Why Superman Doesn't Take Over the World

by J. Brian O’Roark

  Command systems are characterized by strict governmental control. All production decisions, resource allocation, and goods distribution are determined by a government bureaucracy and thus, the what, how, and for whom questions are answered by government. The attempt is to create equality across the society. If one group has more than they need, a benevolent dictator will reallocate material goods so that no one has more than anyone else. Fairness is a focal point. Unfortunately, the determination of what is fair is usually made without consulting the people. There is little to no freedom of choice economically or politically. Profit motives that drive innovation are absent, resulting in slow economic growth and very slow changes to the overall living conditions of people.

  In reality, neither of these systems actually exist. A society chooses how to organize itself and inevitably mixes components of the two types of systems depending on the evolution of the culture. A capitalist system is likely to have some restraints on what firms can acceptably do to earn a profit. Employing children might be profitable but it is outlawed. Environmental activists can’t be shot on sight if they are blocking a pipeline that would speed natural gas to markets, and toxic chemicals must be disposed of properly, even if polluting the ground water would keep costs down. Potentially life-saving medicines must be tested in the lab first, even though people might die while waiting for treatment. Additionally, capitalism isn’t anarchy. Government still exists and must be paid for, so tax collection plans are imposed even though this hurts the bottom line.

  Similarly, command systems have some aspects of capitalism. Innovations happen and markets exist, even if the innovations occur more sporadically and the markets survive outside the view of government officials. There are rich people living in command economies, they just tend to be the ones making the rules. The rich have found a way to profit from the economic system in which they live, even if it is at the expense of those who are otherwise prohibited from doing the same.

  Regardless of which economic system a society chooses, institutions govern the system. Systems and institutions go together like Superman and Lois Lane. It just so happens that capitalist systems have the growth-promoting institutions, such as a fair court system, protection of property rights, and less corruption, that coincide with Superman’s mission statement. It isn’t that capitalist systems never have problems with their institutions; rather, the choice of a capitalist economic system and the institutions that tend to accompany capitalism are more likely to lead to economic growth. By defending this system over another, Superman is promoting economic well-being. That being said, you still have to do the work.

  I Will Defend Truth, Justice, and the Economic Way …

  Superman can improve the lot of humanity, but he doesn’t. At least not on a wide scale. The Man of Steel can change the course of rivers but he hasn’t ended drug smuggling. He battles physically powerful aliens and defeats them but regular street crimes are still committed. He has resources and technology at his fingertips that are light years ahead of Earth-based kit, yet he hasn’t destroyed nuclear weapons. Despite his powers, Superman doesn’t save us from ourselves. In fact, there are times when he just bails out altogether. He has run away from Earth and left the public eye at times, feeling pressured, unwanted, or just needing a break.5 While he wants the best for humanity, and could accomplish that by being more involved and interfering with the day-to-day lives of humans, he hasn’t. This behavior is both vexing (see Lex Luthor below) and liberating. While he could be a benevolent dictator, he chooses not to be.

  Supes follows the rules even when it hurts. An early 1970s story arc finds the Man of Steel trying to stop a volcano from erupting and killing the inhabitants of an island (O’Neil and Swan, 1971a). Unfortunately, the location of the volcano is the private property of a wicked plantation owner called Boysie Harker. Harker tells Superman to vacate the premises or else face the law. Superman knows he can’t legally get to the volcano, so he comes up with an alternative plan. He is bound and determined to obey the law even as the volcano threatens hundreds of native residents of the island. Nevertheless, Superman notes that “if worst comes to worst, I’ll have to defy Harker—and take the consequences! Because there’s a moral law that’s above some man-made laws!” (p. 9).

  Here he is, thirty-three years after his creation, still toeing the line. Private property protections apply not just to individuals, but to the hero as well, and Superman never sees himself as above the law. He will only intervene if there is no other alternative. Superman #247 (Maggin and Swan, 1972) expands on this point. Here we find the Man of Tomorrow working with the Guardians, an alien species who oversee the universe. While healing him after a successful mission, the Guardians plant an idea in his mind that he is creating a cultural lag on Earth. This leaves Superman confused about how much he should be interfering with events on his adopted home planet. When he returns to Earth, he comes across a migrant boy being beaten by a field boss. After saving the boy, the oppressed workers cheer and begin asking Superman to do all manner of things for them, from throwing the boss in jail to rebuilding their houses. Superman begins to think that perhaps people are not evolving culturally because they are too dependent on him to fix their problems.

  This point is further illustrated in the graphic novel Kingdom Come. Heroes are not supposed to interfere. When they do and people no longer have to fend for themselves, they stop being productive. Pastor Norman McCay remembers his friend Wesley, who lamented that the aging heroes had given way to a new generation of superhumans. Norman recalls Wesley saying that “human initiative began to erode the day people asked a new breed to face the future for them” (Waid and Ross, 2008, p. 17). The dilemma Superman faces is that there are things a superhero should do, but creating dependency isn’t part of the plan. Heroes should work within the system, not replace the system, even if the system is flawed.

  …But What If I Didn’t?

  For the majority of Superman story arcs, he is the unassailable fighter for truth, justice, and the American Way. Superman has continually defended the system, battling all manner of organized crime, insanely smart evildoers, and alien invaders. While he may not always agree with the people in charge, it is the system to which Superman adheres. In The Dark Knight (Miller, 2016), Superman is asked by the President of the United States to reign in Batman’s use of excessive force. In the guise of Clark Kent he is engaged in a discussion with Bruce Wayne about where he thinks this is going, which concludes with Clark’s assessment that “it’s like this, Bruce—sooner or later, somebody’s going to order me to bring you in. Somebody with authority” (p. 110).

  Later, as he reflects on their conversation, Superman admits that Batman has an agenda, and he will not waver no matter the cost. While the rest of the superheroes have come to terms with some degree of government oversight, Batman does not acquiesce. Superman contemplates that “Nothing matters to you [Batman]—except your holy war. They were considering their options and you were probably still laughing when we came to terms. I gave them [the government] my obedience and my invisibility. They gave me a license and let us live. No, I don’t like it. But I get to save lives—and the media stays quiet. But now the storm is growing again—they’ll hunt us down again—because of you” (p. 130).

  The question of what would happen if Superman followed his own agenda, as Batman does, has led to some intriguing storylines regarding Superman. One of the better known of these alternative realities is Superman: Red Son (Millar and Johnson, 2014). In this Elseworlds storyline,6 Kal-El lands on a Ukrainian collective farm rather than in Kansas. Instead of fighting for “truth, justice and the American way” he becomes one “who as the champion of the common worker, fights a never-ending battle for Stalin, socialism and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact” (p. 5). Underneath the Soviet trappings, Superman is, at least initially, the hero readers expect. He saves America’s Metropolis from certain destruction when a satellite falls out of orbit and is heading for what will be a cata
clysmic impact. Mid-flight he concedes that he isn’t a soldier. He didn’t hate the enemy or fight only for his people. He “fought for what was right” (p. 11). Notice the past tense.

  Repeatedly, Superman turns down political advancement in the Communist party, claiming he doesn’t want to be the leader. He even notes that his “privileges” should disqualify him from influence in the socialist republic. He’s still toeing the company line, but now it’s in a command system. If equality is the rule then that’s how he’ll play the game. That all changes when he sees an old friend and her children in a bread line. Seeing hungry people prompts Superman to act. His friend Lana tells him that “it’s not your fault. It’s just the way the system works…you can’t take care of everyone’s problems” (p. 46), but in a command economic system he can, and Superman is nothing if not a man who works within the system. By the end of Red Son he has become a dictator, whose subjects are entirely subservient to the Man of Tomorrow. People have given up taking responsibility for themselves and have given over control of their lives to Superman so much so that they stop wearing seatbelts or life jackets. Superman can save them from any catastrophe and they are willing to give up responsibility for their lives. The difference between being in a capitalist system and a command system is that in the capitalist system Superman would be convicted of stepping beyond his bounds, of moving outside the system. In the command structure, while Superman feels a little guilty at first about taking too much control, he gradually consolidates power, eventually demanding obedience from all. In his global Soviet Union, only the United States resisted, and it was beset by civil war. Everywhere else “every adult had a job, every child had a hobby, and the entire human population enjoyed the full eight hours sleep which their bodies required. Crime didn’t exist. Accidents never happened. It didn’t even rain unless…everyone had an umbrella. Almost six billion citizens and hardly anyone complained. Even in private” (p. 98). Dependency on government is part of the command system. And no matter what, Superman defends the system.

  The most gloriously terrifying example of Superman becoming unhinged is in the series Injustice: Gods Among Us (Taylor, Raapack, and Redondo, 2016). In a sadistic twist, the Joker leaves Gotham for Metropolis and tricks Superman into killing Lois Lane and their unborn child. To top it off, when she dies it sets off a nuclear bomb that levels Metropolis. During the interrogation, Batman wants to know why the Joker hit a different target. The Joker’s response was that fighting Batman is hard and he wanted something easy. As their conversation continues, the Joker muses about what will happen to Superman now that he’s lost everything. Batman became “an all-punching, all-kicking little ball of angst” (p. 40) as a result of losing his parents. Batman replies that even Joker can’t corrupt Superman. Almost before the words are out of his mouth, Superman breaks through the wall of the prison and rips Joker’s heart out of his body. From that moment, Superman engages in a worldwide effort to rid the planet of villains. He becomes the dictator people feared, and then some. More people die at his hands, both civilians and heroes. The world is safe from criminals but not from the Man of Steel. When Superman decides to become a tyrant, he does it very well.

  And the Answer Is …

  Superheroes in general, and Superman in particular, have powers that amaze. In some ways, it’s miraculous that they are so restrained in the use of those powers. As noted in Chapter 2, villains such as Lex Luthor can’t believe that a powerful being such as Superman wouldn’t try to take over the world. Nevertheless, heroes tend to play within the boundaries constraining everyone else, despite the constant fear that they might one day decide to put themselves in charge.

  If you aren’t going to take over the world then you must subjugate yourself to the existing regimes. Hopefully the system you find yourself in is a respectable one. Superman’s attachment to the American Way is good for everyone, as long as you aren’t a criminal. The American Way is the Economic Way, but defending the Economic Way is a balancing act. When you have superpowers it would be much easier, and much less messy, to just take over, subject everyone to your will, and eliminate the opposition. But if Superman did this he would be the personification of the evil being fought in Europe when his credo was established. This is what Hitler and Mussolini would do, and taking such actions wouldn’t fit the character of Superman.

  From his first appearance to the present, Superman has been a hero who sets the standard for heroes. He fights for truth and justice for all. Superman also fights to uphold the process by which truth and justice themselves are protected. He defends the institutions that govern society so that he doesn’t have to be the judge. He lets the system play out and subjects himself to the rules that he works so diligently to uphold, even though he doesn’t have to. When we see what the alternative could be, we shudder and realize it’s a good thing Superman landed in Kansas.

  Endnotes

  1. Purple Man is a heinous villain who uses deception and mind control to get Jessica Jones to act as his slave. He so cripples her emotionally that she gives up being a superhero.

  2. Of course, Superman isn’t the only hero who holds up the virtues of truth and justice. He’s just the most obvious. Tony Stark is worried about keeping heroes accountable to the elected officials of a country. This is the premise for Civil War (Miller and McNiven, 2007). Stark’s concern is that if heroes are able to do whatever they want, whenever they want, innocent lives will be put at risk and that isn’t just.

  3. Smith discusses the importance of the division of labor in the opening chapter of Wealth of Nations.

  4. Macroeconomics is defined in the introduction to the book.

  5. For examples see Bates and Swan, 1967; O’Neil and Swan, 1971b; and Straczynski and Roberson, 2011.

  6. Elseworlds is a DC series of alternative reality storylines.

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