickets for a meta-powered hockey game.
Comment from: Tim Tylor posted at August 29, 2006 1:00 PM
How flexible and specific are these paranormal powers? Could a meta extend her/his powers by effort or training to get extra abilities? If not, then that McGinnis guy's missing something important: outside their power-set, each meta is one more norm. The nannotechnologist with the shrink-power will probably be no more than ordinarily bright, and in a meta-dominated world there's no way she'll get to design what she builds: she'll just be a pair of nannohands for some norm-size braniac meta. In fact, work in a meta-dominated society could become miserably overspecialised and restricted above the menial level because of the metas' natural specialisations.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 1:22 PM
But if we're talking about hiring random laborers... you're telling me he couldn't just hire a bunch of guys off the street to sit around? He might have to hire them, but there's nothing to say they have to work.
Which is a union action waiting to happen. Why? Because if these guys are being hired to do nothing, while Bob Builder builds the whole place himself, it creates unfair conditions A) for Bob Builder, since he's being made to do all the work while other people rest, and B) it creates unfair conditions for other union shops (since their workers have to actually work). Now, you might think Bob Builder wouldn't care. However, major construction projects are typically only going to be given to companies in good with the union, since a failure to do so can lead to general union actions in a given city. (Are you going to have Bob Builder build your building for a fraction of the cost... but deal with the garbagemen, transit workers and teamsters going on strike?)
Secondly, building permits are a major headache for Bob Builder, because in order to receive one he has to issue a building plan that shows the appropriate authorities that his construction plan is feasible with minimal safety concerns, environmental impacts and the like. Those authorities have really large, thick books that explain just how such a plan is supposed to look. And none of those books include a section on "what if you have one superstrong, superfast invulnerable guy who can do all the work by himself without it being unsafe."
Take OSHA as an example. OSHA lays out how many people it takes to do a given job, what kind of precautions are required to be taken (and observed at all times), and so on and so forth. There's no exception in OSHA regulations for "Bob Builder, who never gets tired, can drive nails with his fingertips with machinelike precision, and can lift and place concrete slabs without back strain." And OSHA isn't going to revise its standards based on Bob -- he's just one guy.
If you can't show OSHA compliance or a building plan that meets spec, you can't get a building permit. But that's okay, since no major building project in a city's going to do business with a non-union shop to begin with.
Comment from: larksilver posted at August 29, 2006 2:53 PM
I don't know if I would want to watch a meta-only hockey game, at least as the game is currently played. The whole point - for me, anyway - of watching any performance activity is the skill involved.
Sure, sure, inherent talent is nice, and it's clearly an advantage, but without work, it's just potential. If, as per an example mentioned above, a super-speedy meta did decide to do the Tour de France... where would the challenge be for him? He wouldn't get any challenge from the other cyclists, and since he would know his times would be the fastest in the world, there wouldn't be any challenge in besting himself either, right? Boring!
I would, however, think that if a supersmart meta wanted to play pro baseball, well, who cares? In that way, he wouldn't be using any unfair advantage now, would he? Or a superspeedy dude with otherwise "normal" intelligence choosing to become a Chess Master... again, what's to stop him?
Way I see it, it's sort of like the segregation between most sports today, wherein men and women generally don't play on the same field. Is this because of sexism? Well, sure, in some cases, it is. But not always; often, there is a difference in strength vs strategy, etc. Wouldn't the metas need their own games and/or teams just to get a bloomin' challenge at all? No fun being a big fish when the little fish are all minnows.
Comment from: quiller posted at August 29, 2006 3:11 PM
Of course, the heavy regulation in building contracts and union dominance is a function of country. Metas willing to do contract work in other countries could probably find people willing to hire them to build things for a fraction of normal cost. (Even in a country with lower wage scales, if a small group of people can build something that it normally takes many hundreds to, there should be plenty of money in the contract to go around) As Dr. McGinnis says, eventually competition will lead to changes that way. (Or it might lead to a coup in a small country somewhere by a meta who resolves to make it a meta paradise.)
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 3:58 PM
Ah, but for union purposes, they don't care if it's unfair to Bob Builder, because he's already defined as management. The union's only concern is that it's fair to the union boys - screw management.
As for unfair to other union shops, that's only true if Bob Builder hires these guys to do nothing for the same rate that other contractors hire guys to actually work. However, unions concede that workers with easier or fewer tasks get paid less than the more skilled/harder working guys. Thus, all Bob Builder would have to do is negotiate with the union to find a fair value to pay guys to hang out and talk about sports/whistle at hotties while he does the work.
And that's presuming a strong umbrella organization for unions. The AFL-CIO is hurting even in today's times, thanks in huge part to Reagan breaking the PATCO strike in 1981 (in part because other unions, most prominently the airline pilots' union and the flight attendants' union, didn't back PATCO in the strike, which echoes back to PATCO supporting Reagan over Carter in 1980). Unless something huge has happened in the intervening time to strengthen unions (such as the AFL-CIO finally breaking Wal-Mart's resolve and unionizing their workers), I seriously question whether or not the unions would be able to bully cities nearly as effectively as you claim.
(As a note, I say all that as a card-carrying member of the National Assocation of Government Employees, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.)
As for OSHA, sure, maybe they're not going to revise standards just for Bob Builder. Who is to say that he needs to violate them? He can still obey safety regulations even though they're completely superfluous to him.
For the other permits, it's not too hard. After all, if everyone that could be hurt is hanging back, it sounds pretty safe to me. Environmental hazards? Easy enough - just make sure your powers are under control, and otherwise use the same environmental protections regular workers use.
I mean, sure, Bob Builder is going to go through some window dressing and the like to get it through, but there's still no reason he couldn't do it on his own if he thought it through rationally.
Comment from: MasonK posted at August 29, 2006 4:14 PM
Someone asked a few comments back about competition in sports. As it happens, I have a relevant character bacground for that, so I get to exposit here. :)
Diana worked very hard all her life toward a specific goal. She wanted to be an Olympic champion. She trained her body hard in acrobatics. She was strong and fast and tough, not because she was a metahuman but because she worked at it for several hours a day, every day.
She made the team. She performed in the Olympics. She earned two silver medals. She earned them.
And they were taken away because she tested positive as a metahuman.
Her super ability? She could pull pies out of thin air and throw them.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 4:20 PM
Oh, so I take it that science can test for someone being a meta, but they can't test for a specific meta trait? Thus making it possible for gymnasts to lost their medals for testing positive for pie(-making)?
Worse still, I take it that your pastry-summoning gymnast can't go into the service industry because of the SEIU wanting to keep her out of the kitchen?
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 4:31 PM
Oh, so I take it that science can test for someone being a meta, but they can't test for a specific meta trait? Thus making it possible for gymnasts to lost their medals for testing positive for pie(-making)?
Exactly. Can you prove you don't have enhanced agility? How do you know you don't have advanced agility?
As for the service industry -- I'm pretty sure the Health Inspector would frown on pandimensional pies. You have to be able to demonstrate preparation techniques.
As for unfair to other union shops, that's only true if Bob Builder hires these guys to do nothing for the same rate that other contractors hire guys to actually work. However, unions concede that workers with easier or fewer tasks get paid less than the more skilled/harder working guys. Thus, all Bob Builder would have to do is negotiate with the union to find a fair value to pay guys to hang out and talk about sports/whistle at hotties while he does the work.
Which means Bob can dramatically undercut the going rate for construction by other companies. The union would have a problem with that, and so would those other companies.
As for OSHA, sure, maybe they're not going to revise standards just for Bob Builder. Who is to say that he needs to violate them? He can still obey safety regulations even though they're completely superfluous to him.
A significant number of those regulations stipulate how many people are required to do given jobs, what equipment must be used to perform those jobs, the specific methodology to do those jobs, and how many of those tasks can be done by one worker in one day. Bob can't do them himself and be in compliance. It's not possible.
If Bob sued to get an exception, then there would be unfair business practices lawsuits lodged by other businesses who would want to be exempted from costly or time consuming safety practices too. The whole system relies on the idea that two building companies have to follow the same rules in construction.
On the other side of it, grant metahumans carte blanche -- make them exempt from regulations that don't apply to them -- and pretty quickly you're going to drive a lot of other businesses out of business. If Bob Builder can put up a building all by himself, without needing to spend a lot of money on safety equipment or on a lot of the heavy machinery other construction companies have to, then you're putting traditional construction companies out of business. That's a lot of skilled labor you're putting out on the streets. And what if Bob Builder has a heart attack and dies tomorrow? What then, Mister Mayor.
(Plus, Bob is only one vote. The hundred guys who work for a construction firm are a hundred votes. And they know a lot more people than Bob does. Guess who's more important to reelection.)
Going back to the core point -- there's a lot potentially under the surface that has nothing to do with fear and hysteria and everything to do with a system that wants to maintain the status quo and provide the best life for the largest number.
Comment from: MasonK posted at August 29, 2006 4:37 PM
Worse still, I take it that your pastry-summoning gymnast can't go into the service industry because of the SEIU wanting to keep her out of the kitchen?
Well, she never tried, so that's untested. Instead she became a superhero, and is one of the most respected in both Austin and Atlanta.
Hey, she's really good at throwing those pies.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 4:40 PM
I would, however, think that if a supersmart meta wanted to play pro baseball, well, who cares? In that way, he wouldn't be using any unfair advantage now, would he?
Well, beyond the fact that strategy is an important part of the game, and being able to outthink everyone on the field would certainly be an advantage, let me ask you this....
Bill Brilliant becomes a baseball player. He just loves the game, and his IQ of 2,750 doesn't give him that much advantage at shortstop.
And then a position of team captain opens up.
Do you let Bill take it? Do you let him start having strategic input into the games? Do you let him use his computer mind to analyze changing winds and trends in the game, and maximize his team's potential at all times?
Do you let him come up with new training techniques based upon his analysis of effectiveness? Do you let him design a new version of gatorade, chock full of nothing but legal substances but optimized far more closely than anything that came before?
If so... ten years later, do you let him coach?
I submit that a superintelligent paranormal would be an asset in any situation.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 4:43 PM
Well, she never tried, so that's untested. Instead she became a superhero, and is one of the most respected in both Austin and Atlanta.
That's right. The man took her medals away. The man said 'no, you can't play.' The man shot down her brightest day.
But work for the man? Hey, that's okay. You just put those Meta'D away, Uncle Tom. You just put those Meta'D away.
Comment from: Doublemint posted at August 29, 2006 5:12 PM
Aside from the common glory of winning a gold metal, why would a Meta'D even bother with an "endorsement" (so to speak) from a Norm sports competition? It'd be like Asafa Powell kicking ass in the Special Olympics' 100m.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 29, 2006 5:23 PM
Meta'D != metahumans. Mason's pastry summoning gymnast (it is just plain fun to type pastry summoning gymnast) isn't Meta'D.
The Meta'D are a national affiliated street gang, like the Folk Nation, People Nation, the Crips and the Bloods. Individual cities will have small gangs, or 'sets' of Meta'D in them, the same as other nation gangs have sometime (there are a large number of Folk Nation and People Nation sets in Chicago, for example).
Some Meta'D sets are politically active, others aren't. Some tend towards crime, others don't. And even though the numbers of Meta'D have grown (and quickly), they're still just a percentage of the metahuman population. Someone like Diana the Pastry Gymnast never went near the Meta'D.
Comment from: Robotech_Master posted at August 29, 2006 5:39 PM
This world, or at least the United States in this world, is one that has all sorts of somewhat paranoid policies against "second-class citizens." Not just metas, but artificial intelligences (who can't legally be citizens at all), extraterrestrials, and so on. And god help you if you're caught with even the most harmless Extraterrestrial Technology (though this restriction is largely pooh-poohed, given that there's often no way to distinguish extraterrestrial technology from just really advanced human super-science technology).
You know, up 'til a few years ago, I thought the notion of our government turning paranoid and imposing nonsensical restrictions on the rights and privileges of some of its people was pure fantasy. But just try taking your soft drink on board any airline flight now and see how far you get.
Comment from: MasonK posted at August 29, 2006 5:52 PM
To be fair, it isn't every country. There are places in the world where computer intelligences can hold citizenship, property, public office, and so on. There's even a country where a CI is president.
Of course, most of the CIs cheerfully ignore the rules and collectively hold a generous percentage of US property and money.
You should see the bets they make on poker night.
"Hmmm... okay, I'll see your Apple Computing and raise you Microsoft."
Comment from: larksilver posted at August 29, 2006 6:01 PM
Certainly, the superintelligence skills would be an asset for said baseball player. But is that any different than having really good software to analyze data, etc.?
When it comes down to it, Steve the Baseball-lovin' Brain had still better be able to hit, run, and throw the ball. Given the assumptions we've all been taught about metahumans, when the mutation giveth, it also taketh away. If the trope (super brain, wimpy body) holds true, then to overcome his superintelligence well enough to play pro baseball, he's going to have to work hard on his physical strength, stamina, and agility - not to be superlative, but to be ordinary.
Same goes for Bill the Big Dude Chess Player: he's got a really strong gift for "Hulk SMASH!" but has to work at least as hard as everyone else to play a good game of chess, much less be a contender.
If they have to put that much work into it (as with the pie gymnast), then by golly, they've earned their shot. In the interest of protecting our "human rights," who says we should violate those of others in the same community?
The whole point is to promote fair competition, not to restrict the rights of any group to compete at all. It's just a matter of using a good dollop of common sense, something woefully in short supply even in our time.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 6:11 PM
You know, in all this, I think the citizenry are missing a point.
While it is certainly the modus operandi of a government to ensure the best life for the largest number, it's arguable that with realistic regulations (such as being allowed to forego certain safety procedures if you can demonstrate that you're 100% perfectly safe without them, which the government would love because it would create new governmentally-controlled jobs), allowing metas to use their powers for quotidian taks is the route which would ensure the best for the most.
After all, I'm noticing one huge flaw in Eric's assumption - that just because a meta can forego certain tools ordinarily required (such as a pastry oven, a crane, a hammer, etc.) does not necessarily mean a meta could do it faster or better. A meta power could cut some corners, but not all (unless we're dealing with the ability to summon nigh-infinite pastry in a rapid amount of time with little to no fatigue, the ability to put together a building from raw materials in obscenely rapid speeds, etc.).
And I can think of at least one thing a super-intelligent person might easily perform less ably at - a Stroop test. Of course, those don't come up every day (unless you play that much Brain Age).
Comment from: SeanH posted at August 29, 2006 8:02 PM
"Andy Awesome"?
Comment from: Polychrome posted at August 29, 2006 8:45 PM
"Andy Awesome"?
Not to be confused with Awesome Andy.
Comment from: Amadan posted at August 29, 2006 9:21 PM
Wow, this setting has some remarkable similarities to the online game I've been running for 3 years now: http://thechiltrioncampaign.pbwiki.com/
You've hit on a lot of the same issues I've had my players deal with (and a few I haven't, but then I've added a few more things to the mix since my game is set in 2045).
Comment from: miyaa posted at August 29, 2006 10:09 PM
Okay, how would this conversation about Metahumans and sports be any different if it was found that, say, Diana deliberately became a metahuman, that is she was able to genetically manipulate her genetics so that she had super-human powers, even if it's just making pies?
Would this be any different than the real-life problems of atheletes doping it up to win competitions (i.e, Barry Bonds, Floyd Landis, and it seems like one out of every three track and field athletes) ?
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 29, 2006 11:39 PM
You know, I've also been wondering...
Now, a metahuman's genes should show at least some level of specialization. It really wouldn't make much sense to have the gene for super strength at the exact same spot as the gene for pie summoning. If nothing else, if the gene in question was in the same spot every time, wouoldn't you not just have an accurate way of finding metahumans, but be able to accurately predict (based on type of mutation) which metahuman genes were there?
Moreover, a physiological study should be able to pinpoint locales where the body is clearly surpassing normal human beings (I'd really have to assume that the cell structure of someone invulnerable would look much different than that of a norm).
If nothing else, I'd really think at least one of those super-intelligent folks would be working as a geneticist and be able to piece together some of this.
Comment from: Streon posted at August 30, 2006 12:15 AM
I just know that I want to play in this game!
Comment from: Robotech_Master posted at August 30, 2006 12:26 AM
FYI, Andy Awesome is a character from the old Superguy Listserv, a superheroic fanfiction listserver that had its heyday in the early to mid '90s, but fell off in the late '90s as most of its older writers got swallowed up by Real Life and not enough newer writers joined up to fill the gap.
It's still going, though very slowly compared to what it was before. And the archives can be searched (on author and title) and read via this CGI interface.
There's some damn good stuff in there (especially including the stuff written by one Eric A. Burns, of whom you might have heard). There's also some really lousy stuff in there. But above all else, there's really a lot of stuff in there. It's amazing how much writing college kids can crank out when they don't have anything better to do. :)
Comment from: Robotech_Master posted at August 30, 2006 12:31 AM
Actually, I shouldn't have said fanfiction, as the majority of Superguy stuff wasn't direct fanfiction of anything (though there were some exceptions). Humorous net fiction would have been more appropriate. Some totally hilarious parodies of superhero tropes and the comic book genre.
Comment from: Eric Burns posted at August 30, 2006 12:31 AM
There's some damn good stuff in there (especially including the stuff written by one Eric A. Burns, of whom you might have heard). There's also some really lousy stuff in there. But above all else, there's really a lot of stuff in there. It's amazing how much writing college kids can crank out when they don't have anything better to do. :)
I'm very proud of some of the stuff I wrote in there.
The single worst piece of garbage I've ever committed to electrons and let people see is also in there.
Just, you know, for the record.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 30, 2006 10:25 AM
Heh...
Superguy reminds me a bit of something I did back in high school on a local BBS. We called it the Character Pub (or CPub for short), but we went after fantasy stories and tropes instead of superheroes.
I remember it fondly in part because I discovered what it means to be frustrated as a writer. My character was mostly conceived as a parody and alot of my stories were a combination of absurdist humor and weirdness. The general reaction I got was "Yeah, you're a decent writer and pretty funny, but let's face it, comedy's easy. You couldn't do drama."
So I then concocted a three-part dramatic storyline in which I drove my character to the edge of madness and had him rip his own eye out of his socket. The reaction I got to that was "Wow, that was a gripping story. But I was hoping for something funny."
And now, when I write, I only show the non-fiction stuff. This is part of why I don't show my fiction.
Comment from: Mephron posted at August 30, 2006 5:24 PM
The Champions game I'm in is about to go deeply into this. Just for comparison, we're entering the 20th year of the overall campaign, and that's real-time. (yes, 20 years of various people playing different superheroes and in different superteams at various times.) (Incidentally, if you've ever gotten Digital Hero e-mags from Hero Games, and read stuff by Mike Satran, that's the GM.)
Last year, a noted superhero, who took a job on a reality TV show based on "the lives of a real superteam", killed a villian on air, in one of the most brutal scenes in the campaign, ever. (Superspeedster with sword charging the proverbial 'old guy with gadgets', at full speed and swordpoint.) Now, there's groups popping up starting to demand restrictions on supers, a superhero group HQ has been bombed, the city of Boston is considering a ban on all costumed activity in the city limits. Meanwhile, there's a division as to whether or not what Swashbuckler did was over the top in the superhero community - when you have someone with obviously dangerous weaponry, do you hold back anything? And on top of that, the question of whether or not there's a reason for 'normal' law to apply to metahumans has started to come up, with a new 'hero' whose entire motif is 'find bad guy, kill them, leave them as example along with my calling card that declares me above human law as I am above humans'.
All of this has been done before in the comics, but when you have to immerse yourself in the persona and work out how that character feels about it, what they want or need to do about it, it becomes considerably more interesting.
Comment from: Bo Lindbergh posted at August 31, 2006 1:27 AM
Congratulations Eric, you (temporarily) broke Google! For a short while, a search for "depectitude" returned a completely irrelevant result list.
Comment from: MasonK posted at August 31, 2006 2:56 AM
Mephron: Wow. And here I was impressed that our campaign just celebrated a tenth anniversary. It's actually been running for closer to twelve, but it got its permanent home ten years ago.
Comment from: 32_footsteps posted at August 31, 2006 10:18 AM
Damn, and I was impressed that a game I'm in has managed to make five years (only 18 months of game time, of course). Of course, in our last session, we had a situation in which a GM-made TPK nearly happened. So at the moment, barring the creation of an entirely new party, I'm not so confident about making year six.
Comment from: Mephron posted at September 2, 2006 4:47 PM
I'm amused at the length of the game. Also that I am responsible for three house rules of Things You Can't Do In Game.
Comment from: Zernik posted at September 6, 2006 4:03 AM
Very nice environment, from what I see here. It's interesting how it's one (albeit fictional) topic that draws in minority rights, labor concerns, and "nationalism" (Meta nation, anyone) at the same time. Still, I'd be interested to see what particular segment of this world you dropped your role-players into - and on which side, if any.
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