We are assuming that somehow if Wayn pays large sums of wealth to the government, the government wouldn't just be their usual wasteful, corrupt, self serving self with said money. You get every current billionaire in the USA to pay a fair tax. Where do you think the money goes? Funding for food stamps or Lockeed-Martin?
this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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Also in the DC universe, the equivalent of Lockeed-Martin is Wayne Enterprises. There's stories where Bruce is conflicted in making weapons, but nonetheless, his fortune is built on the military industrial complex.
So Bruce Wayne is somehow worse than freaking Tony Stark?
Then again Stark is an inventor and comics-level genius who lacks a secret identity, so pivoting to another industry was way easier for him. Bruce Wayne probably can't change his company too much without losing a ton of pull and drawing unwanted attention to himself, plus losing access to the gadgets he relies on.
Didn't Stark divest from weapons manufacturing to researching clean energy instead, after he got hit by that one bomb of his?
I haven't read the comics, just what I remember from the movies
Yeah, that's why I said worse than Stark. He pivoted away from supporting the Military-Industrial Complex when he realized it was hurting people, whereas Batman hasn't.
It's just odd since Batman is supposed to have ironclad ethics, whereas Iron Man is famously a hypocritical ass (though much less so in the MCU than in the comics, from what I've heard).
Meanwhile, the DoD is like: "Hey, anyone else kinda wondering why these bombs, ammunition boxes, and rifles are all kinds bat-shaped. Wayne enterprises is weird"
Underfunding the government through tax cuts makes corruption more likely. The richer the rich are, the easier it is to manipulate the government for them. Why do you think so much money goes to Lockheed Martin? Who gets government contracts isn’t chosen at random, there are moneyed interests involved.
If the income tax graduations are steep enough then the billionaire class will optimize to minimize taxes by reducing their own income in favor of reinvesting in their business and employees. In theory. In reality I'm sure they'd find some way to squirrel it away while their employees apply for and get denied food stamps.
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Note that the tax exempt amount of $10 million is chosen such that 99% of people have less than that net wealth. It's supposed to guarantee a strong democratic support.
I.e. the 99-percent-quantile of net wealth is about $10 million in the US. (or at least it was in 2019 when i looked at the statistics)
In the Batman Year 1 comic the thing that makes the police believe there really is a 'Bat-Man' is when he attacks a fancy dinner party and warns Gotham's movers and shakers that justice is coming for them, too.
Yeah, it's pretty clear Gotham was full of corruption from top to bottom, which pushed him into becoming Batman. Philanthropy would just fuel the corrupt politicians into funneling money to the crime bosses, and taking a cut. Probably if he started a soup kitchen and was on the ground getting people out of poverty, he would achieve improvement, but when the police, courts, and politicians are on the crime bosses payrolls, funding those institutions more will not solve Gotham's problems
I vaguely remember some stories, he does do the whole non-profit thing, too. It's still a little bit too pro-billionaire but yeah, in their setting it's quite likely the government is too corrupt.
Also he fucking funds other superheroes, so it's a little hard to say what actually works in that crazy universe. I can't imagine superheroing to be profitable.
In some of the Silver Age comics, Superman has a vast fortune from old Spanish treasure ships he can find deep undersea. Yet no one ever calls Supes on being a skinflint.
[jk]
In Batman's defence, he doesn't decide the tax policies and I'm pretty sure he is already an avid philanthropist and political donator for anti-poverty policy.
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Unfortunately Bruce is really poor. Everything he uses day-to-day belongs to a foundation on the Caymans, whose owners are not known. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Cannot tax that guy.
It only works when that money goes to the right place. With all the corruption in Gotham, that money probably goes straight into the politicians bank accounts.