Question for Readers: What are the United States' Top National Priorities?

(The person who comments with the best answer to this question will win a prize, which will be a comic book of his or her choice for under $20, assuming it is available at my local shop. Please note, we will not ship internationally. Also, one comment per user please!).



Last week, we had a post that touched upon the subject of national priorities in the DC Universe. Specifically, we said:

It must be strange living in a world where security is such a major issue. According to a CBS/NYTimes poll from June 2009, 57& of respondents cited the economy and jobs as the most important issue facing the country. Health care got 7%. War and peace was only 2%. In the DC Universe, where global security is constantly threatened, do priorities change? Do health care and the economy take a back seat to global security and intergalactic freedom? And so much so that the world comes to agreement in attacking another planet so quickly and easily?

This is just one theory, but it is not necessarily the case. In fact, one of our loyal readers pointed out that priorities could be quite the opposite. Since there is a catastrophic, time-unraveling, mind-wiping event that shatters the very foundation of the DCU nearly every year, and since the Justice League tends to fly down from its moon base and save the day in all those instances, it is conceivable that the general public has grown accustomed to letting the League worry about security. National polling data could very well reveal that the U.S. population is more heavily concerned with spending their taxpayer dollars on social programs rather than crime and security.

We know (as this blog tries to show daily) that superheroes have a considerable effect on the jobs, inflation, taxes, health care, health insurance, crime, and others. Furthermore, I should point out that there is a huge distinction between the DC and Marvel Universes. My sense is that Marvel's priorities might be closer to real-Earth's while DC's might differ more significantly.

Of course, I could be wrong, which is why I'm opening the floor to the readers. In these worlds, what do people likely consider the most important national issues? What do you think are the top 5 national priorities in the DC Universe and the Marvel Universe?

One note: this question is likely to garner many similar rankings. I think the emphasis should be on the explanation of them. That is, Mark and I will award the prize to who we consider has the most creative (and of course, sensible) explanation of their rankings.

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The United States' First War Treaty?

Supergirl #44 by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle (2009)

The President of the United States in the DC Universe travels to the nation of Markovia to sign what he thinks if the first ever free-trade agreement with them. What is he actually signing?

That's right -- he's signing a war treaty. That is, the President of the United States is signing an agreement with Markovia in order to engage in intergalactic conflict with New Krypton.

I've heard of peace treaties before (agreements that end war or conflict) and I've heard of treaties that establish an alliance between two nations during war, but I have never actually heard of a war treaty that actually sets out to create a multilateral conflict. It's also bizarre that General Lane implies that all the other nations of the world have already agreed to attack New Krypton and that Markovia would complete the set. Does this mean that the President thought he was signing free-trade agreements with every other nation on Earth? Does the U.S. now have a collection of signed war treaties from every country? "The War Treaty of Switzerland?" Why isn't there just one treaty?

It must be strange living in a world where security is such a major issue. According to a CBS/NYTimes poll from June 2009, 57& of respondents cited the economy and jobs as the most important issue facing the country. Health care got 7%. War and peace was only 2%. In the DC Universe, where global security is constantly threatened, do priorities change? Do health care and the economy take a back seat to global security and intergalactic freedom? And so much so that the world comes to agreement in attacking another planet so quickly and easily?

Apparently so. And yet, the governments of the world still felt the need to keep this agreement from the public. In fact, Project 7734, the government-funded organization in charge of curbing the new threat posed by the Kryptonians, is a furtive operation that not even the President knows he is funding. If security is, in fact, such a major issue, you would think that the taxpayers would be more willing to spend their dollars on it. And I'm sure Project 7734 could accomplish more if it weren't lurking in the shadows. This could only mean that they're planning something so vital to the Earth's future survival that the nations of the world agree to engage in intergalactic conflict, but so nefarious that despite the public's xenophobia, it would likely not support it.

The lesson here: elect a President who reads what he signs.

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