Is Superheroes lifting money from criminals an ethical practice? If someone like Spider-Man or Daredevil started taking cash from criminals they beat up, would you be okay with it?
>>80909142
I mean who cares? They're already breaking the law by kicking asses at night without showing their faces, stealing the dirty money is a plus.
>>80909142
Only if it's for pizza.
But the problem with that idea is that people might misinterpret why they're helping in the first place. You can't go riffling through the pockets of someone you just beat up without people thinking you're a thief.
>>80909142
It makes more sense to do that than have a day job. I loved that Scarlet Spider robbed criminals
I like when they redirect funds to their victims, like say they give the money stolen from the crooked bank to those who were screwed by them. T
But it puts me off if it's for their own gain. It could be a cool approach to a story and direction for a hero, especially for like an actual street level thug type turned hero. But they'd be less likeable as characters as a result.
Only the super-amoral ones do it. Punisher and Americop (who's great grandson is Punisher 2099) were two vigilantes who used to finance their war on crime off of the profits of the dealers they murdered (though in Americop's defense, he only took half; the rest went to local drug treatment facilities as anonymous donations).
For folks like Spidey, part of what made them accepted by the public is that they did not profit off of other criminals by stealing their loot.
>I need money
>Better wait until this purse snatcher finishes the job before I aprehend him
Yeah I can see the problem there.
I think a vigilante like the Punisher wouldn't have a problem with using crimianl money to finance his guns and ammo though, but let's be honest, he's in it for the killings.
>>80909142
So that one bit in Young Justice where Roy doesn't return all the money?
>>80909380
>the Punisher wouldn't have a problem with using crimianl money to finance his guns and ammo
He's on record as having done that on numerous occasions. Whenever he shoots up a drug buy, for instance, he takes the money and burns the drugs.
>>80909380
>I think a vigilante like the Punisher wouldn't have a problem with using crimianl money to finance his guns and ammo though
That's 100% what he does
>>80909380
>>80909509
OP here, I was thinking more along the lines of >>80909318 where the victims get back what they lost, and everything else goes to the hero that stopped the crime.
How do you guys feel about this? Would you have a problem if a real life vigilante went around doing this?
>>80909599
Generally people who commit crimes don't have any money of their own.
>>80909142
It depends on how the crook got it and how much and if it's evidence in a case.
Anything like drug dealers I don't have a problem with provided it wouldn't be incriminating evidence in a case. Things from robberies though should be returned. Then there's like prostitution and slavery of any kind, I'm sure the people being abused would be happy enough to be set free but i still feel like you (as a hero) don't deserve it as much as they do.
In specific cases like DD and Spiderman or any broadly recognized criminal I think you have to say no just on principle to avoid any kind of appearance of malfeasance of public outcry. Then you have people like Punisher and whatever the fuck he takes is the least of anyone's worries. Then you have "evil" organizations like Hydra or AIM I mean I imagine at least SOME of there money is above board. Like selling inventions or alien salvage or whatever then that was put into stocks and account to passively gain interest until needed and it might be why these organizations always are able to pop back up after they've supposedly been stomped out.
Are there any "Super" forensic accountants?
>>80909828
Especially if they're committing armed robbery
>>80909142
Yeah but if you go down that road eventually you just end up with every issue being Spider-Man beating up poor criminals while yelling, "Bitch, where's my spider money at!?"
>>80909142
There was a scene in one of the Lethal Weapons that delved into this topic. Why not take some drug peddlers money and put it to good use?
I think the answer is one of moral simplicity, similar to the "killing the Joker makes me as bad as the Joker" line of thought that is complete nonsense. Most people don't have a firm morality code and find it easier to simply avoid debatable issues entirely even if the debate is one that could be won. Roger Murtaugh should have taken the drug money and put his kids through college, anything else is the morality of a child.
>>80909318
>It could be a cool approach to a story and direction for a hero, especially for like an actual street level thug type turned hero. But they'd be less likeable as characters as a result.
It's usually part of the story that most heroes seem to have a pretty together job in the[r secret identity. I mean sometimes I hear Spiderman complain about bills but it's never like a homeless guy with super powers. And you could approach it from that perspective. A hero that just wasn't making it in their regular life anyway and even though they get these super powers they still don't become a villain or really use their powers for selfish purposes but as the saying goes, they gotta eat. And you could bring up the view of a criminal in the hero community that does take for themselves. As long as it isn't too much.
>>80909142
It's not ethical. For one, you're not paying tax on the cash you swipe.
>>80910236
>not declaring your super heroing is a tax deductible charity and getting a huge writeoff on all your costumes and gadget purchases
Man, this is why Daredevil should have been a tax attorney not some pissy defense lawyer.
I thought about this in the new daredevil opener. It seems like a very morally grey kind of situation.
With or without the the heroes intervention, the money would either go to the criminals, or they would go to the police; the money, as soon as it's stolen, passes between the hands of "good and evil"- It never returns to the neutral party in which it once belonged (Rendered either evidence in the case of a criminal enterprise, or covered by insurance if stolen from a bank)If it's just a wallet or something small like that, and a hero is involved then this whole deal doesn't fit.
>>80909142
That cash belongs to SOMEONE. If they steal from a robber they are literally stealing from the person the money belongs to.
If it was like the ancient treasure of a lost civilization I think it would be different, but robbing a robber is still wrong.
I think there was a comic where Spiderman was thrilled because they had saved a treasure trove from villains, and he thought they would be able to keep it only to discover that it belonged to the natives that lived there. He got sad and made some kind of wisecrack about not being able to get a pony, but didn't try to keep anything.
>>80910236
Superheroes would have something like Super-PACs and they'd just make donations of their drug funds to their own PACs
>>80909527
Makes sense because organized crime is really good at laundering the money, so Frank wouldn't be able to reasonably get it back to its owners. Also he has to stay underground because he doesn't even work well with the police.
>>80909142
Depending on your powers, you could just kind of skip the "beating up" part. The Invisible Woman probably takes down entire criminal empires in her spare time.
>>80910651
She is too busy being a mother, a scientist, and traveling to alternate dimensions and making sure her kids come back with all their limbs and no extra ones.
>>80909599
If he grabs a mugger at the end of the night, how does he divvy up the money to it's correct owners? What portion of the remaining does he keep?
It's realistic in a way, and honestly could be a richer approach because it's unusual. The problem is, it just doesn't seem like what a hero would do - it removes some of the *goodness* of the deed. In a way it leaves you much more to explore like covered here >>80910132
, whereas a Robin Hood feels justified, like the little man taking down the big guy.
That said when does the line get drawn? Lots of organized crime and big groups do lots of benevolent acts and are community heroes. How do yo separate yourself from them, how do you stop the slow burn of corruption? How do you stop going for easier, high paying targets and turning into someone looking to make money instead of trying to be a force of justice?
Sounds okay to me desu senpai.
>>80909142
RPG characters do it all the time, but taking money that a criminal stole from someone else is pretty bad IF you can give it back to the victim. But if the victim is a criminal, too, well, pocket the dough and forget that hoe.
Taking money a criminal 'legitimately' earned is fair game depending on the situation.
>>80910733
>How do you stop going for easier, high paying targets and turning into someone looking to make money instead of trying to be a force of justice?
Well there's the public view and then the heroes own personal view. Neither is absolute. It would depend on the action of the hero. Do they stop fighting crime if there's no reward are they taking enough money to "make a living" or do they have a lavish life because these heroic acts? Then on the public side almost none of that matters because if you have a secret identity they aren't going to know what kind of position you're in financially anyway. And there are plenty of rich heroes that don't seem to use their money to help people that often at least not to the extent of giving up all lavish excesses to help the poor. But they do on occasion risk their lives to save the world. It's really a matter of personal perspective. For that hero and the ones that know what that hero goes through or does.
>>80909282
but can spiderman steal someones pizza directly
>>https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DXzS5ZiFZnxY&ved=0ahUKEwjpxsecwM7LAhXISiYKHXP3At0QtwIIHTAA&usg=AFQjCNEzdpnxHQSHlH3oibuZMqOku0wyew
They're not the March of Dimes friend.
>>80910725
sue storm is a fucking shitty mother she doesnt even know where her toddlers are most of the fucking time
>>80909842
Super forensic accountant sounds like the worst hero ever.
