I recently watched the new superhero movie Captain America: Civil War, which is basically Superman vs Batman except that unlike Superman vs Batman, which completely belly-flopped, Civil War was amazing. Civil War reminded me of something, or perhaps it enlightened me of something about the main character Steve Rogers. Captain America, or Steve Rogers, represents what the United States ought to be, even when we fail and fall flat on our faces.
The United States was designed as a country for the individual, a country of individuals cooperating voluntary to accomplish their goals. What was the Revolutionary War fought over? Was it a war against England? Was it a war against the world’s greatest navy? Was it war against a vast imperialistic empire? Yes, it was those things, but it was much more than just that. The American Revolution was a war over an idea, the idea that man could rule himself, that he could govern himself and make choices without the oversight and authority of a ruling figure or government. Rogers represents the values and ideas of what America was designed to be.
These values and ideas can be found in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and traditional values & morality – and I think this bothers many people. I think it bothers them because we don’t stand for these things anymore and they find it difficult resonate with values and ideas that feel somewhat foreign.
When we read the Declaration of Independence we see a document, not of the things that the United States is, but a document showing what we aspire to be even when we fail. What do we remember from the Declaration of Independence? We remember that all men have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that these cannot be taken away by anyone, and that government only exists to protect those rights. This is the basis of individualism.
What do we remember from the US Constitution? When we look at the United States Constitution, we see a structure of government designed to be limited and to protect individual rights by pitting faction against faction and maintaining a gridlock within a small and limited government that leads to the prevention of the suppression of rights.
What do we find in the Bill of Rights? Well we see two fundamental ideas; the first is that we have rights and that we own ourselves, like in the First Amendment where the right to freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the right to assemble and petition, the freedom of the press, and the freedom of Association are guaranteed. The second idea is that we have the right to defend our rights against those who would try and take them away, be they another person or the government. For example we have the 2nd Amendment, which was designed for two purposes, the first being the right to self-preservation should someone try and take your life or the life of your family. The second purpose of the Second Amendment is so that the people may rise up and overthrow a government that becomes tyrannical and tries to restrict their rights. We have the Fifth Amendment and the Sixth amendment to defend ourselves in court against those who have committed wrongdoing against us or those who have accused us of committing wrongdoing. These amendments also give us an avenue to protect us if government or fellow man should try to use the system to violate our rights.
Lastly, do we even remember the traditional values and morality of the United States? What were those values? It was traditional moral values that built the United States of America, values like the family, like individual freedom, like decency, like honesty, like humility, like hard work, and like bravery. And the value of self-reliance and self-governance stands as a foundation, in a sense, by making the other values more plausible given the fallen world we live in. The value of self-reliance was articulated most clearly by former President Kennedy, "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." These are the moral values that built the United States of America.
Whether it be the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or traditional morality, we see all of these things in Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. We see a skepticism of government and a championing of individualism which especially comes through in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and in Captain America: Civil War.
The Winter Soldier explores the consequences of giving massive amounts of military power to a government and the risks of mass government surveillance. In The Winter Soldier we see Steve Rogers coming into conflict with the organization known as SHIELD�, a government organization designed with many purposes, purposes which include defense, surveillance, and security. While Steve Rogers believes that SHIELD, led by his friend director Nick Fury, is good and has done good, he is skeptical of the power that it has been given. His skepticism and caution are confirmed when SHIELD is infiltrated and taken over by the nefarious organization known as HYDRA. From this movie we learn a lesson both about Steve Rogers and about power. We learn that Steve Rogers is skeptical of power and of authority in exchange for a false sense of security; these are fundamental ideas in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, if fact the Fourth Amendment is dedicated to the privacy rights of Americans. We also learned something about power, and that is while an organization or a government with great power can do great good, it also has an equal or greater capacity to do great evil. As Lord Acton famously said, "Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Civil War investigates Steve Rogers refusal to forfeit his autonomy to a committee of nameless and faceless "civil servants", bureaucrats, and red-tape-wielding sticklers from the UN with unknown intentions. Civil War also examines Bucky's predicament as a brainwashed assassin. This could be used as an example of what an alternative state-controlled superhero might look like or become. In Civil War we see a UN committee trying to restrict the actions of the private enterprise known as The Avengers. While the motivation may be good and may come from a good place, Steve Rogers ultimately comes down on the side of individual choice and judgment, pointing out that there may be times when he must act to save the lives of others, but this committee might restrict his ability to do so. Furthermore, he points out that there may be a time when the committee commands The Avengers to be somewhere and do something that they feel they should not or cannot do. Steve Rogers embodies traditional morality and individualism in this situation when he makes the choice to choose family, friends, and the ability to help others of his own free will over the restrictive oversight and loss of self-sovereignty provided by the UN committee.
Throughout the Captain America movies and The Avengers we see Steve Rogers as a moral force for good and a representation of what America ought to stand for even though we had already begun to abandon who we were meant to be. We see Steve Rogers championing individual choice, self-governance, and a skepticism of power. He has exemplified traditional morality in his decency, honesty, humility, hard work, bravery, love of family & comrades, and love of country, while also representing traditional masculinity in his role as a protector of the unprotected and his self-sacrifice for those in danger. While Steve Rogers as Captain America may only be a comic-book hero, he represents who we ought to be and what we ought to stand for even though we don't, and because of this I sometimes begin to question whether it is our politicians we should be looking to for guidance or to a principled superhero from a comic.
