Just remove the “and health insurance” and this works.
I love it when people play with the “Bruce Wayne is an evil oligarch” trope. Just look at Gotham, it’s massively run down, and yet there are billionaires like Wayne at society events. Sure, he spends nights fighting crime (or at least criminals) as Batman, but does he pay his taxes? Does he employ lobbyists who lobby for tax breaks on billionaires, justifying it by thinking that without those tax breaks he couldn’t afford to have Wayne Enterprises come up with such cool toys for Batman, and he wouldn’t be as effective at fighting crime criminals? Surely, one of the best ways to reduce crime in Gotham wouldn’t be to punch bad guys at night, but to ensure that there’s a robust social safety net, and that there isn’t such a vast wealth disparity between the haves and the have-nots. But, we don’t see either Batman or Bruce Wayne arguing for more taxes on the rich, more social programs for the poor, etc. It’s more about having adventures and going to gala events.
As for this comic, the only way health insurance companies benefit if someone requires life-long medical care is if they’re not the ones footing the medical bill, and are just a proxy for government money. So, instead of “It’s a good thing you have health insurance”, “It’s a good thing you’re on Gothamcare Advantage by Wayne Enterprises”. Similar to the scam that is Medicare Advantage.
Edit: Now I want to see someone do a Batman spoof where he’s “fighting crime” in his Batsuit but with one of those green eye shades, sitting at a desk, going line by line through financial data on his fellow oligarchs, trying to find the ways they cheated on their taxes.
The thing about Batman that you need to remember is that he’s been around since the 1930s. Many facets of the character have been explored, including this one. Bruce Wayne has, on multiple occasions, argued for and created social programs for the poor. That is something he has done in many comics.
That said, he hasn’t argued for higher taxation on the rich. There’s a few reasons for this, the chief among them being the unquestioned omnipresent capitalist dogma that informs a lot of media. Though I’d add that the idea of wealth redistribution is kind of incompatible with the idea of Batman. He’s a deeply psychologically motivated character. His war on crime is largely personal. As his vigilantism is enabled by his wealth, it makes sense that he would favour philanthropy. He wants to be the agent of change in ‘his’ city. Broadly speaking, that might make him ineffective but I don’t think it makes him bad. I think it’s part of what makes him an interesting character.
argued for and created social programs for the poor
Has he argued for big government programs, or is it Wayne Enterprises or Bruce Wayne charities?
Though I’d add that the idea of wealth redistribution is kind of incompatible with the idea of Batman
It is, that’s kinda the point. He’s a rich guy with no superpowers who fights crime. He’s able to fight supervillains through technology and he can afford that tech because he’s rich. You take away his wealth and you take away his tech. Without tech he’s just a man, and he can’t stand up to supervillains.
But, I think it would be really interesting for a writer to explore a Batman who actually identified unregulated capitalism as a problem, and how Wayne Enterprises is at the heart of that. Superheroes losing their powers is a common trope in comics. I haven’t read much Batman, but I would bet that there have been dozens of stories where he’s cut off from the Wayne Enterprises wealth and has to go it alone for a while. It would be different if he saw Wayne Enterprises as an evil he had to conquer though.
Maybe have a Batman story where he gives away his wealth and dismantles Wayne enterprises, and tries to take down all the various other oligarchs. We had the Iron Man story where he was in a cave and had to build an Iron Man suit from random scrap in the cave. What if Batman moved to the slums of Gotham and teamed up with ultra poor but really clever hackers, building weapons and vehicles out of scavenged junk. Instead of Batman in a billion-dollar armored vehicle taking down Bane and his goons, have Batman in bat suit built from scavenged parts, taking down the armed guards of a high-society oligarch who used to be his pal.
It’s true. If Bruce Wayne / Batman cared about fighting crime, he’d go after the root causes: desperation, corruption, inequality, etc. Instead he focuses on fighting criminals.
I’m pretty sure there was at least one comic where he openly admits he knows beating up people in alleys doesn’t change the system, but he’s a fundamentally broken person who needs to keep doing it.
![[AfterDeathComics] Batbills](https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4362696b-8c2a-4d7b-b3df-e758e89475eb.png){kind=link}
Just remove the “and health insurance” and this works.
I love it when people play with the “Bruce Wayne is an evil oligarch” trope. Just look at Gotham, it’s massively run down, and yet there are billionaires like Wayne at society events. Sure, he spends nights fighting crime (or at least criminals) as Batman, but does he pay his taxes? Does he employ lobbyists who lobby for tax breaks on billionaires, justifying it by thinking that without those tax breaks he couldn’t afford to have Wayne Enterprises come up with such cool toys for Batman, and he wouldn’t be as effective at fighting
crimecriminals? Surely, one of the best ways to reduce crime in Gotham wouldn’t be to punch bad guys at night, but to ensure that there’s a robust social safety net, and that there isn’t such a vast wealth disparity between the haves and the have-nots. But, we don’t see either Batman or Bruce Wayne arguing for more taxes on the rich, more social programs for the poor, etc. It’s more about having adventures and going to gala events.As for this comic, the only way health insurance companies benefit if someone requires life-long medical care is if they’re not the ones footing the medical bill, and are just a proxy for government money. So, instead of “It’s a good thing you have health insurance”, “It’s a good thing you’re on Gothamcare Advantage by Wayne Enterprises”. Similar to the scam that is Medicare Advantage.
Edit: Now I want to see someone do a Batman spoof where he’s “fighting crime” in his Batsuit but with one of those green eye shades, sitting at a desk, going line by line through financial data on his fellow oligarchs, trying to find the ways they cheated on their taxes.
The thing about Batman that you need to remember is that he’s been around since the 1930s. Many facets of the character have been explored, including this one. Bruce Wayne has, on multiple occasions, argued for and created social programs for the poor. That is something he has done in many comics.
That said, he hasn’t argued for higher taxation on the rich. There’s a few reasons for this, the chief among them being the unquestioned omnipresent capitalist dogma that informs a lot of media. Though I’d add that the idea of wealth redistribution is kind of incompatible with the idea of Batman. He’s a deeply psychologically motivated character. His war on crime is largely personal. As his vigilantism is enabled by his wealth, it makes sense that he would favour philanthropy. He wants to be the agent of change in ‘his’ city. Broadly speaking, that might make him ineffective but I don’t think it makes him bad. I think it’s part of what makes him an interesting character.
Has he argued for big government programs, or is it Wayne Enterprises or Bruce Wayne charities?
It is, that’s kinda the point. He’s a rich guy with no superpowers who fights crime. He’s able to fight supervillains through technology and he can afford that tech because he’s rich. You take away his wealth and you take away his tech. Without tech he’s just a man, and he can’t stand up to supervillains.
But, I think it would be really interesting for a writer to explore a Batman who actually identified unregulated capitalism as a problem, and how Wayne Enterprises is at the heart of that. Superheroes losing their powers is a common trope in comics. I haven’t read much Batman, but I would bet that there have been dozens of stories where he’s cut off from the Wayne Enterprises wealth and has to go it alone for a while. It would be different if he saw Wayne Enterprises as an evil he had to conquer though.
Maybe have a Batman story where he gives away his wealth and dismantles Wayne enterprises, and tries to take down all the various other oligarchs. We had the Iron Man story where he was in a cave and had to build an Iron Man suit from random scrap in the cave. What if Batman moved to the slums of Gotham and teamed up with ultra poor but really clever hackers, building weapons and vehicles out of scavenged junk. Instead of Batman in a billion-dollar armored vehicle taking down Bane and his goons, have Batman in bat suit built from scavenged parts, taking down the armed guards of a high-society oligarch who used to be his pal.
Bruce does plenty of good with his money, it just isn’t really ever shown in anything other than comics.
Did he hire you to do PR for him?
I like that you made that distinction.
It’s true. If Bruce Wayne / Batman cared about fighting crime, he’d go after the root causes: desperation, corruption, inequality, etc. Instead he focuses on fighting criminals.
I’m pretty sure there was at least one comic where he openly admits he knows beating up people in alleys doesn’t change the system, but he’s a fundamentally broken person who needs to keep doing it.