The Recession, Crime and Superhero Incentives

We've spoken before about the link between poverty, economics and crime. Consider the panel above, suggesting that rampant unemployment in Liberty Hill has contributed to the surge in violent crime and death. Well, it looks like there is more real-Earth evidence that links harsh economic times to crime. Specifically:

Emerging research from sociologists, journalists, trade journals, and law enforcement suggest that certain types of crime are rising and began rising in early 2009/late 2008 when the pains of the recession first began being felt. This has led some analysts to investigate a link between the two, theorizing that the anxiety, suffering, and loss of the financial meltdown has made criminals more likely to commit crimes.

Of course, the majority of these crimes are not violent crimes (as suggested in Ink), but rather crimes associated with a financial gain or incentive. According to USA Today, robberies and burglaries are on the rise and have been increasing 39% and 32% in 2009. Vehicle theft has been increasing 40%, drugs and prostitution have been linked to an increase in foreclosures, and domestic violence against women has surged since 2009. In addition, there has been a rise in insurance fraud and identity theft. Nationwide's 2009 survey demonstrated that 10% of the respondents had missed payments due to identity theft.

In fact, violent crime seems to be the only type of crime that is decreasing (at least in certain areas). According to Freakonomics, murder in New York has fallen compared to last year by 21%. Rapes are down by nearly as much.

Add to this the fact that police departments across the country are feeling the economic squeeze. McClatchy reports "Declining sales and property taxes are forcing law enforcement agencies across the country to postpone buying equipment, cut recruitment classes, freeze overtime and redeploy staff to save money." So the police officers that are still on staff end up having less of an incentive to effectively fight crime, as depicted in the following panel.


What are the implications of this recession for the major comic book universes? Well, one thing that I had not considered until recently is that mutants, aliens living on Earth, and all metahumans in general might be increasingly tempted to use their powers and abilities for evil rather than good. The recession could actually breed more supervillains, albeit ones likely interested in holding people hostage for ransom and robbing banks. If you're someone with the power of invisibility and you have just lost your dead-end job, have barely enough money to sustain an even meager living in New York, and are struggling with the difficulties and prejudices involved of being a mutant, you might consider walking into a bank and taking some cash. Consider Alan Moore's depiction of the Joker's origin in The Killing Joke. Here, the Joker was just an ordinary man, struggling with a career change and trying to make it as a comedian. Down on his luck and deprived of the funds to support his family, he agrees to be part of a heist against a chemical plant. He has a run in with the Batman and we know the rest. And he wasn't even superhuman!


So what can be done about the recession, crime, and supervillain problem? It seems to me that a crucial measure would be to encourage those on-the-fence metas to take up a life of heroism rather than villainy. This means offering monetary incentives and rewards for fighting crime. We've seen the likes of this scheme before with such organizations as the Thunderbolts, which employs "former" supervillains as employees of the government to catch unregistered, unlicensed superheroes. But we also see it here with the Tattooed Man, a former Green Lantern villain who has now apparently reformed and is enjoying a perks of being a superhero, being an official member of the Justice League of America, and who is apparently receiving money for his work.


I did not quite catch in this issue how the Tattooed Man is receiving a "payday," but I assume it is something similar to Booster Gold during 52, who received endorsement deals from companies and made some advertising revenues. Essentially, he promoted himself as a flying billboard. Indeed, the point is that the Tattooed Man now has an incentive to be a superhero. That means he is not causing trouble for the Justice League. It also means that he is helping to foil bank robberies, murders, heists, evil dark deities' schemes to take over the planet and force human beings into submissive obedience, and pretty much the whole gamut of comic book crimes.

Governments should do everything in their power to offer some sort of payment for these metahumans. This can even go beyond an actual paycheck, but include additional on-the-job benefits. As the Tattooed Man noted, he receives many extra perks for holding an official Justice League club card. It's just like being in a labor union. I am sure that the Tattooed Man now has health benefits, a pension plan, job security, influence on union policy, and discounts at all major alien technology outlets. These are the sorts of benefits that could deter wayward metas from a life of broken bones and exorbitant medical costs on account of being pounded by Superman. That in addition to reducing the potential supervillain population and helping the United States government alleviate its steadily augmenting crime problem.

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Superman, New Krypton, and Labor Unions

Over on New Krypton, Kal-El (formerly Superman) is having trouble negotiating a peaceful resolution to a very dangerous hostage situation. Members of the planet's labor guild have taken Alura, commander of the Kandorian people, as well as several other prominent members of the Council hostage. Though General Zod, who is now Kal-El's superior in the military guild, ordered him to use force to dissolve the attack, Kal-El resolves to listen to the guild's demands. What are they? Simple enough: the workers demand shorter work days so that they can see their families and reduce the illnesses they had been suffering from being overworked, exhausted and malnourished. They are also demanding some form of health care, sick leave, and other social benefits common in Earth's workplace today.

Even New Krypton, a society that favors efficiency over equality and views Earthlings as "primitive" and "weak" for their emphasis on the converse, cannot suppress the rights of the individual. Perhaps had they studied a little Earth history, they might have noticed some historical parallels.

The eight-hour day movement in Europe was a time of dramatic transformations in work life, as adults during the Industrial Revolution typically worked anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day, with little or no time to eat or rest. Factories were unregulated, so there was no one to ensure they met health or sanitation standards. Child exploitation was extremely popular as well. These variables helped spark not only the movement for an eight-hour day, but began to sew the roots of unionization.

Of course, there is an important distinction between this and New Krypton: Capitalism. Workers in the United Kingdom, France and the United States were typically working for private, unregulated employers and were earning wages to survive. New Krypton doesn't seem to work this way. Employers are certainly not private, there seems to be no such thing as "business" or "profit," and hence there is no competition among them. There are no markets. The Invisible Hand has no place on New Krypton. Further, the workers do not actually seem to earn any sort of wage -- it seems that each citizen is instead motivated by an innate sense of civic duty. In fact, the labor guild likely adheres to the social code for one or all of three reasons:

1) Civic duty or a utilitarianism
2) Deep sense of Kryptonian tradition
3) Self-interest: they work in exchange for the right to be citizens, to enjoy the planets public resources (the only one I can think of is pretty crystals), and to be protected by the military guild

Civic duty and tradition are powerful motivators. As an example, consider feudal Japan where vassals were almost instrically attached to serving their lords and would rather experience death before suffering the dishonor of disobeying it. Yet, it's not always enough. We can already see the seams falling apart on New Krypton with Kal-El's presence. Lower-class Kryptonians desire to be equal to that of the nobility. They want to see their families. They don't want to be sick. Nobles want to sit around while laborers tend the fields for sixteen hours. What to do? Assuming Alura grants them shorter hours and medical care, what do you suppose comes next?

That's right! Labor unions! Supposing that laborers work for different employers (scientists, etc.), certain labor forces are going to band together in order to collectively bargain with their superiors for more benefits and better working conditions, to prevent against discrimination, and to be involved with political activity of the state (such as having votes on the Council).

The other issue that concerns me is moral hazard. The medical scientists in the science guild need to take time and resources to heal the sick. If the workers get continual access to health care from the science guild, what is to stop them from abusing this? I think that eventually Alura and Zod will need to introduce some system of payment. And what comes next? Markets! Workers will have more access to health services, but they will have to shell out some serious ice crystals in order to get it.

The point is that it does not seem that New Krypton can continue suppressing the labor guild. And that's not a bad thing. Kal-El is champion of the workers. He's like FDR. Better yet, he's like Upton Sinclair, laying upon the masses his masterpiece, The Ice Crystal Fortress.

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