If you were as powerful as Superman...

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Gotta agree with Kon93,That's way too much power for any one person and some of the ideas here are $&^#ed up. Hell I'm no better, I like to think I would do the right thing, but in all likelihood I'd probably go crazy within a week.

[adkal]

That is the most beautiful page of a Superman comic that I have ever seen. Where's it from?

I think it's in Mysteries of Love in Space.

[Vakanai]

I'm very very happy that this will NEVER be a reality. I know I would try to do the right thing or try to live by the old saying "1st do no harm", the comments here make me very scared for humanity even without supermans powers.

Actually, depending on just who has these powers, we might be better off. Sure, someone with Superman's powers might be scary and go the world conquest route, but most people are genuinely good and would probably try and do real good. It might be worth the risk having someone with that level of power who can actually change things on our side for once. Because the truth is, part of the reason why we are so, so, so much more screwed than you're probably thinking, why so many are so very scared for humanity right now, is that the bulk of the power on earth right now is all in the hands of people who don't give a flip about humanity or our collective future and only care about amassing more wealth and more power at the expense of us all. I'd take a shitty Superman-wannabe who is at least trying to save the world over our current predicament any day of the week. Because as scary as a man with that power could be, unless he's a full on kill all humans genocidal madman he's not half as scary as our current real world trajectory seems to be heading in the long run. Because we are not going to change enough in time to avert the worst of climate change, we are only going to become more divided politically around the world, the wealth gap and resentment it causes will only grow, and there will be a larger population to suffer through the bad times that are ultimately coming in this world without a Superman.

Luckily the worst of this is decades out and I live in one of the richest nations on Earth, so I've given up caring. As long as it doesn't get to extinction level bad it'll be largely tolerable here. But a lot of third world countries are going to starve. I mean, even more so than now. Don't watch the news.

[Kon93]

Actually, depending on just who has these powers, we might be better off. Sure, someone with Superman's powers might be scary and go the world conquest route, but most people are genuinely good and would probably try and do real good. It might be worth the risk having someone with that level of power who can actually change things on our side for once. Because the truth is, part of the reason why we are so, so, so much more screwed than you're probably thinking, why so many are so very scared for humanity right now, is that the bulk of the power on earth right now is all in the hands of people who don't give a flip about humanity or our collective future and only care about amassing more wealth and more power at the expense of us all. I'd take a shitty Superman-wannabe who is at least trying to save the world over our current predicament any day of the week. Because as scary as a man with that power could be, unless he's a full on kill all humans genocidal madman he's not half as scary as our current real world trajectory seems to be heading in the long run. Because we are not going to change enough in time to avert the worst of climate change, we are only going to become more divided politically around the world, the wealth gap and resentment it causes will only grow, and there will be a larger population to suffer through the bad times that are ultimately coming in this world without a Superman.

Luckily the worst of this is decades out and I live in one of the richest nations on Earth, so I've given up caring. As long as it doesn't get to extinction level bad it'll be largely tolerable here. But a lot of third world countries are going to starve. I mean, even more so than now. Don't watch the news.

"our side"? Who's side is that again.

Your comments are the most alarming of everyone else's here, and that's saying something. Your the type who believe he is doing the right thing, but become a tyrant, and that's with and without supermans powers.

I'm not perfect,and I don't like a lot of things ppl do, but I'm not judge and jury over them, and I wouldnt be with supermans powers.

1st do no harm
Treat others the way you would want to be treated
Don't take what isn't yours
Try seeing things from the other side

[DrNewGod]

Actually, depending on just who has these powers, we might be better off. Sure, someone with Superman's powers might be scary and go the world conquest route, but most people are genuinely good and would probably try and do real good. It might be worth the risk having someone with that level of power who can actually change things on our side for once. Because the truth is, part of the reason why we are so, so, so much more screwed than you're probably thinking, why so many are so very scared for humanity right now, is that the bulk of the power on earth right now is all in the hands of people who don't give a flip about humanity or our collective future and only care about amassing more wealth and more power at the expense of us all. I'd take a shitty Superman-wannabe who is at least trying to save the world over our current predicament any day of the week. Because as scary as a man with that power could be, unless he's a full on kill all humans genocidal madman he's not half as scary as our current real world trajectory seems to be heading in the long run. Because we are not going to change enough in time to avert the worst of climate change, we are only going to become more divided politically around the world, the wealth gap and resentment it causes will only grow, and there will be a larger population to suffer through the bad times that are ultimately coming in this world without a Superman.

Luckily the worst of this is decades out and I live in one of the richest nations on Earth, so I've given up caring. As long as it doesn't get to extinction level bad it'll be largely tolerable here. But a lot of third world countries are going to starve. I mean, even more so than now. Don't watch the news.

Bad? Yes. Unrecoverable? No.

As far as income inequality goes, we've seen that before. France, 1789. Russia, 1918. The US, 1929. The cure is ugly, but tides do turn.

As for the environment, that's a tougher one. It's going to have to get ugly too. We'll just have to see whether enough of us live through it.

As for Superman. Unless we could be sure that he had the patience and faith in us that Kal-el has shown, I'd imagine that someone as powerful as Superman could easily be WAY worse than what we've got now.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

Probably first spend a month in deserts so I can learn to touch things again without crushing them. After that try and find a way to talk with the UN in a way that doesn’t start WW3 so there could be a formal announcement of Superman being a thing that exists (because you bet I’m going to wear the suit), and then likely spend most of the next month stopping people from killing themselves because they think the rapture is happening. Then do Superman stuff; if a secret identity wasn’t a possibility, maybe see if my handlers or whoever could set me up with a nice, discrete high-rise apartment with high ceilings with lots of crap food and a big TV and comics as my payment for world-saving, since a regular job would probably be out of the picture.

(Since everyone's talking political/world-changing ramifications here: aside from seeing if I could do something about global warming, relatively little direct action. I'd make my views entirely publicly clear, but the majority of the stuff being discussed here leads - not in a slippery slope sense but immediately - to "are you willing to go to war with and then have to rule the world because every government on the planet is going to be terrified of you and anything like that will immediately set them all off?" For me, the answer is no.)

[Vakanai]

"our side"? Who's side is that again.

Your comments are the most alarming of everyone else's here, and that's saying something. Your the type who believe he is doing the right thing, but become a tyrant, and that's with and without supermans powers.

I'm not perfect,and I don't like a lot of things ppl do, but I'm not judge and jury over them, and I wouldnt be with supermans powers.

1st do no harm
Treat others the way you would want to be treated
Don't take what isn't yours
Try seeing things from the other side

Oh please, be a tyrant? Already said I've mostly given up on this world, outside maybe making a few actual real world tyrants and the very worst lot of the billionaire oligarchs disappear in the phantom zone I ain't doing nothing about controlling things. So tyrant is a bit strong. Mysterious kidnapper and prisoner, yeah, but meh. Kim Jung Un ain't got a side I want to see thank you very much.
And again, I'm just saying, I'd rather risk having somebody with good intentions going down the wrong road trying to clean this mess up, not that I actually want someone to try and go in all benevolent tyrant. I think one well intentioned normal person getting power is worth the risk compared to the current reality where all the power is concentrated in the hands of people who largely don't give a damn. Very much a difference between what I actually said and what you think I said.

Bad? Yes. Unrecoverable? No.

As far as income inequality goes, we've seen that before. France, 1789. Russia, 1918. The US, 1929. The cure is ugly, but tides do turn.

As for the environment, that's a tougher one. It's going to have to get ugly too. We'll just have to see whether enough of us live through it.

As for Superman. Unless we could be sure that he had the patience and faith in us that Kal-el has shown, I'd imagine that someone as powerful as Superman could easily be WAY worse than what we've got now.

Sure, things aren't unrecoverable, yet. But income inequality will be a lot harder to change than centuries past, no one wants another bloody revolution again, and the uber wealthy in this era have private armies, bunkers, etc. And all the politicians in their pockets. It ain't changing this century.

And at our current rate, we'll probably wind up sailing way past the point of no return before we get our act together on climate change. It'll be too little too late. Again, survivable, probably, for most of us, but third world nations that are already struggling? Yeah, sadly smart money is on it getting very ugly, like in the tens or even hundreds of millions ugly.

Not to be an alarmist, just pointing out we should probably stop caring now and live in the happy moment because the future is screwed, so we might as well say screw the future.

[Kon93]

Oh please, be a tyrant? Already said I've mostly given up on this world, outside maybe making a few actual real world tyrants and the very worst lot of the billionaire oligarchs disappear in the phantom zone I ain't doing nothing about controlling things. So tyrant is a bit strong. Mysterious kidnapper and prisoner, yeah, but meh. Kim Jung Un ain't got a side I want to see thank you very much.
And again, I'm just saying, I'd rather risk having somebody with good intentions going down the wrong road trying to clean this mess up, not that I actually want someone to try and go in all benevolent tyrant. I think one well intentioned normal person getting power is worth the risk compared to the current reality where all the power is concentrated in the hands of people who largely don't give a damn. Very much a difference between what I actually said and what you think I said.


Sure, things aren't unrecoverable, yet. But income inequality will be a lot harder to change than centuries past, no one wants another bloody revolution again, and the uber wealthy in this era have private armies, bunkers, etc. And all the politicians in their pockets. It ain't changing this century.

And at our current rate, we'll probably wind up sailing way past the point of no return before we get our act together on climate change. It'll be too little too late. Again, survivable, probably, for most of us, but third world nations that are already struggling? Yeah, sadly smart money is on it getting very ugly, like in the tens or even hundreds of millions ugly.

Not to be an alarmist, just pointing out we should probably stop caring now and live in the happy moment because the future is screwed, so we might as well say screw the future.

That is insanely pessimistic, and taking out a few billionaires is still you being a tyrant easily.

Countries deserve to fall or rise above on their own, not be decided by someone who "thinks" he knows what is best for them.

I think this world will be fine, sure there will be ****, there is always ****, but there is enough good to not give up on humanity

[Hypestyle]

isn't part of the point of the appeal of Superman is that he is the guy who is going to be "moral to a fault"? Not killing known dictators-- and supercriminals like Lex-- even though he can?

[Ascended]

Probably first spend a month in deserts so I can learn to touch things again without crushing them.

Goes without saying. I mean, just the fact that the dude can breathe without knocking cars over is an incredible feat of self-control on a involuntary level we can't even imagine. It'd take some time to adjust to that kind of reality.

(Since everyone's talking political/world-changing ramifications here: aside from seeing if I could do something about global warming, relatively little direct action. I'd make my views entirely publicly clear, but the majority of the stuff being discussed here leads - not in a slippery slope sense but immediately - to "are you willing to go to war with and then have to rule the world because every government on the planet is going to be terrified of you and anything like that will immediately set them all off?" For me, the answer is no.)

For me personally, I think "responsibility" would be my downfall. When you can do what Clark can, the *right* choice lies in what you *dont* do, rather than what you do. And I very much doubt I could sit back and watch something like Syria happen without feeling responsible for the situation, because I would very much be able to make an impact. I might tell myself that I'm no diplomat and my very presence would just incite the world's governments and I'd just make everything worse.....and then I'd see a photo of a little refugee who reminds me of one of my kids, and reasonable arguments would go out the window.

I'm not a selfish or greedy guy. I try to be pretty even-minded about stuff. I have no desire to see my name in lights or resound down through history. And I have no interest in enforcing my opinions on everyone else (who would I argue with?) But I am a big believer in doing everything you can to make the world around you better. You give me Superman's powers and I'm not going to want to rule the world but I am definitely not going to be able to limit myself to putting out fires.

Best case scenario is I have the presence of mind to go find someone like the Dalai Lama, and say to him "I'm not wise enough to use these powers properly. So you just tell me what to do and we'll hope your wisdom is enough." Better than putting my trust in a bunch of politicians like the UN.

isn't part of the point of the appeal of Superman is that he is the guy who is going to be "moral to a fault"? Not killing known dictators-- and supercriminals like Lex-- even though he can?

Yes. But none of us are Clark Kent.

[Vakanai]

That is insanely pessimistic, and taking out a few billionaires is still you being a tyrant easily.

Countries deserve to fall or rise above on their own, not be decided by someone who "thinks" he knows what is best for them.

I think this world will be fine, sure there will be ****, there is always ****, but there is enough good to not give up on humanity

Yeah, not ruling the world here, not telling anyone what to do, not killing anyone, and I believe I'm pretty sanely realistic thank you very much. And honestly, a few billionaires like the Koch Brothers or the peeps who run Monsanto are as bad as guys like Kim Jung Un, who I don't see you defending, unless you really think the North Korean people are currently deciding to rise or fall on their own. But you have already made up your mind about me, and honestly I have no reason to care at all what some random guy thinks online about my response to a question as impossible as "if I had Superman's powers". You can put your faith and hope in humanity all you want, but frankly it doesn't matter. Hope and faith doesn't actually change anything in the real world without action, and no action you or I are likely to take will have any bearing on anything. I've given up on humanity as a whole, and am honestly a lot happier and less stressed out for it. It's been good for me. I haven't been disappointed with my decision yet. Namely because there's more worthwhile places to place my hope, like family, friends, and God. The species though, meh, we're largely happy to continue digging our own grave, who am I to argue with that level of suicidal determinism? Dig on peeps, dig on.

[myownlittleusername]

I'm afraid I would've become Punisher with Superman powers, because real world system doesn't work and can't be trusted. You have to take justice into your hands and be the executioner or else the villain will buy his way out of the system that was suppose to take care of things. I wish I was as good as Superman, but it is hard to do when your world is not a comic book.

I don't think the real world justice system is as much a revolving door that the comics pretend it is due to necessity.

[DrNewGod]

I don't think the real world justice system is as much a revolving door that the comics pretend it is due to necessity.

Perhaps not. But wealth has a way of buying immunity to the justice system. You've got to have an avalanche of both evidence, and publicity to truly get the 0.1% called to account.

[Uncanny Mutie]

I’m scared of heights so flying would take time to get used to.

If you could fly, then you wouldn't be scared of heights.

[Godzilla2099]

Probably keep it low key. Only go public if I know I could help with a disaster like the kids getting stuck in a cave in the Philippines

I'd also put down certain people quickly without revealing identity. (Stanford Rapist and his dad. Animal Abusers, etc)