What Ideologies Are Superheroes? - Utilitarianism

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 Utilitarian? 

What is Utilitarianism?
(Summarized from Wikipedia)
Utilitarianism is an ethics theory that holds that the proper actions are ones that maximize overall happiness. Utilitarianism is considered a form of consequentialism, where the consequences from one's actions are the ultimate basis for judgement about the rightness of those actions. In utilitarianism, the moral worth of an action is determined only by the resulting outcome, and there is internal debate over how much consideration should be given to actual consequences, foreseen consequences and intended consequences. A fundamental axiom of utilitarianism is 'it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong', written by Jeremy Bentham in A Fragment on Government, an influential contributor, who would describe Utilitarianism as 'the greatest happiness principle'. Utilitarianism is usually characterized as a quantitative and reductionist approach to ethics, and a type of naturalism.

Are Superheroes Utilitarian?
Some superheroes are, yes. Given Utilitarianism's "As much happiness for as many people" principle and superheroes' "for the greater good" mentality, the whole saving people on a daily basis from everything from supervillians to traffic accidents certainly applies. And Utilitarianism's most common criticism of ignoring the rules in favor of the outcome, or "the ends justify the means" attitude, certainly applies to some of the more recent superheroes after the rise of anti-heroes, along with the moral debates it raises, although these debates within comics tend to treat the criminal in the equation as a non-human entity, unlike some of the ideology's more serious debates.
The most famous Utilitarian superhero is likely Ozymandias from Watchmem, who motives through out the series are often described by the character as for the greatest benefit to humanity, which is also given as the reason why the character left superheroing and went into business, since it's were he perceived he could do the greatest good. So most superheroes do have some degree of utilitarianism, but for most it's not a major focus.

Another interesting article, and we're down to one major ideology, Authoritarianism, which we'll look at next week, and join us Wednesday when we look at the presidential candidates' plans on taxes.
~James