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.
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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.