Right to Power

For those of you who aren't in the know, there was a clandestine superhero group in Marvel comics called the Illuminati that banded together to make decisions regarding the world's future. This group was made up of Reed Richards, Namor, Tony Stark, Professor X, Black Bolt and Dr. Strange. Together they felt as though they had a representative of each of Earth's main demographics. For example, Dr. Strange represented the world of magic, Namor the people of the oceans, Professor X mutantkind, etc. Nobody on the planet knew they created this team, not even their other teammates. 


The group only came together when there was a massive threat looming in Earth's near future. In one adventure Reed Richards had the team assemble so they could gather the Infinity Gems. When placed in the Infinity Gauntlet, these gems have the power to destroy time, space, reality and consciousness. There have been several universe-wide adventures in Marvel's history where all of the heroes on Earth would try to defeat anybody who gathered the gems. But the Illuminati felt as though it was a good idea to bring the gems together to make them easier to protect. And as a result they almost destroyed time, space, reality and consciousness.



Beside the arrogance of their plan, it just felt dirty to me. Who were they to decide the fate of the planet and, at times, the universe? I have enough of a problem trusting regular superheroes let alone superheroes who are keeping their comrades in the dark. The Civil War saga showed us the extent to which superheroes can make mistakes, so where is my incentive to entrust them?  The general answer is typically something to the effect that they know what's best for us, but that isn't exactly satisfying.



The "Watchmen" graphic novel also dealt with this problem. Ozymandias, a superhero, killed millions of people in order to save billions. To do this, he gave the world a common enemy to band together against, and as a result there was a feeling of unity across the globe. But again, what gives him the right to do that? Rorschach's answer was that nothing gave him the right, and that's why he was going to tell the press. And that's why he got exploded by Dr. Manhattan. But while Rorschach may be in pieces, the question he represented still remains.


I think I have finally found the answer I was looking for. Thomas Hobbes argued that without a government controlling its people, the lives of men and women would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short." That's why he argued for a powerful, Leviathan-like monarchy. And in the world of Watchmen, and even present day real life, the planet is a world community. The geographic distances that separate us are now meaningless. MacLuhan's global village is almost upon us. So, without a powerful world government controlling its people, it was just a matter of time until chaos broke out (a nuclear holocaust was the likely outcome in Watchmen). So, who better to become the Leviathan than superheroes? 


Anybody who believes in utilitarianism (the ends justify the means) would agree that the actions taken by Ozymandias and his co-conspirators was the right thing to do. After all, a billion lives are more valuable than a million lives. And in order to do what they did, the heroes had to make some ethical decisions. Whether their choices were moral or not doesn't matter because they are the ruling class. They are the monarchy. Rorschach was a rebel who questioned their power, so he had to be done away with.


And, essentially, I believe this argument works for the Illuminati in the Marvel universe. They only flex their Leviathan power when the entire world is at stake, not just when the U.S. or New York city is in trouble. And most every other superhero from Spider-man to Luke Cage can be seen as the Leviathan of a microcosm in the world. 



Sometimes I wonder if humans are as bad as Hobbes believed. Rousseau didn't think so. His entire belief in the social contract depended on it. But when I look at the daily news and see what goes on in the world, I join Hobbes. People, generally, are terrible. Maybe we need a Leviathan to rule us.