Superhero Politics

[RobertScorpio]

Be it the XMEN, or Justice League, Heroes, heck even Smallville, what would be your take on the subject if there were such beings on this world.

If tomorrow a group of, oh, fifteen superhumans revealed themselves to the world, and each had incredible powers (pretty much the JLA or Avengers) would you want them to interject themselves into the social-politics of the world? Would you want them to take on Terrorism? Would you want them to take sides on various causes; whaling? Illegal Drug trade? Child Porn/slavery? Getting the Chinese out of Tibet? I mean, just go down the laundry list of issues on this planet. Would you want a JLA/Avengers/Heroes that stood back and let mankind figure this stuff out without help? Or would you want a more pro-active JLA?

And, better yet, if you wanted the super-team to do more than save Earth from monsters and asteroids, who would decide what they did and didn't do?

Rob

 

[Gryffindorian]

On JLU, Amanda Waller believed the JL to be a bunch of loose cannons, and she had every right to be concerned. I think the U.S. government and perhaps the international community would have to keep such powerful beings on a leash or at least have a governing body to monitor their movements/activities (e.g., perhaps a Brother Eye program) or and oversee their operations.

 

[RobertScorpio]

On JLU, Amanda Waller believed the JL to be a bunch of loose cannons, and she had every right to be concerned. I think the U.S. government and perhaps the international community would have to keep such powerful beings on a leash or at least have a governing body to monitor their movements/activities (e.g., perhaps a Brother Eye program) or and oversee their operations.

I agree with you. When the JLA used that weapon of theirs to try and destroy that alien hive in the desert, the one where ATOM goes inside of it and destroys it, I would have been pissed off too, if I had been that General, or the President.

Batman, I think, violates all kinds of laws with the way he practices his brand of justice. Sometimes I think he is Dick Cheney in disguise!

Rob

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Who watches the Watchmen?

 

[Nick Ryder]

Actually I think the Avengers took on this issue a few years ago. I think it was the Inbetweener had somehow made it so that parts of the world disappeared and the world governments basically asked the Avengers to step in and RULE THE WORLD. Tony Stark was tasked with fixing the world economy during the crisis, She-Hulk was working on all the legal ends, and Cap was like the President almost. It was an interesting arc. I forgot the name of it, I bought the TPB of it.

Although look at the latest Civil War stuff, that's probably how the government would handle such things. 15 or so... eh that's nothing. But when you've got maybe hundreds of powered beings from mutants to experiments gone awry, to guys who made tech that gives them powers and such... then the govt's would start to worry. When you've got people who can nearly level a city just having a fight... that's more than nearly any terrorist would do.

 

[captcalhoun]

the superhero universe i've been noodling about with is one where mutants are becoming more prevalent. various governments are recruiting military members with powers into super-soldier teams, while mutants are forming sanctuaries for themselves away from humans. the British are actually genetically enhancing humans and mutants to form a super team, one escapes and becomes the 'Magneto' type figure swearing to oppress humans and liberate mutants.

but there's also a wild card, outside of the government team, the terrorist mutants and the heroic mutant team: a lone mutant vigilante who calls himself 'Galahad' who fights all three groups at various stages, as well as operating internationally against the likes of the Janjaweed militia in Darfur, the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, Somali pirates and all three groups want to recruit him.

 

[Checkmate]

The roleplaying game Shadowrun basically addressed these concerns beautifully. Roughly 1% of the world's population gained superpowers (magic) while a large percentage morphed into new races, some of which are strong enough to flip a car without any effort. Early on there were major upheavals around the globe with dragons and other monsters coming out of the woodwork, too. A terrorist group of Native Americans, for example, came together and sacrificed many of their own members in a ritual that caused volcanos and earthquakes to rumble across the United States until their demand were met. etc.

Basically, the governments/corporations/law enforcement/etc. in this world began researching ways to counteract these abilities and, more importantly, began recruiting them into their operations to take advantage of their abilities and use them for security against others. That's pretty much about how it would go in the real world, I think.

Vigilantes are vigilantes with or without superpowers, and no one who matters actually likes having them around. Most settings with superheroes are just over the top and, when the writers decide to tackle the subject, they turn it into some kinda of asinine gay rights-style bullshit and cry out about oppression. So lame. "Whaa, I have super strength, I DESERVE the right to demolish entire city blocks in order to stop a jaywalker iffn I wanna, especially since you're not strong like me!!! WHAAA!" /slap

 

[RobertScorpio]

The roleplaying game Shadowrun basically addressed these concerns beautifully. Roughly 1% of the world's population gained superpowers (magic) while a large percentage morphed into new races, some of which are strong enough to flip a car without any effort. Early on there were major upheavals around the globe with dragons and other monsters coming out of the woodwork, too. A terrorist group of Native Americans, for example, came together and sacrificed many of their own members in a ritual that caused volcanos and earthquakes to rumble across the United States until their demand were met. etc.

Basically, the governments/corporations/law enforcement/etc. in this world began researching ways to counteract these abilities and, more importantly, began recruiting them into their operations to take advantage of their abilities and use them for security against others. That's pretty much about how it would go in the real world, I think.

Vigilantes are vigilantes with or without superpowers, and no one who matters actually likes having them around. Most settings with superheroes are just over the top and, when the writers decide to tackle the subject, they turn it into some kinda of asinine gay rights-style bullshit and cry out about oppression. So lame. "Whaa, I have super strength, I DESERVE the right to demolish entire city blocks in order to stop a jaywalker iffn I wanna, especially since you're not strong like me!!! WHAAA!" /slap

Could you imagine the "high school" clics that would come from a world like that?

Rob

 

[T.Geiger]

I would probably have a very similar response to the one Amanda Waller had. If they're a part of the system, awesome. If not, throw them into the deepest dungeon we've got.

 

[Anwar]

What if there are already super-powered beings who have an underground to prevent such a thing from happening, or if they are higher-members of government?

 

[Checkmate]

I, personally, don't want my safety "insured" by a bunch of rogues doing whatever the hell they please however they please with no worries about consequences or repercussions.

 

[Silvercrest]

What if there are already super-powered beings who have an underground to prevent such a thing from happening,

You mean vigilantes? That's the whole problem! No thanks!

or if they are higher-members of government?

What if they are? Having powers should have no connection to being part of the government. The only connection would be if they used those powers to get into office, or just take over. In that case, REALLY no thanks!

 

[Nerys Myk]

I doubt it would be once size fits all. Some might work for the goverment, some might be independent. Same for what they'd do. Some might stick to crime fighting, others might try to change the world to fit what ever ideology they follow.

 

[Checkmate]

"Independent" wouldn't cut it. They're weapons of mass destruction, with the exception of only a small percentage. If they're not working under the supervision of another legal organization or at least in the private sector in select career fields, they're criminals. End of discussion.

The Superhero Registration Act was right. It's just the idiotic methods used by the writers that made it full of so much shit. Again, that's the writers going down the gay rights/oppression/OMG-its-all-bad-all-the-time-never-any-exceptions route. If heroes aren't allowed to do whatever the Hell they want, you're HITLER.

 

[Demiurge]

I think the Incredibles got it right. Traditional masked superheroes would be sued out of existence.

The role playing game Aberrant had the best take on what it would be like if such beings existed - they would be media superstars which would dwarf even the greatest ones of our time. They would constantly be on TV, have their own media deals, be corporate spokespeople, and few if any would need to be 'supervillians' - having powers would make you rich without it.

However, there would be ideological clashes - and the potential for superpowered terrorism would be frightening beyond belief.

 

[RobertScorpio]

"Independent" wouldn't cut it. They're weapons of mass destruction, with the exception of only a small percentage. If they're not working under the supervision of another legal organization or at least in the private sector in select career fields, they're criminals. End of discussion.

The Superhero Registration Act was right. It's just the idiotic methods used by the writers that made it full of so much shit. Again, that's the writers going down the gay rights/oppression/OMG-its-all-bad-all-the-time-never-any-exceptions route. If heroes aren't allowed to do whatever the Hell they want, you're HITLER.

I think that aspects of that 'avenue' of plot were revenge for all blacklisting of the 50s, and, the accusations that Batman/Robin were gay. If I recall, wasn't the flap over Batman/Robin the reason why comic books started to be rated?

Rob

 

[Trent Roman]

After the initial period of confusion, I doubt much of anything would change. Normal people leave crime-fighting to the authorities, and an otherwise average person with superpowers would be inclined to do the same rather than subsuming their own lives and aspirations to this new aspect of their biology. There's a reason so many origin stories include some kind of tragic loss--you need that trauma to motivate the character to go beyond expected behaviour. When you think about it, I'm sure most of us would admit we don't exercise the full extent of our 'power'--physical, financial, or whatever else--to helping others; why should people like mutants, who have just a little more potentiality, suddenly feel obliged to devote themselves to intervention? The only likely exception is the criminal element, which would welcome such abilities--particularly at first, before apt counter-measures are developed; and as has been suggested, this is the field you're most likely to find superpowered fights, as law enforcement recruits to fight fire with fire. But in the everyday? I imagine that, as usual, vigilantes will be subject to legal sanction--which isn't to say that a superpowered individual can't intervene, positively, in the event of a crisis (fire, robbery), so long as it's not something they seek out.

Politically, I can't imagine much would change either, unless you have an individual of Superman-like power, capable of rivalling states in his own right. The paranoid fringe on both the right and the left would see superpowers, and particularly superpowers in government, as conspiratorial; the right would also be likely to deploy it's habitual xenophobic rhetoric against such individuals the way the do any form of difference, which, depending on the way the political winds blow, would likely lead to civil rights issues, but that's something I would expect to be resolved through the courts rather than pitched battles in Times Square.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Gryffindorian]

Well, what we also have to consider is that if superhumans lived among us and had been part of our society for a long time, then history itself and our very own culture would be so much different from what we know. For instance, the U.S. probably wouldn't be a litigious country, suing metahumans left and right for every time something was damaged. Instead, we'd have these risk-management and insurance megacorporations to handle liabilities. A superhero would need some form of a liability insurance before he/she could even be allowed to operate as a crimefighter. Hell, the government would even mandate such people to have special licenses.

Crimes, calamities, acts of terrorism--people would be jaded to see these happen every day because they know someone would be there to save the day. The very sight of a superbeing might cause ooh's and ahh's in the eyes of the public at some point, and metas would be admired like celebrities and athletes. EDIT: After awhile, the popularity would die out, and the heroes would always be admired, but they'd become a normal part of our everyday lives.

In other words, the world as we know it would be a much, much different place.

 

[broberfett]

Government would do anything they could to label superhumans as criminals in someway, even if they were sitting home on their butts doing nothing. The purpose would be to study and control them for the needs of the powerful elite. The scientists would want them as fulltime guinea pigs for their experiments. The military would want to use them against their enemies(and study them at the same time). The superhumans would have to fight their asses off just to stay alive and not be slaves. The various powers would kidnap the families and loved ones of the super beings to blackmail them if they were too strong to control directly.

 

[Nerys Myk]

"Independent" wouldn't cut it. They're weapons of mass destruction, with the exception of only a small percentage. If they're not working under the supervision of another legal organization or at least in the private sector in select career fields, they're criminals. End of discussion.

The Superhero Registration Act was right. It's just the idiotic methods used by the writers that made it full of so much shit. Again, that's the writers going down the gay rights/oppression/OMG-its-all-bad-all-the-time-never-any-exceptions route. If heroes aren't allowed to do whatever the Hell they want, you're HITLER.

I didn't say it would work out well for the independents. I'm sure governments would clamp down hard. And there would be an arms race for super hero development. Including defectors going for the big paycheck.