The moral compass that guides the majority of people seems to be absent in many of our political and corporate leaders. In this reality it’s time for us to become the superheroes that we need.
By Fareed Khan
Since Superman first soared across the pages of Action Comics #1 in June 1938, superheroes have captured the imagination of generations. Created by American Jerry Siegel and Canadian Joe Shuster, two Jewish sons of immigrants, Superman was a beacon of hope, embodying the triumph of good over evil in a world fraught with injustice.
From the 1978 Superman film starring Christopher Reeve to 1989’s Batman with Michael Keaton, and the explosion of superhero films in the 21st century—from the X-Men series, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 34 films, recent reboots like Man of Steel (2013) and the films of the DC superhero universe, to the recently released Superman starring David Corenswet—superheroes have become cultural touchstones. These stories resonate because they tap into a primal human desire to see justice prevail, to witness heroes rise against overwhelming odds to protect the innocent and confront the forces of evil.
Yet, as we look at the world in 2025, we see a world in desperate need for such heroes more than ever—not in capes or costumes, but in the hearts and actions of ordinary people. Our leaders are failing us, and the moral compass that guides the majority seems absent in many of those who wield political or corporate power. In this reality it’s time for us to become the superheroes that we desire and for whom we have been waiting.
The Enduring Appeal of Superheroes
Superheroes have long held a special place in the collective psyche. As children, many of us donned imaginary capes, wielded makeshift shields, or shot imaginary webs from out wrists to emulate Superman’s strength, Captain America’s unwavering morality, or Spiderman’s desire to keep his neighbourhood safe. The appeal transcends generations, as adults today—the children of yesteryear—we flock to theatres to watch films where superheroes battle the forces of evil. This fascination isn’t mere escapism. It is rooted in a deep-seated human instinct. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” and our love for superheroes reflects a subconscious desire to fight injustice, to witness good triumph over evil—a principle that feels like it is encoded in our DNA.
This desire for justice is universal, yet it is increasingly clear that our leaders—politicians, corporate titans, and wealthy elites—often lack the moral clarity that ordinary people hold dear. The late Jewish American historian Howard Zinn, in his book Voices of a People’s History, captured this disconnect when he wrote, “Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country.” Zinn’s words reflect the reality that politicians promise change and more moral governance but often prioritize power, re-election, or corporate interests over human dignity, while corporate elites prioritize profits and shareholder value over all else. Meanwhile, the public craves heroes who embody integrity, who fight for what’s right without compromise.
A World in Crisis: The Need for Heroes
If ever there was a time crying out for superheroes since the end of World War 2, it is now. The world faces crises that mirror some of the worst fictional calamities to be found in the pages of comic books. Since October 2023, the ongoing genocide in Gaza has claimed over 63,000 lives, with some estimates, like that of Israeli academic Yaakov Garb, putting the Palestinian death toll as high as 377,000. The horrific Israeli violence, live streamed for the world to see, has been met with inaction or denial by the United States and many of its allies.
In China, the Uyghur Muslim minority faces systemic persecution, with reports of forced labour, mass detentions, and cultural erasure—an ongoing genocide that garners insufficient global outrage or action.
In China, the Uyghur Muslim minority faces systemic persecution, with reports of forced labour, mass detentions, and cultural erasure—an ongoing genocide that garners insufficient global outrage or action.
Climate change, meanwhile, accelerates unchecked, with 2024 and 2025 seeing record-breaking heatwaves, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and wildfires. Political and corporate leaders pay lip service to solutions while continuing to prioritize profit over the planet’s survival.
A quote often attributed to 19th Century Irish statesman Edmund Burke ring true today: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Our leaders, entrusted with the power to act, too often do little—or worse, enable the very injustices they claim to oppose, the way leaders of the Western alliance have enabled the Gaza genocide. The late Canadian professor Robynne Neugebauer said, “We should all want a world where human dignity and justice are priorities”. Yet, the moral compass that guides ordinary people—those who recoil at injustice, persecution and oppression, who feel the weight of suffering—seems absent in the halls of power if we look at the state of the world today. The public yearns for heroes, but sports stars, actors and musical celebrities, while celebrated, rarely fill this void. Their platforms, when used for good, can amplify calls for justice, but true heroism lies elsewhere.
A quote often attributed to 19th Century Irish statesman Edmund Burke ring true today: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Our leaders, entrusted with the power to act, too often do little—or worse, enable the very injustices they claim to oppose, the way leaders of the Western alliance have enabled the Gaza genocide. The late Canadian professor Robynne Neugebauer said, “We should all want a world where human dignity and justice are priorities”. Yet, the moral compass that guides ordinary people—those who recoil at injustice, persecution and oppression, who feel the weight of suffering—seems absent in the halls of power if we look at the state of the world today. The public yearns for heroes, but sports stars, actors and musical celebrities, while celebrated, rarely fill this void. Their platforms, when used for good, can amplify calls for justice, but true heroism lies elsewhere.
The True Heroes Among Us
The real heroes of our time are not found on red carpets, on TV, in films, or competing in sports stadiums but in the streets, in protests, in courtrooms fighting for justice, and in communities fighting for change to build a better world. They are the climate activists chaining themselves to pipelines to halt environmental destruction. They are the human rights advocates speaking out or risking their lives to document and call attention to atrocities. They are the Palestinian journalists bringing the truth of Israel's genocide to the world, while targeted for death. They are the individuals combating hate and racism, challenging systemic inequities that persist in societies worldwide. They are the protesters who, since October 2023, have marched in the millions around the world against the Gaza genocide, often facing character assassination, job loss, or sanctions from employers for their courage and principles. These are the people who embody the spirit of superheroes—not through superhuman strength or fantastic powers, but through an unyielding commitment to justice, and we need more of them.
Consider those who use their wealth or platforms to highlight injustice, like philanthropists funding grassroots movements or celebrities amplifying marginalized voices and bringing critical issues to the attention of their followers. Their actions echo the sentiment that society’s conscience and its humanity is measured not through efforts that add to the abundance of those who already live extremely privileged lives but rather through actions that provide for those in the human family who are struggling, suffering and are without. Yet, these figures are the exception. Too often, the rich and powerful hoard their wealth like dragons hoarding gold, indifferent to the suffering they could alleviate. Billionaire oligarchs, much like the royalty of old, wield unimaginable privilege and power, making decisions that ruin lives without accountability. Their influence drowns out the voices of the many, leaving us to wonder, where are the superheroes to challenge them?
The Dream of Superheroes
Imagine a world where Superman’s unwavering moral code, Batman’s relentless pursuit of justice, or Captain America’s stand against tyranny walked among us. These characters, born from the minds of creators like Siegel and Shuster, embody a strict moral compass that feels absent in today’s leaders. Superman would not stand idly by as women and children are slaughtered in Gaza. Batman would expose the corruption of oligarchs hoarding wealth while millions starve. Captain America would rally the disenfranchised to stand up against thoughtless political or corporate leaders, reminding us that if each of us uses just a part of our energy to fight for what’s right and just, our collective ability to achieve positive change would be unstoppable. These heroes, fictional though they are, represent the ideals we crave: integrity, courage, and an unyielding commitment to the greater good.
But we don’t live in a comic book world. No caped crusader will swoop down to save us from danger. As Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “The greatest sin of our time is not the destruction of the good around us by the few but the apathy of the vast majority who sit idly by as it happens.” Apathy is the enemy of efforts to build a better world, and it’s up to us to reject it. The absence of superheroes doesn’t mean the absence of heroism. It means that the responsibility falls on us—ordinary individuals—to embody the principles we admire in our fictional heroes.
Becoming Our Own Heroes
If we want to have an enlightened, caring, and compassionate society, we cannot allow politicians or corporate elites to sacrifice human dignity on the altars of politics or profits. The fight for justice begins with us. The protesters risking their livelihoods to demand an end to violence in Gaza are heroes. The activists battling ecological collapse, chaining themselves to trees or facing arrest to protect our planet, are heroes. Those challenging billionaire oligarchs, exposing their greed and its devastating consequences, are heroes. They remind us that the moment that we stop helping and fighting for each other or caring for the underprivileged, the disadvantaged, the dispossessed, the persecuted and the helpless, that is the moment that we lose our humanity, that is the moment that we can no longer claim to be civilized.
Consider those who use their wealth or platforms to highlight injustice, like philanthropists funding grassroots movements or celebrities amplifying marginalized voices and bringing critical issues to the attention of their followers. Their actions echo the sentiment that society’s conscience and its humanity is measured not through efforts that add to the abundance of those who already live extremely privileged lives but rather through actions that provide for those in the human family who are struggling, suffering and are without. Yet, these figures are the exception. Too often, the rich and powerful hoard their wealth like dragons hoarding gold, indifferent to the suffering they could alleviate. Billionaire oligarchs, much like the royalty of old, wield unimaginable privilege and power, making decisions that ruin lives without accountability. Their influence drowns out the voices of the many, leaving us to wonder, where are the superheroes to challenge them?
The Dream of Superheroes
Imagine a world where Superman’s unwavering moral code, Batman’s relentless pursuit of justice, or Captain America’s stand against tyranny walked among us. These characters, born from the minds of creators like Siegel and Shuster, embody a strict moral compass that feels absent in today’s leaders. Superman would not stand idly by as women and children are slaughtered in Gaza. Batman would expose the corruption of oligarchs hoarding wealth while millions starve. Captain America would rally the disenfranchised to stand up against thoughtless political or corporate leaders, reminding us that if each of us uses just a part of our energy to fight for what’s right and just, our collective ability to achieve positive change would be unstoppable. These heroes, fictional though they are, represent the ideals we crave: integrity, courage, and an unyielding commitment to the greater good.
But we don’t live in a comic book world. No caped crusader will swoop down to save us from danger. As Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “The greatest sin of our time is not the destruction of the good around us by the few but the apathy of the vast majority who sit idly by as it happens.” Apathy is the enemy of efforts to build a better world, and it’s up to us to reject it. The absence of superheroes doesn’t mean the absence of heroism. It means that the responsibility falls on us—ordinary individuals—to embody the principles we admire in our fictional heroes.
Becoming Our Own Heroes
If we want to have an enlightened, caring, and compassionate society, we cannot allow politicians or corporate elites to sacrifice human dignity on the altars of politics or profits. The fight for justice begins with us. The protesters risking their livelihoods to demand an end to violence in Gaza are heroes. The activists battling ecological collapse, chaining themselves to trees or facing arrest to protect our planet, are heroes. Those challenging billionaire oligarchs, exposing their greed and its devastating consequences, are heroes. They remind us that the moment that we stop helping and fighting for each other or caring for the underprivileged, the disadvantaged, the dispossessed, the persecuted and the helpless, that is the moment that we lose our humanity, that is the moment that we can no longer claim to be civilized.
As another superhero movie fills thousands of theatre screens around the world, we need to remind ourselves that each of us has the power to act. We don’t need superpowers to make a difference—just the courage to speak out, to organize, to support those on the front lines. On all issues of social justice and transformational change in society it has been the vocal few who have influenced the actions of the silent many. So, let's be one of the few and make this world a better place. Whether it’s by donating to a cause, amplifying marginalized voices, or joining a protest, every action counts. If we witness words or acts of injustice and refuse to speak out against them then we become an accomplice to those who instigate the injustices and the resulting poison that affects society at large.
The elites—politicians, corporate executives, and billionaires—have failed to uphold the promises of justice and equality. They thrive on our obedience, as Zinn noted, but we can reclaim power by refusing to comply blindly. The heroes we need are already among us: the teachers advocating for their students, nurses exposing healthcare inequities, journalist exposing the truth, the lone voice who speaks truth to power despite the risks, and many others. As we look at what’s happening in the world, and think about what kind of future we want to leave our children and grand children, we have to realize that greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope and the death of dreams. We cannot let hope and dreams die, especially in the hearts of those who are already in despair, because they light the path to a better future.
The world may not have a Superman, an Iron Man or a Wonder Woman, but it has us. We are the ones who must rise, not with capes and super powers, but with conviction and courage. We must support and defend the activists risking everything for justice. Amplify the voices of those fighting climate change, racism, and inequality. Challenge the billionaire oligarchs and their political enablers whose greed damages us all, and demand accountability from out political leaders for their moral failures. The power to change the world lies in our refusal to let evil triumph through inaction. The triumph of evil requires only our silence. Let’s break that silence. Let’s be the heroes we’ve been waiting for, ensuring that human dignity, justice, and compassion prevail in a world that so desperately needs them.
© 2025 The View From Here. © 2025 Fareed Khan. All Rights Reserved.
