"Here's a small charge for stopping that meteor."

[deird_lj]

So, I've been watching Lois&Clark, and just got to the episode where the guy gets Superman's powers and starts using them irresponsibly.
(...which isn't really specific enough. Uh, the episode in the second season when that happens.)

And Superman sits him down and gives him a stern talking-to about "right and wrong", which in this case basically means "Do not charge people $37.50 every time you save their life!"

Question for people reading this: is it okay to charge people for doing the superhero thing?

On the one hand, you have Clark Kent, and Buffy Summers, who'd be appalled at the idea.
Then there are people like Angel, who does that every week.
And then there's Peter Parker, who doesn't exactly charge any money, but still uses his superhero identity as a great way to make extra cash, by selling photos of Spiderman.

...I can't really decide who I agree with.

So, what do people think?

Comments

[owenthurman.livejournal.com]

should be free at the point of use and funded out of general taxation

Just like police protection is and health care should be.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

In civilised countries, healthcare already is free at the point of use. :-)

Seriously, superheroes charging the people they rescue is an awful idea. What happens if a helpless victim is too poor to afford their fees? What if they have a choice of saving either a wealthy banker or a poor single mother, but not enough time to save both? Would you really want to save someone from an exploding volcano then bankrupt them because they have to go into debt to repay your fees?

Much better to set up a National Superhero Service funded from taxation. You can still set it up so the heroes only have to work for the NSS for a contracted number of hours per week and can be freelance the rest of the time...

[owenthurman.livejournal.com]

In civilised countries, healthcare already is free at the point of use

You misspelled civilized.

a National Superhero Service funded from taxation

Or they could be funded like commercial television and NASCAR by selling space on their skin tight latex uniforms for corporate logos. When they rescue someone and get interviewed on the eleven o'clock news they could talk about which brand of cigarettes they endorse.