Why Does Clark Kent Need Superman?

I have already waxed philosophical on the puzzling question of why awesome Superman needs Clark Kent (because he can't be a true hero without maintaining humility), but the less obvious riddle is why a nice, normal fellow like Clark Kent bothers being Superman. I mean, you've got a great job, cool (if nerdy) friends, and a lovely personality that makes everyone like you because they can't possibly hate a dork like you. Why on God's green earth do you rock the boat if you're Clark Kent? Why tussle with the Lex Luthors of the world when you could just lay back and live a normal life?

Instead of using your superpowers to advance your career and impress the ladies, you fight evil. Great! So what's your reward for this? Kryptonite shoved up your butt every time you turn your back on some villain! Really, why bother? Sheesh.

This is far more vexing than understanding why Superman needs Clark Kent. Superman's a pretty simple dude. He just wants to keep a lid on the bad guys' shenanigans. Clark Kent is more complicated. He's the true hero because he's the one who takes the difficult route and suffers by his own choice.

This is the difference between a hero and a normal person: A hero considers the good of the world (or at least the good of other people) and makes personal sacrifices to nurture good. Come to think of it, most normal people are heroes in one way or another if you go by that definition. It gets really complex, though. Now you have to ask what is good and what is evil. Good is this, I think: Serving others, even at some discomfort to oneself. Evil is serving oneself to the detriment of others.

Ergo Clark Kent dons the tights and the cape because he's good. Duuuuuh!!!

We can't all be superheroes, but we can all be good if we decide to be that way. Clark Kent is a better role model than Superman. If Clark Kent didn't have superpowers, he'd probably be some sort of activist chaining himself to bulldozers (or whatever activists do these days). Handcuffs are the truly good person's Kryptonite. Does that make any sense? When I got arrested (all those years ago) for smoking a joint on the steps of the State Capitol in Denver, that was my inner Superman standing strong, wind in his cape, battling evil even though I knew the damn Kryptonite was coming, even though I knew the supervillains would keep messing with me, even though I knew evil would never be beaten back completely. Fuck yeah, I'm proud of my "criminal" record. I said my piece. I made my stand, and I won that battle, actually, having emerged from it stronger and having advanced the cause by one tiny step. In the end, my "record" doesn't even show a misdemeanor for that one. I won. But those five days in jail still sucked.

Clark Kent's a nice guy, but would he be such a nice guy if he were focused solely on his little life in Metropolis? Probably not, especially since he has superpowers. Plus, if he didn't fight the supervillains, they would quickly achieve total world domination. (Next discourse: What would supervillains do if they won, and why are they so darn eeeevil?)