Real Life Supervillains?

I've been involved in the Real Life Superhero movement for several months now. As far as I'm concerned, choosing a new name and wearing a uniform or costume isn't what defines a Real Life Superhero. What defines us is our vision for how we can improve and serve our community, and our ongoing efforts to act on that vision.

Recently, though, this definition has lead me to consider an ominous question: what defines a Real Life Supervillain?

On one hand, I rarely throw around terms like "villain" to talk about real life. My main focus is on what Mahatma Gandhi called the "Constructive Program." The Constructive Program is the effort to achieve goals such as social justice, ecological integrity, peace, and so on through positive methods of self-improvement and community organizing. This approach has no place for criticisms of other people; it is purely focused around creating the positive foundations of a good society.

On the other hand, there are people and institutions that actively and willfully cause harm to people and the planet. It's very important to bear witness to the harm that they do and take organized action to stop them from doing it. This is part of my role as a Real Life Superhero, and really part of anyone's role in life if they want to live in a good and just society.

Therefore, I ask again: what constitutes a Real Life Supervillain?

There are some common answers that fall short of the mark. For example, a handful of people have responded to the RLSH movement by calling themselves Real Life Supervillains. Some even create websites or online profiles to proclaim their villainy:

Ruthless Organization Against Citizen Heroes (R.O.A.C.H.)

Some of them are just joking. Some may be RLSH supporters with quirky senses of humor. A few may actually intend to expose the secret identities of RLSHs or otherwise make a mild nuisance of themselves. But this hardly counts as real villainy.

R.O.A.C.H. is out, then.

Some other examples suggested by RLSHs include violent criminals, gangs, and Osama bin Laden. Yes, there are some violent criminals who may qualify, and an international terrorist is a very likely candidate. But somehow, even these examples fall flat. Violent criminals and gangs are often a menace to the communities they inhabit -- but most have no higher aspirations to qualify them for the "super" in supervillain. And bin Laden is too easy of an answer. He probably qualifies -- but since the mainstream media has put so much energy into vilifying him, I hardly see the point in saying anything more on the topic.

I would like to propose the following criteria for what defines a Real Life Supervillain:

(1) Committing actions, or making credible plans to commit actions, that pose a threat of serious harm to many people and/or the regional/global environment;
(2) Full knowledge that one's actions or plans will threaten or create said harm;
(3) Malicious intent to benefit from said harm through economic, political, or other means.

With this definition in hand, I can cite what I see as some of the most dangerous Real Life Supervillains in the world. These fall into three categories: corporations and their executives; governments and their officials; and private fanatics and their supporters.

Given the fact that this entry is running long, and the hour is getting late, I won't go into detail on these Real Life Supervillains just yet. I'll talk more about them in one or more future entries. However, in light of Thursday morning's unfortunate Supreme Court decision, which inspired this entry, I'd like to start the conversation by encouraging you to watch a film called The Corporation.

The Corporation explains some of the history of corporations and their role in our society. It will be a good primer for understanding why today's corporate structure in general, and certain corporations in particular, may qualify as the most dangerous Real Life Supervillains out there. It's available for purchase online, but you can also watch it for free on YouTube.

As always, your comments are welcome. Hopefully, once we have identified who the Real Life Supervillains are, we can stand together against them, and make the world a better place in the process.