The case against superheroes (Part Two)

What about when Spider-Man and the Green Goblin are going at it in the city, annihilating buildings and destroying hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions in some cases) dollars worth of property and materials? If I was a homeowner or had an apartment that was decimated by one of the Goblin’s pumpkin bombs, I would demand that someone start paying to fix the hole in my wall that, with one wrong step, would allow me to fall 60 stories to my death.

The natural disasters and normal accidents were bound to happen whether or not the superheroes existed, so that is just something that humanity would have to deal with. By saving all those lives from those incidents, the heavy talk about fate and the shifting future of the world comes into play. Perhaps those people were supposed to perish in those accidents. When a superhero saves somebody, he/she keeps the population at its current level, creating added pressure on the scarce amount of resources available. Population pressure is a serious issue in the world and it would be unwise for the superheroes to save everybody, only because it will come back to hurt them in the future.

If the heroes were smart, they would allow their governments to regulate their activities and possibly pay them for their services. Getting paid to be a superhero would work well for most heroes struggling to juggle a job and the duties of being a hero, such as Peter Parker. Any wage earned from the government would be better than freelancing for a newspaper, even if it is in New York. By limiting their power, governments can prevent the amount of damage done to a city or, at the very least, establish a system that would force the heroes to incur some of the damages.

The best contribution that heroes make to society is the fact that they remain role models to all the children of the world. So much so that kids might just start forgetting about their parents and idolize the heroes instead. Parents work hard to gain the respect and admiration of their kids and more should be upset that these heroes are taking that away. Also, how many children will attempt to imitate the actions of their favorite heroes and get seriously injured or die while trying to fly off their roof?

A world with superheroes causes more stress and anxiety for society than one that does not. When a country is at war, experiencing rising inflation, or any other dilemma, does it really need the added pressure of a supervillain threatening to take over and kill everybody? And why would a supervillain want to kill everybody anyway? Wouldn’t it get extremely lonely living on the earth alone; I never could understand that. And how would reproduction occur when you are only surrounded by your henchmen? These questions and more can cause a person to go crazy and in this world that already contains enough insanity to last a lifetime, superheroes are only adding to the problem. They look cool and provide more than enough entertainment for the masses, but the world certainly doesn’t need their headaches.