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Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
An interesting political science excersize.	ETWolverine	06/07/06
Hello all. A few of you may have figured out from my screenname that I'm a comic book collector (alright I'm a geek, but I don't give a $h!t). This summer, Marvel Comics is having an event called "Civil War" that will be running through several of the titles. Here's the concept: The series will center upon a newly enacted Super-Human Registration Act, an act which splits notable superheroes within the Marvel Universe. This will result in two super-powered factions forming, and will build to the titular Civil War, into which themes from current events will be weaved, although writer Mark Millar has noted "The political allegory is only for those that are politically aware. Kids are going to read it and just see a big superhero fight." According to the New York Times article on the story, "The story opens with a reckless fight between the New Warriors, filming a reality television show, and a cadre of villains. The battle goes awry for the heroes, resulting in villain Nitro creating an explosion that takes out all but one of the New Warriors, a local school, and the surrounding neighborhood. This event crystallizes a government movement to register all super-powered beings as living weapons of mass destruction.The subsequent Registration Act will divide the heroes into two camps, one led by Captain America, the other by Iron Man." Iron Man takes the side of supporting the Super-Human Registration Act, and Captain America will be against. Some people have already taken sides as well. In New Avengers: Illuminati, Mister Fantastic took Iron Man's side on the bill, but Doctor Strange was against it. Black Bolt's alliegence is still inconclusive, due to his inability to communicate vocally. Marvel has said that the Fantastic Four will be divided. All that is confirmed is that husband and wife will be divided and that Invisible Woman will be among those who are against the bill. Along the way, Marvel will unveil its version of Guantánamo Bay, enemy combatants, embedded reporters and more. The question at the heart of the series is a fundamental one: 'Would you give up your civil liberties to feel safer in the world?' " The above was taken from a Wikipedia article on the Civil War storyline, citations eliminated. So, here's the question: do you support the Superhuman Registration Act (SRA), or are you against it? There are several arguments both for and against the SRA. Pro: 1) Right now, there are too many people who are untrained in police activities who are making mistakes that could get themselves or others killed. The SRA calls for uniform training and oversight of anyone who wants to be a "costumed vigilante" so that they don't make those kinds of mistakes and risk hurting people... as the New Warriors did in their search for ratings for their reality TV show. 2) Cops and soldiers are trained and regulated. Why shouldn't superheroes be similarly trained and regulated if they are doing the job of cops and soldiers. 3) The rules would only apply to those who are actual superheroes. Those who have superpowers but who do not wear costumes and fight crime need not register (at least according to my understanding of the SRA). So there is no issue of profiling or rules that apply to a specific class or group of people. People can choose whether they wish to participate or not, but if they choose not to, any costumed superheroing they do would be illegal... the same as if you owned a gun illegally without registering it. 4) Government resouces and superheo talent could be properly pooled to help get the job of stopping supervillians done more efficiently. If superheroes had the NSA's electronic spying ability and the CIA and FBI's intelligence gathering capabilities at their beck and call, they could stop supervillians before they put their plots in motion. 5) Superheroes who sign in under the SRA will get government benefits and salaries like any government employee, which is good for the superheroes, especially those who are not well-off like Spiderman and Luke Cage. Anti: 1) It is tradition fo costumed heroes to remain anonymous, even to the government. (This is the weakest of all the anti-SRA arguments in my opinion.) 2) As Captain America puts it, how long will it be before the government starts deciding who the badguys are? The point of the superhero is to be above political considerations of government agencies. 3) If all superheroes are registered, who will do the "black" stuff that the govenment can't acknowledge doing? The type of stuff that Wolverine does on his own? If all the heroes work for the government, disavowing them is not an option. 4) The SRA restricts the individual liberties of the heroes. 5) Although the identities of the heroes would be kept top secret, if someone got their hands on that information, it could endanger the families and friends of the heroes. 6) Working for the government would actually make their jobs harder: has there ever been a project that the government didn't complicate with red tape and politics and committee meetings? And I am sure that there are other arguments on both sides of the issue that I haven't thought of or read yet. What is your opinion on the matter? Is the SRA a good thing or a bad thing. The superheroes are split down the middle on the issue, and it is going to result, as the storyline's name makes clear, in a civil war among the superheroes. As the tagline for the series says: "Which side will you choose?" Elliot
Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/07/06 3:07 pm: just looked it up ...Wolverine is against registration . Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/07/06 3:11 pm: guess that makes sense actually as he also as an X Men is opposed to the' Mutant Registration Act'. Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 06/07/06 4:09 pm: Tom, I expected that Wolvie wuld be against it. Yes, part of the reason is because he's against the Mutant Registration Act, and this is far too similar. But part of it is because he's worked for the government before, and knows just how badly governments can screw this sort of thing up. He did more than one objectionable thing in the name of "national security" while with the Canadian secret service and as part of Alpha Flight (which was government-controlled), so he understands just what the SRA would mean to the effectivness of the superheroes and the types of jobs they would be called upon to do. I have similar problems with it, but I just wonmder whether the advantages might not outweigh the disadvantages. Making a decision would be easier if I could see a copy of the proposed legislation and review the actual text. Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/07/06 4:12 pm: did you see the new movie yet ? I almost did Sat. but went to 'Davinci Code ' instead . Clarification/Follow-up by kindj on 06/07/06 4:19 pm: Tom, >> "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."<< If there were to be one motto for my life, that would be it. Gotta love Orwell. Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 06/07/06 4:48 pm: Thanks for being one of the rough men, Dennis. It is appreciated. And yes, Orwell had that one dead on right. Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/07/06 5:53 pm: you mean the Tony Stark ? CEO of Halliburton ?? Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 06/07/06 6:49 pm: LOL!!! Good one. If I remember correctly, Stark Enterprises actually did get a number of no-bid government contracts for development and manufacture of military weapons. So in essence the SecDef (or his department, anyway) was approving no-bid contracts to himself... Hmmm... where have I heard that accusation before... Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/07/06 7:10 pm: look at it this way . besides Stark and Bruce Wayne all the other capitalists in the comics are evil-doers like Norman Osborn Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 06/07/06 7:26 pm: Mr. Fantastic is an evildoer? Remember he owns one of the largest R&D companies in the Marvel Universe. Alright, I'll grant you Norman Osborne, Kingpin, Dr. Doom, Sebastian Shaw and a few others. But there is also Warren Worthington (Archangel), Namor (he funded a large merchant marine company with sunken treasure), Henry Pym (another R&D guy), and Janet Van Dyne (Wasp. She's a multi-millionaire model, actress, heir and entertainment agent). So there are capitalists on both sides of the fence. Elliot Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 06/15/06 6:37 pm: just saw a news item that Spiderman reveals himself to be Peter Parker in the middle of Time Square in the Civil War series . He is in favor of the new registration law . Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 06/15/06 8:49 pm: That is what I hear too. Although he had to go through a lot of soul-searching to come to that decision. Word is that he was planning not to register, but Iron Man (who has done Spidey some favors recently) asked him for support, and Aunt May convinced him to go along with it. I have a feeling that in the end, he's going to have regrets about the revelation. (Good thing this is the comics: Both Iron Man and Captain America have revealed themselves to the public in the past, and both have managed to get people to forget their identities through magic or technology when they regretted their decisions. I have a feeling that at some point the same thing will happen to Spidey.) Elliot

Summary of Answers Received	Answered On	Answered By	Average Rating
1. you know which side Marvel is coming down on if Captain Amer...	06/07/06	tomder55
2. OK, now I get it. Hey, you picked the best superhero for yo...	06/07/06	kindj
3. I may be flip flopping on this one . I just read that part o...	06/07/06	tomder55
4. LOL I'm anti-SRA too. 5) Superheroes who sign in unde...	06/07/06	purplewings
5. I do want to see X3. Best argument for Pro is #2 Best...	06/07/06	BeelzeBUSH

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