Krypton Knights
.... "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely", these are the words of Lord Acton, a great Intellectual and Professor. We have seen how power corrupted individuals throughtout history and Hitler was a leader who did not use his powers responsibly. Ian Kershaw writes in his biograpy of Hitler, "Within Germany, by this point, Hitler's power was absolute. His position as Dictator was unchallenged. No serious threat of opposition faced him" (Kershaw 2). Having such enormous power at his disposal, Hitler crushed his opponents within his own country to establish his rule and all that opposed him were sent to concentration camps or prisons. "Around one in two of the 300,000 Communist Party members of 1932 were imprisoned", Kershaw wrote (Kershaw 3). So the question is why did the German people continue to support him after all the cruel acts he had brought about? "Underpinning Hitler's unchallenged authority in spring 1936 was the adulation of the masses. Large sections of the population simply idolized him. Even his opponents acknowledged this" (Kershaw 5). The Germans were punished after World War 1 and the Treaty of Versailles required Germany to claim responsiblity for the war and pay large amounts of compensation to the allies. This put enormous hardship on the German people and their economy. Furthermore, it humiliated the German people and so they despised the Treaty. The people were weak and they needed somebody to come to their aid. Hitler responded and although his intentions in the beginning were for the good of the people, power corrupted him in the end. Furthermore, the dependence of the German people on Hitler, who promised to bring them out from hardship and make Germany powerful again, only made Hitler stronger. The people were blinded by his promises and they did what Hitler commanded them to do. Even if it meant invading other countries or killing millions of Jews. As Lex Luthor says of Superman, "You move at his every beck, come to his every call, dream in line with whatever aliens dream, and--too like that Biblical king, Nebuchadnezzar - mistake the myth for the message" (Dietrich 40). Lex Luthor argues that we are entranced with Superman and never questions his motives. Superman could be Hitler for all we know. How do we know that Superman is a man to be trusted? How do we know if he has an ulterior motive or not? We simply cannot know until it is too late. Superman said, "The thing is, your health has depended on me, this antibody, too long. And you would I suspect, still see me, bring me back like some dead, desert King, refit me in his sequins" (Dietrich 10). Overreliance on somebody can lead to the weakening of your mind and spirit. You take things for granted and expect everything to be solved by somebody else. You have others make decisions for you and this gradually eats away at your ability to make decisions on your own. Take Superman as an example. You know he his out there saving the world everyday. If you are a police officer, why not slack off a little bit? Even if you do not do your patrols, Superman will be there to cover you up. If you are a parent, why not let your kids outside so you can have some free time? Superman will be there to watch over them so that they will not get into any trouble or danger. After a while, you become complacent and if for some reason, Superman is not around when crime happens or if you child gets into trouble, who can you blame but yourself? Relying on somebody else makes you a target for exploitation. Who knows if the person you rely on is trustworthy or not? Relying on somebody gives that person power over you. It is just lik...