Most superheroes go around risking life and limb to save people they don't know from immense dangers. But does that singular defining trait among all superheroes make them all fall into one singular ideology? You've no doubt heard political pundits say things like "Obama's a socialist" or "He's really more of a Libertarian", but do you know what those ideologies mean? Do they apply to superheroes? Are all Superheroes Socialists? Or Maybe Liberals? Or maybe there's no single answer. After all, there are heroes who have significant nationalist ideologies as part of their beliefs. So in this series of articles I'm going to look into an ideology, summarizing it, and commenting on whether or not it applies to the idea of superheroes and maybe some specific superheroes, if I find any that apply. The ideologies I'll be looking at over the next few weeks are: Socialism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Libertarianism, Utilitarianism, and Authoritarianism.
In this article, are Superheroes Liberal?
What is Liberalism?
(Summarized from Wikipedia)
Liberalism is a broad political ideology/worldview founded on the ideas of liberty and equality. There are a wide array of Liberal views depending on group's understanding and interpretation of these principles, but in general liberals support ideas like capitalism (with ranging levels of regulation from none to heavily between groups), constitutionalism (that government law contains institutionalized mechanisms of power control for the protection of the interests and liberties of the citizenry, including those that may be in the minority), liberal democracy (fair, free, and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, separation of power into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of a transparent government and the protection of human rights and civil liberties for everyone) , free press (freedom of the media and people to communicate and express themselves), free and fair elections, human rights and the free exercise of religion.
Liberalism first gained power in the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century when people began rejecting several foundational assumptions that dominated most earlier theories of government, such as nobility, established religion, absolute monarchy, and the Divine Right of Kings. Early liberalism employed the concept of natural rights and the social contract to argue that the rule of law should replace both Traditionalism and absolutism in government, that rulers were subject to the consent of the governed, and that private individuals had a fundamental right to life, liberty, and property.
Liberalism catalyzed both the American Revolution and the French Revolution in the 19th century and was used to justify the armed overthrow of what they saw as tyrannical rule, and the rest of the century saw many liberal governments established in nations across Europe, and the Americas. (At your right are some short but very nifty videos about these revolutions by the excellent CrashCourse, and I highly recommend checking out their whole series.) Liberal ideas spread even further in the 20th century and survived major ideological challenges from fascism and communism. Today
nearly every major country has a liberal political party in varying degrees of power and influence.
The most current development in liberalism is the emergence of new liberalism that is centered on the concept of timeless freedom, ensuring the freedom of future generations through proactive action taken today.
Are Superheroes Liberal?
I would say that a significant number of superheroes are liberals, yes. Perhaps the most significant ones are Captain America and Superman, both of whom were from their beginnings clearly founded on the Ideal American Ideology and Principles, which were fairly deeply ingrained after the American Revolution (even if they hadn't been fully realized until the civil right movement). Superman has fought for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" since very early in his career, and has used both his civilian reporter and super identity to fight for freedom. Captain America has, quite literally, always fought for America and what it represents, and in an incident that I'll go into greater detail in a future article, he once had a crisis of ideology after the Watergate Scandal that resulted in him giving up the Captain America identity for a while. That's not to say all superheroes are liberals (which I'll be getting into more next week), but given that most heroes, especially the ones created during the Golden and Silver ages, tended to fight for freedom and justice in general, it's quite clear that Liberalism plays a significant role in the culture of superheroes.
Okay, so that's a solid step forward. Join us Wednesday when we start talking about the Health Care Plans!
~James
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