Most would become supervillains if given superpowers, study says.

This thread is slowly losing interest for me. Arguments about drug problems, big hulking issues of morality, justice. Ambiguous concepts of good and evil mashed with half ideas and armature in-site. Remember Superman IV, where the boy in blue tackles Disarmament? The topic was beyond his reach, and made for a boring movie. There was a comic that was for famine relief where Superman again tried to solve the world food distribution network, and it wound up being preachy and boring.

That's whats happening here, the topic is going beyond our reach, and the stories we would tell are boring.



Be heroes, Inspire!

Back on topic.

If I suddenly gained Superman levels of powers, I would become a supervillain. I'd start by destroying five cities. Four very large (trust me, you've heard of them), and one small one.

I'd then continue to do things around the world, using my powers to keep my identity hidden as I rework the world to start shifting towards what I think would be an improvement of the world's mindset.

And what about when I'm 3-4 months in, when I finally realize that this is NOT a dream and I'm the world's worst mass murderer? I think I'd spend the next week curled up in a corner, vomiting. I might try to find a way to kill myself (and freak out even more if I can't), but by then the real damage would have been done.

You could maybe not do the whole destroying cities thing and do something nice instead?

Perhaps being a Superman class villain wouldn't be the end all bad thing we are making it out to be. After all, if you can become the thing that Humanity hates, then Humanity will have to join together to defeat you! Perhaps your villainy will spark a golden age of peace in the world.

Okay here's a scenario of what could happen if the drug laws were changed to make drug use legal.

Drug use is made legal:

The Cons:
The government then puts the same vice tax on them as it has on alcohol and tobacco. Gotta make back the money spent on the bailouts. Employers may still require random drug testing as a condition of employment(most will). Its their business after all. The government also puts random drug testing as a requirement to keep getting unemployment payments. The driving under the influence laws are expanded to include the now legal drugs with the same penalties. Anyone who is in prison on just a drug charge can go home. So unemployment is going to go up. Most of those people will have a hard time finding employment since they will not have any recent work experience. The gap between the rich and the poor will become larger since drug use will only be tolerated in minimum wage jobs.

The Pros:
Drug use is no longer a felony. Far less people will be in prison, less tax dollars spent there YAY! Smart entrepenuers will be quick to take advantage of a business that generates its own demand. Many new businesses will pop up. Those former prisoners mentioned up there will be competing for a place in this industry where their knowledge of those drugs will be useful. Random drug testing requirements in those businesses will vary but as they grow larger it will become more common. Corporations value efficiency and drugs impair efficiency. Farmers will be able to grow new crops if they want to.

The end result: A semi-permanent lower class made up of addicted drug users(We may have this now so not sure if this is a change). A new multibillion dollar industry to sell to those users. Billions in new tax revenue for local, state, and federal governments. Fewer tax dollars spent on prisons due to a significant drop in population.

So Durakken better than it is now? Or worse? Or do you have your own idea of what would happen?

On a funny note(from unfortunate personal experience-very dumb classmate that decided he would experiment with speed before school during my junior year) I predict a record number of light switches will be sold as the increase in the number of people who can use speed results in more than a few becoming fascinated with light switches while high and flicking them on and off as fast as they can, breaking them.

Off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, off, on, WOULD YOU @#$%ING STOP THAT!!!

Edit: Sorry QuietAmerican I couldn't resist.
Edit2:Fixed a verb tense. Grr should've proofread before posting.

Whether a person becomes a hero or villain with super powers depends on so many variables it is pitiful.

What are their powers?

Did others get powers?

Do they have a way to survive without resorting to crime?

What is their psychological mindset?

Is there a way to market their powers?

Take me.

With Super strength, I doubt my life would change, unless I could take a hit as well.

With teleportation, yeah I would become a thief. I would not become a murderer. Heck, I would even try to save lives when I could. Depending on my range, I would possibly become an explorer.

With invisibility, I would become a villain, hands down, and I might even go through the government to do so.

As a shapeshifter, I would become an actor. The man of a 1000 faces, literally.

With Kryptonian powers, I would do my best to end the threat of world war, knowing that it's impossible until the world itself wants that.

With savant abilities, or super intelligence, I would start by selling vehicles to the US military with the following modifications; a new fuel source to cut the dependance on fossil fuels, improved protective capabilities to protect the troops, and then, subdual only weapons. With that money I would branch into other fields, such as ending world hunger, and cleaning up what passes as medicine in this country. From there, I would work on finding a way to terraform Mars and Venus, and get colonists to both planets.

What you have details how you would react.

You know Durraken had you read that you would have seen that the only thing I had the government do was place a tax on the product like the do other drugs and also gasoline. The government in my scenario no longer placed any legal ramifications in what a person does to themself with drugs.

You dismissed my scenario because you assumed that I was taking an opposition viewpoint and you assumed I was wrong without reading.

How can I take you seriously at this point?