Aberrant RPG - On Superheroes...

[Sprocket]

RE: 2

Largely this is a short term and limited problem. Novas, and other novas, and law enforcement (et al) tend to frown on this.

That won't stop governments from trying, though - and it will be mainly governments who attempt this. With enough political clout, the threat posed by law enforcement can easily be negated. Agreed that it opens up the door for said coercers to enter into (likely violent) conflict with novas.

I just think that general society (and thus most governments) would end up requiring supers to put-out so to speak.

That sounds like another reason for novas to either remain closeted or secede from general society. The only reason eminent domain (which is more-or-less what you're describing here) has worked is that the people targeted for it typically have little or no power to fight against it. The same cannot be said of novas. This would get very ugly, very fast.

[archer]

I believe there are "Good Samaritan" laws in many parts of the US atleast that state

something similar to: If you are witness to a crime, accident or other situation wherein

you could save a life without endangering yourself; then you are required to take action.

In short Storm, having been informed of the incoming hurricane that could cause loss of

life (not to mention vast property damage) would by law be required to stop it, unless she

could prove it put her own life in danger. Society being what it is, those laws would likely

be expanded in the case of novas. Thus they could quickly become bound by law to use

their powers for free in many cases.

Could you not see "Criminal Inaction" laws being voted in to force service of supers? In

modern society, especially in less free countries, capability often turns into responsibility.

Think of the US today, if we had a nova citizen that could produce unlimited amounts of

gasoline. You'd have the public demanding that he do so, many oil companies demanding that

he not (or atleast just for them). The government would want him doing it, tightly controlled

so as not to disrupt the economy too greatly too fast (with oil lobbyists railing against).

Everyone (mostly) would expect him to get very rich from it and rightly so, but really,

would ANYONE give serious consideration as to whether or not he even wanted to do it?

What if he was super 'green' and thought gasoline is evionmentally evil and should never

be produced? Who would really care what he wanted, so long as we got our gas?

I just think that general society (and thus most governments) would end up requiring

supers to put-out so to speak.

IMHO

The use of legislation to create such requirements is a HUGE reason for groups like the Teragen to exist, and for Mal to make his Manifesto known.

If Novas are no longer subject to humanity's laws, they cannot be held accountable for ignoring laws that specifically apply to them.

[metaphysician]

Or more precisely, if they no longer have the freedoms of every other citizen, then they damn well shouldn't feel bound by the responsibilities of a citizen.

[Alex Green]

I believe there are "Good Samaritan" laws in many parts of the US atleast that state something similar to: If you are witness to a crime, accident or other situation wherein you could save a life without endangering yourself; then you are required to take action.

True in popular culture, very untrue in fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law

In popular culture:

A Good Samaritan law was featured in the May 1998 series finale of the popular NBC sitcom Seinfeld, in which the show's four main characters were all prosecuted and sentenced to one year in jail for making fun of (rather than helping) an overweight man who was getting robbed at gunpoint. In reality, while Massachusetts (where the crime is committed) does have a law requiring passers-by to report a crime in progress, the most stringent punishment the characters could have suffered under those circumstances would have been a $500-$2500 fine (assuming they were prosecuted under state law); in addition, the phrase "Good Samaritan law," when used in Massachusetts, refers only to the civil law definition.[3]

The fact that Good Samaritan Laws in the United States do not include a citizen's duty to assist, was featured in an episode of the second season of the show Desperate Housewives. Character Bree Van de Kamp is threatened by her son to be exposed for having stood by while a man she used to have an affair with committed suicide. She hires a lawyer who explains that she specifically was not under any requirement to assist this person.

In short Storm, having been informed of the incoming hurricane that could cause loss of life (not to mention vast property damage) would by law be required to stop it, unless she could prove it put her own life in danger.

Nope, sorry. If I can climb mountains effortlessly or even have a dog that can track children I'm in no way bound to save you or yours if you get lost somewhere. Largely this is because there's no such thing as "safe" or "effortless". People can and have died from very "safe" activities. IMHO asking Storm to fly into a hurricane she didn't create doesn't come close to any definition of "safe".

RE: Gas Man

Society can't pass laws that only effect one person. Society can't force personal contracts on individuals. If he really wants to forgo Billions of dollars in income, we can't stop him. But Joe Average Nova isn't going to say no.

I just think that general society (and thus most governments) would end up requiring supers to put-out so to speak.

Assume some group of idiots in Florida actually do pass a law like that. Ignoring that it's illegal in several ways, let's assume that it stands for a while.

Storm can move to Texas, or Maine, or Canada, or anywhere else. I'd expect that every other nova in Florida would behave similarly, and I also expect that Texas would welcome them. Similarly, if country "X" starts pulling that kind of crap with novas, good luck convincing other novas to move there, and expect people who do erupt in your backyard to flee. It's called "Brain Drain" and it already exists and is a serious problem for 3rd world nations.

[metaphysician]

Yup. The ultimate problem with any overly restrictive law re: novas, is that any other place could choose to *not* have such laws, and thus get novas flocking to them. Which means any place that abuses novas, gets screwed by any place that doesn't.