Interesting column. If people with superpowers existed, I am not sure whether they would be more like heroes or the characters in The Boys. These stories, I think, have some good points and ways in which they can be inspiring. I am not well versed in comic books, but to some degree my understanding is that superman is not human -- thus maybe not a susceptible to our follies. Nevertheless, doing right because it is right seems like a good maxim. However, I think the baddies rarely think of themselves as such.
You are absolutely correct that baddies rarely think of themselves as baddies. That's what makes them so dangerous. There is no one so fanatical as someone who is convinced that they are fighting on the side of the angels. This is probably one reason why I am always sceptical of the trait of self-righteousness in people: it always seems suspicious to me. Never trust anyone who has no doubts about themself! You are quite right that Superman is not human. That may in part be why he is so much better than us. The comics seem to imply that part of his goodness also springs from bring brought up in a small agricultural community in the .Midwest, where life is as simple as morality. He brings his Midwestern philosophy with him to the big city and it simplifies life no end. In real life, one suspects he'd be just awful, but on the printed page, Superman can be an inspiration. (He's just a touch dull as well - I always preferred my heroes flawed like Spider-man or Batman...)
Interesting column. If people with superpowers existed, I am not sure whether they would be more like heroes or the characters in The Boys. These stories, I think, have some good points and ways in which they can be inspiring. I am not well versed in comic books, but to some degree my understanding is that superman is not human -- thus maybe not a susceptible to our follies. Nevertheless, doing right because it is right seems like a good maxim. However, I think the baddies rarely think of themselves as such.
You are absolutely correct that baddies rarely think of themselves as baddies. That's what makes them so dangerous. There is no one so fanatical as someone who is convinced that they are fighting on the side of the angels. This is probably one reason why I am always sceptical of the trait of self-righteousness in people: it always seems suspicious to me. Never trust anyone who has no doubts about themself! You are quite right that Superman is not human. That may in part be why he is so much better than us. The comics seem to imply that part of his goodness also springs from bring brought up in a small agricultural community in the .Midwest, where life is as simple as morality. He brings his Midwestern philosophy with him to the big city and it simplifies life no end. In real life, one suspects he'd be just awful, but on the printed page, Superman can be an inspiration. (He's just a touch dull as well - I always preferred my heroes flawed like Spider-man or Batman...)
This short exchange has made me think of an article I used to assign in one of my classes where the argument is that perpetrators of violence often act violently because they see it as a moral duty. https://aeon.co/essays/people-resort-to-violence-because-their-moral-codes-demand-it