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Superheroes and taxes

Rudolph Quin

Rudolph Quin

Mistaken for some sort of scoundrel
Withdrawn
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Aug 2, 2009
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I had a discussion with someone recently about an interesting concept that I've never considered before.

Let's say Superman was real. Would you pay him to keep the city you live in/the country you live in/the world, safe? As in, through taxes; if there was a Superman tax, would you pay it? Not that he'd ask for it, and let's say that he'd save your ass anyway.

What about someone like Batman who doesn't have superpowers and seems to consider himself above the law? Would you pay a "masked vigilante" taxes?

The idea was that I was annoyed with the Spider-man movies and how it's illogical for Peter Parker to take pictures of himself while he's fighting crime. He wouldn't need a job and could focus more on saving people if we eliminated that need. It brings up a lot of points about secret identities and the necessity to appear normal, but I thought I'd ask your guys thoughts.

Also, what about other superheros from other comics? If you wouldn't pay taxes to Superman, Batman or Spider-man, who would you pay them to, if given the option?
 
Ever read Marvel Civil War?

Focused a lot on the idea of making Super Heroes government paid and trained agents, not only for accountability but also so they could do their job better.

I'm with Ironman.
 
But Batman's a billionaire!

I still love Batman.

It seems like if you had to pay those taxes, they would go towards Hero Damages caused in fighting crime such as destruction of a building or highway or road or some sort of thing. So perhaps they would go towards the state government?​
 
It's true, even non super powered super hero fighting causes a lot of collateral damages.
 
Hero said:
Ever read Marvel Civil War?

Focused a lot on the idea of making Super Heroes government paid and trained agents, not only for accountability but also so they could do their job better.

I'm with Ironman.
Click to expand...
Hm, no, I haven't read it. But I'll definitely check it out; it's an interesting topic with several variables to consider. Like if you had a super-powered being, would it be better to have them working for the government(where there is the potential for control or them being used to control the populace) or could you trust someone with that kind of power to make moral decisions and protect you on their own? I mean, even if that was something they themselves were personally dedicated to, if they didn't have something behind them, if they were the top of the food chain, would it cause you to be nervous? They'd still be people with emotions and personalities and the limitations that come with being mentally and emotionally human.

Frankly, I wouldn't want someone like Batman running around doing whatever he wants and bashing people's faces in. Even though I'm a straight shooter and wouldn't need to fear encountering him in an "interrogation", it would freak me out to know he was running around at night--what if he decided to have a bad day? What if he made a mistake with detective work and went after the wrong person? After terrorizing the shit out of somebody and finding he was wrong, does he just say "Oops, sorry... well, I hope I haven't traumatized ya too much and...sorry I broke your arm. kthxbai." And he'd get away with it. Without the full restrictions of the law holding them back, a Superhero/hero would have more severe consequences if they made an error, than say if the police kicked down the door of apartment 40 instead of 14. And working for the government doesn't eliminate that potential for error(that's why we have the term "police brutality") but it would make me feel better to know they'd be held responsible.
 
Batman is an odd exception to the vigilante bits, because while yes he does go around traumatizing people he does so with the careful precision of a surgeon, he never pounces unless he's checked his facts twice.
 
If superheros were real, no offense Hero, whatever city there were in, I think they would be pissed. So much damage being done! Eventually people would start thinking that perhaps police would be better, less damage to property and business. Its a Utopia sort of idea, if they were getting paid, they would also be held responsible for the things they did.
 
I try to keep my collateral damage to a minimum, always try to drag the super fights out to the country side or some place no one cares about, like New Jersey.
 
I'm reminded a bit of a Green Arrow Quote:

"No... I don't know... yes! Look, I'm an old leftist but as the only non-superpowered person in this room I can tell you that you all scare the shit out of me. What if you decided to hurt me? I couldn't stop you. Maybe the government needs CADMUS to keep you all in check, who else is going to do it?"

Or something like that. If we did have the likes of comic superheroes around I'd definately want some sanctioning process, training, control over them. I wouldn't care if they had to take an extra chunk out of my paycheck to do so. Better than having the above the law vigilante justice going around, especially ones that cause that much damage.
 
hrmmmm.... interesting topic to say the least...

see, if superheroes truly existed and if we had to pay taxes for them, i'd more or less view them as a special division of the police. b/c really, that's what it would be like. would this affect they way the do things? i don't know? maybe. i wonder if government restrictions would directly affect how they used their abilities or gadgets (depending on which hero they were, etc). would it lessen their affect on crime fighting? would it make it better? or worse? or ineffective? these are the sorts of things i would wonder.

tho, i agree that, based on what you read in comics, a true superhero would cause a lot of damage to their cities as a whole. but then, this is also assuming super villains exist as well. but that aside... damage would be a serious issue. and probably seriously need some sort of means of protections. b/c let's face it. if a building falls or a bridge collapses, that's going to be pretty costly to fix up. and yeah... it would need fixing for sure. and let's not forget the innocent bystanders who have potential in getting injured just b/c they were nearby.

hrmmm... yes, interesting topic indeed. one of my fave superheroes (rorschach from watchmen), tho i love him dearly, would definitely be one i don't think too many people would even remotely want roaming around placing judgment on people. he is pretty good about making sure he goes for the right people and all, but he can be quite impulsive not to mention pretty damned harsh in his judgments and seeing justice prevail. and i think a lot of people would feel the same way about a lot of the other heroes too. even those not quite as drastic in their methods as rorschach is.
 
Superheroes be crazy!

As much as I like Rorschach, he's a sociopath and psycho heroes are not needed. D: But still, this topic does bring about some pretty important points on superhero etiquette? I guess that would be the right word.​
 
it would.... and tho i love him in the comics, i don't know if even i would want him running about the streets! lol! for fear of setting him off. could you imagine? it's also interesting how you can love a character to pieces in a comic, but then if they existed in real life be totally afraid of them. XD

but this is why i bring up how would superheroes be limited if we suddenly paid taxes to support them, etc. it could totally change who they are, what abilities they choose to use (or are even allowed to use), etc. and how could we trust that they wouldn't use certain abilities and the like if they are innate or even something they can't fully control... like rogue, for instance.
 
Hero said:
Tony Stark, a real American Hero.

And that'd be the name of my penis.
Click to expand...
Maybe you should just shorten it to just "Tony Stark." Otherwise, it's a real mouthful. <ahem>


Problem with paying a superhero tax, is you get exchanges like this.

"No, alien, YOU listen! My taxes pay your salary, so you save that Luthercorp building by any means necessary or I will sue you out of this entire galaxy!"

Within the logic of the superhero world, freedom from government means freedom to do what must be done. And remember, this is a world where Gotham City still has enough violent street crime to warrant nightly patrols by multiple vigilantes, as opposed to the real world where crime rates have dropped steadily for the past 20-30 years. This is a world where half the population can make money turning to cirime, aliens of all sorts visit Earth regularly, gods literally exist, mad science functions, Reagan's "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative actually functioned well enough for the USSR to send the KGBeast to kill a bunch of scientists, leading to one of the more metal resolutions in comics, where the KGBeast uses a fire axe to HACK OFF HIS OWN HAND RATHER THAN THE BATROPE THAT IS LITERALLY RIGHT THERE ON HIS WRIST. Any world where that is the more sensible choice has at least two dozen secret branches of any given government all trying to moderate or control or employ super-powered beings anyway, and would not be helped by a superhero tax.

(KGBeast: helping win arguments by example since 1988)
 
Oh it is just Tony Stark. But when the mood strikes Tony dawns his alter-ego and becomes Ironman.
 
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