Man of Steel Contest: Are Superman's Powers a Blessing or a Curse?

We all know who Superman is and what he can do. It's likely that most of us have seen the Man of Steel. Let's think about what it would be like to have the powers of Superman. The immediate reaction might be how cool having them would be. Imagine being able to fly, be super strong, impervious to harm and, of course, have x-ray vision. Superman can do many many things. Sometimes putting limits on what he can do can be difficult.

Of course a certain other hero will go on about "power and responsibility" so that brings us to our question and your chance to win Man of Steel as it will be released on Blu-ray and DVD Tuesday, November 12. Would having Superman's powers be a blessing or a curse?

Give us your thoughts. Answer in a few sentences. Would it be a gift to be able to do everything Superman can do? Would you go out and use them for good? Or would having those powers put a damper on your everyday life? Would you feel the responsibility tugging away as you try to do simple things like watch TV or read a comic? Would you want to constantly be on guard with your super strength so you wouldn't accidentally harm anyone?

There will be one winner. The contest is open to U.S. residents only. If you want to share your thoughts but don't live in the U.S., please make it fully clear that your comment is not an entry.

The contest runs from now until midnight PST Monday, November 11, 2013. A winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 12.

Here's the legal stuff we have to include:

Good luck. Stay on topic.

They're a blessing, a gift. The power to do anything(well almost anything) with these powers to help people, help your family, friends and Earth in general not to mention get things done faster such as running errands, save on transportation etc. As long as I was careful, nobody would get hurt. I don't see them as a curse.

It would be a bit of both I think, as I cannot think of a reason to favor one side over the other in this. It's a double edged blade, and there is no way around that.

It's a blessing because you would have the power to affect real change in the world. In a world where the big bad has the potential to destroy the planet with machinery and weaponry far beyond anything humankind can comprehend or even deal with, those powers are a definite bonus.

Look at the beginning of the film...all of those people in precarious situations that he was able to save, people that he was able to allow to see their families and loved ones again by virtue of the wonderful abilities he has allowing him to save their lives. When natural disasters strike, or some evil dictator is using weapons on his own people, you would have the power to do something about it.

The curse comes in because with powers like that, you are forever apart from humanity. I see it as a lonely existence in a sense, since there is no one who would every truly understand you and the unique burden you bear. As well, where do you draw line with how and when you help the world, or allow humanity the freedom to run it's own course? That's a fine line to walk between a savior and a dictator...

Then the demands of people when/if they know who you are and what you can do? Everyone would want help for a variety of things, and the demands and pleas would be virtually nonstop and never-ending. Let's also look at the possible byproducts of those powers...some of those battles in the movie showed just what kind of destruction powers like that are capable of dishing out. How does your conscious deal with the accidental death of innocents and destruction of homes and livelihoods, even if the cause of it all was unintentional, and done in the line of only trying to do what you saw as right?

In the end, it's a bit of both. With power like that, it would have to be.

I'd say they're a curse. I mean this isn't man of steel related but it is superman related, in JLU when the brainiac-darkseid mix came to kill superman, superman makes a valid point. He doesn't get to cut loose very often. Mainly because humans don't even begin to compare to him. But he states when he's fighting that darkseid is really the only person who can take his blows.

A Blessing:

I say so because he rarely has to worry about getting hurt. I'd be a hero if I had all his powers. His powers may make him feel alone in everyday life, but they also help to Inspire people with Hope in his Superman identity.

Superman's powers are a blessing. They allow someone to make a difference, to help others quite a bit more than they otherwise could. It's greater personal potential, really.

I say it would it be an amazing gift. It would be stressful at times, definitely have to watch your strength. I know if I had his powers, I would have no choice but to use them for good.

They are both, different sides of the same coin.

Sure Superman has the strength to rip necks and smash buildings and fly (did he have heat vision in MoS I forget). But at the sametime he has to be in constant control or else he'd make that one kid explode from a single punch as seen in one of the later flashbacks or accidently toppel a buidling with people in it (when he isn't to busy beating up on Zod)

I would most definitely say they are a blessing.. Now whoever you decided to use those powers on would probably say they were a curse (to them).

In MoS, Superman is a curse on humanity. The movie keeps saying he is the new Jesus, saviour of all mankind but had he not come to Earth, thousands of people would still be alive.

G_Man- The legal stuff is hidden in 3 spoiler tags instead of 1, just a heads up.

The powers are a blessing, and only a blessing. It would be frustrating and frightening at first to be overwhelmed with your senses, like Clark was when he was a child in the movie. But..once you get past that...there is nothing but advnatages. Being able to fly, being indestructible more or less, knowing if you can trust people or not, knowing if they are fibbing or not (monitoring hearbeat and such), noticing people spying on you...with satellites even...the powers allow for you to not be restrained or constricted by anything. That is definitely a blessing.

There is no question that the powers are a blessing. Each and everyone of them confers an advantage, without disadvantage. Some people may say power corrupts or some such, but that is not inherently a curse of having the powers. If power corrupts, then anything that would make someone more physically powerful to a similar level (or even half) as powerful as Superman would also corrupt. That's a fault of the person, not the powers.

That's speaking from the point of view from someone holding the powers. From the outsiders view, while curse may be a bit strong, I can see some people seeing it as such, as there would be fear from someone that powerful if their motivations or trust is not established. Or worse, after it is established...

To sum up:

As far as the person with the powers is concerned - Blessing

Outsiders observing evil person with powers - Curse

Outsiders observing benevolent person with powers - Initially perhaps curse, eventually blessing

I think it depends on the person with the power. It's what they make of it. One could view it as a blessing to have the ability to be able to help and serve humanity to be a better place to live. Or one could take it as a burden to be viewed as the one who is the answer. The responsibility of power comes as both, but it's up to the individual to act on that gift. To someone without perspective it can be a curse, but someone who can see beyond themselves is someone who can most likely see the blessing in it.

It would probably depend on the personality of the person. I would think someone that felt they needed to use the powers to protect the world would end up very lonely. If you had to keep the secret from everyone you were close to then that would be a huge burden but some people would feel satisfaction from their acts no matter the personal cost. Personally it would be a blessing although I would struggle being lonely and being accepted. It would be a lot to bare but I would help people and share my gifts with the world.

Those powers are an outright curse. To have all that power would utterly alienate you from the rest of humanity. If you know Superman's powers, he's invulnerable. Meaning you'd have to be at least near his power level for him to literally feel anything. He doesn't have to sleep, he could constantly be on watch. Exposing himself to the world with these abilities, would put fear in a lot of people, committing them to win his trust by ANY MEANS NECESSARY. Even so, the fear of his powers would basically put the world against him despite his good intentions. The real world is far more cruel than the world of imagination so we would ultimately reject him because he is different than we are.

It would be a gift for me and all of mankind. There's no way I could hide these gifts from a world that's in need of help. From preventing heinous acts of crime to flying by a children's hospital in the red and blue attire, or help third world countries by harvesting crops and bringing drinkable water to them. I would do everything possible and beyond to help this world become a better place to live.

Umm the question is if theyd be a blessing or a curse to you, not in the movie....

It's mostly a blessing, i'm not gonna lie, Kal-El has one of the most impressive set of powers in the whole DC comics universe, maybe in comic books period, however when you put those powers into reality you'll quickly realize that they are also a curse, if you wanna know what I mean, try to play with a little kid, maybe a toddler, you won't be playing hard with them, right? because you'll be too afraid to hurt such a frail, weak body. Now imagine Superman, one of the strongest men in the universe trying to put his strength in the service of humanity, everything is literally too weak to him. If he tries to stop a crashing plane, He'll crush it in his attempt by applying too much strength inadvertently, trying to save someone from a free fall? forget it, human-puree right there and now, or in the luckiest scenarios, he'll cripple them, wanna stop a criminal, maybe try pushing him? the consequences of such a push, even the slightest one, are gonna be disastrous!! what I'm trying to say is: Superman won't be able to regulate his strength and he will cause more harm than good given his power. and I won't be any different. so, in short, do I want his powers? hell yes. are they gonna do more good than harm? No. definitely.

Would not want super hearing.

Curse, I'm not sure. Burden, for sure. To know you can help so many, but inevitably still not all. To help, but never take charge so that you don't become something you hate. Its heavy, but that's what is supposed to be heroic, he bears the burden.

It would be both a curse and blessing for me. A curse because the faith of the world and mankind would have to rest on my shoulders. I would have to walk around the world knowing that every second of everyday I would have to have my powers under control and not let the temptation of using my powers to satisfy selfish reason. But it would also be a blessing at the same time. Having that type of power would make it possible to change the view that one person can make a difference in the world. It would be a blessing because it would allow me to set and be the example to change the world by showing the world the responsibility that a person has when they have the power to do something but to able to know how to use the power for the better good.

being superman has got to be a curse. first of all, you'll be lonely most of the time, being the only one of his kind. Imagine being the only man in a world full of dogs, that need your help all the time. everyday another dog gets into trouble or fights. you feel no real connection to anyone because you're superior to them. yes their are other heroes but in the DC universe there is no one like superman. He's in a class by himself. He has his cousin but he would also need a more intimate connection. That is why his relationship with wonder woman makes sense. she is as close as he's going to get to real connection

I think I might be far too wordy to ever win this=P

Seeing some good answers pop up though.

How on Earth would they be a curse? The only problem with them is he is has to stay away from a certain kind of rock, red sunlight and loud music.

I would say they are both. They are a blessing because you have the most amazing powers ever and you can do almost anything with them. But they are also a curse because one of Superman's greatest weaknesses besides Kryptonite is the guilt he has in that despite all his powers he has not been able to save everyone from death. This is most evident after his war with Imperiex where he and Supergirl are alone on the moon and he's lamenting about his failure to save everyone. Also it's a curse in that he is vulnerable to Kryptonite and Magic whereas someone like Thor or Hulk who are on Superman's level of power have no weaknesses.

I'm going with curse in the real world. In a world without big monsters to fight or other people on your level, I don't see how it wouldn't be a curse. Some things would be cool, no doubt, I'm not denying that, but on a day to day thing, the idea of restraining all your power constantly would be difficult, and that's before you even get to intimacy, which I don't feel I really need to expound upon. I also think about emotionally stability of my friends and family. Assuming I don't go Dr. Manhattan and think I'm better than everyone and just stop caring about humanity (and let's be real, that's already how i think some day cuz honestly, people are terrible), how would being SUPERMAN make my friends feel? Would they endlessly want things? Would they feel jealousy? Would their insecurity ruin our relationship? Etc. There's so much stuff on a small scale, but going the other way (and just skating over the huge problem of people wanting to investigate or control me) and trying to help the world, there are just too many rules. I feel like politics would be a huge problem in trying to change/help the world. I don't know enough about the world to make the "right" choices even if they may seem simple, and who would I trust to be able to advise me? And what happens when the "right" thing offends people, because people are ALWAYS going to be offended. Trying to save the world is impractical. This took me all of a couple minutes to write and I barely dug into the issues that I did bring up if I didn't skip them entirely. There would be a ton more I didn't even touch. Maybe there'd be workarounds to a lot of the problems, but as I see it, they seem significant. Not saying trying to save the world isn't worth the work or personal sacrifice, but between the label of blessing or curse, if it's gotta be one or the other, I go curse.

I think it really depends on the person and the perception they have on the world, I do think having like Superman's would corrupt most people and they could not control themselves. But I want to be believe while there would be some sad and horrible moments that I feel they were a curse....I would think ultimately they were a gift. I could help make the world a better place for all. I could undo things that perhaps would take years to fix or save people that other wise would be died. I would be happy that I made a different in the lives of so many people. I would be scared that I would have to hide who I was so that those I love would not be targeted...but I think the powers would be a gift not only to others but to myself. I would be able to see the world in a light that maybe no one has.

I think overall it would be a curse. Of course, intitially it would be extremely fun and exciting, but eventually you'd end up completely isolated from the rest of the population. None of your friends would ever be able to be remotely relatable and society would do some crazy things to you, and that's if you even decide to tell everyone or just keep it a secret your whole life. Obviously, superheroes keep secret identities all the time, but the actual affects of having to keep a huge secret your entire life would play havoc on you emotionally.

gimme dat dvd!

Would having Superman's powers be a blessing or a curse?

The question is ambiguous. I will assume by "powers", you mean "being Kryptonian" and having the powers that a Kryptonian has under our kind of sun. This is perhaps most relevant, because there is every reason to think that Kryptonians are not biologically compatible with human beings - at the very least, one needs a lot of scifi mumbo jumbo to have biologically related children. Because having biologically related children is something that many people desire, being Kryptonian in a world of humans is not all roses.

It's worth noting, however, that many of the powers we associate with Superman - strength, speed, durability, intelligence, shooting rainbows out of your hands - all of these are what John Rawls would call primary goods, or goods that any rational agent would desire.

Super senses, however, might not count as a primary good. Although Superman has the mental faculties to process and compartmentalize all of this information, he is sometimes depicted as being in pain because of the flood of sensory data. However, Superman is shown to have mastered these skills, and thus if they are not primary goods, they are at the very least secondary goods that most rational agents would desire to have.

Relatedly Superman is no doubt forced to confront many moral challenges we don't think the normal person is confronted with, in part, because of these senses. However these challenges are not all together unlike the challenges we face today, globalization, the global economy, and even corrupt and misguided news outlets are still sufficient to draw our attention to many people in need of help. In this way we already are like Superman in an important sense - we know that there are people suffering and dying from lack of food, shelter, and medical care - to borrow philosopher Peter Singer's moral terminology. If one of us had Superman's powers, we could alleviate much of this suffering with our superior intellect, speed, and invulnerability.

Because the vast majority of Superman's powers are primary goods, it is reasonable to think that any rational agent would consent to have them - if only for their own benefit. However there is good reason to believe that someone with Superman's powers could greatly benefit other people. Most normative ethical theories allow for the punishment of guilty people, and someone with Superman's powers would have the power to interfere in many situations and subdue threats. For example, utilitarians believe that the right thing to do in any given situation is the thing that will maximize overall happiness. While there are, perhaps, reasons to believe utilitarianism gets somethings wrong, it's easy to imagine what someone with Superman's powers could accomplish in an afternoon in terms of lives saved simply by throwing serial killers, human traffickers, terrorist warlords, or the like into the sun. If he was interested in giving them proper trials and incarcerating them for life, I suppose he could devote a few weeks to this - bug if you're got Superman's powers, I don't know that it's worth your time to engage in due process when you know they're villains. Furthermore, due process is designed to make sure that no innocent person is killed, but by drawing out the containment of villains over the course of a few weeks as opposed to a few yours, you are letting innocent people die. A fictional world where Superman realizes there is no morally relevant difference between killing and letting die is the world where there is a lot less killing of innocent people and a lot less letting die. Right now moral cowardice and willful ignorance prevents people from wealthy countries from donating money to save lives of innocent people in their own country or abroad. Someone with Superman's powers could solve that problem in an afternoon and, let's be frank here, even if they didn't feel the moral obligation to do so, they would probably do so anyway on a whim - if only to get rid of annoying charity commercials.

In any event Superman's powers are better than Batman's. Sure, Superman could make a fortune in an afternoon, but Batman could solve world hunger in an afternoon if he didn't buy all those Batcopters and Batcycles.

Also, I'm reminded of this strip: http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1916

Silly Batman, the right thing to do is to spend an afternoon chuckin' rapists, slave owners, and homicidal clowns into the sun. It might make for less interesting comic arcs, but it makes for more people sleeping soundly at night. Including the man or woman with Superman's powers.

They are a Blessing, but i would not want them, too much responsibility, and you need to be in total control of them to not accidentally kill someone by sneezing.

It depends on who has the power, look at Zod and Superman, Superman was raised by the Kents and Zod was a dictator on Krypton. If the Kents didn't raise Superman, would he still use his powers for good? Zod didn't start out corrupt, no one does. Like Martha Kent says on Smallville," No one is born with hate, we learn to hate."

If someone that was greedy like Lex Luthor had these powers, who knows what would happen, they can be a curse in that since or even Zod. If, I had these powers I believe I'd try to help people just like Superman, so they would be a gift, but anyone can go astray, Zod is a very good example of that, so is Lex Luthor, they didn't start out bad. So would the power be too much is the real question? Because if you get it all put head that you are powerful, you could end up being the meanest person alive, so it could be a curse in that way.

The blessing; the ability to do something that can bring change, the curse is that because of this new found ability a righteous person will always be slave to doing 'what's right' and not what they feel.

But it'd be worse to have power and not the freedom to use it

Power is a blessing to the evil and a curse to the good.

(NOT US RESIDENT)

To ask whether or not the powers of, essential a god, would be a blessing or a curse is like asking if evil is black and white. By this statement I simply mean are people born completely good or evil, or are there grey areas within where good people sometimes have to or are pushed to do evil things. I seem to have gotten of topic, what im trying to say is that the powers are neither a blessing nor a curse, but a mixture of both.

With said powers almost anything would be possible, you would no longer fear injury or death. Simple actions in life would be well simpler, with super speed and flight you would never be late for work, and with super strength moving furniture(heck moving your car) would be a walk in the park. For those with more grandeur ideals, you could be a hero. these powers would give you the ability to save people and improve the quality of life for all on earth. You could stop evil dictators, and end terrorism, or you could simply prevent accidents, and robberies. In these ways the powers are a blessing.

Unfortunately life is not quite as simple as all that. being a single being out of billions that possess such powers would alienate you from them all. Having a simple relationship, or just finding someone to relate and talk to would be virtually impossible. the weight of the consequence of every action committed weighs down on every person in the world, now imagine that your simplest action can topple buildings. watching the news and seeing a tragedy would tear you apart as you know that you could have done something to stop it. beyond just this, you would have to constantly monitor yourself. a hug could kill the only person you've ever loved, and your super hearing could over hear something you would never want to hear. you would have to walk a delicate line between helping people, and policing the world. i mean how simple would it be to just become a dictator and end all violence in the world. Now picture a happy family of three, a man, a wife, and a child. one day everyone hopes to have this in some way, but with these powers having a child would not even be possible, as the act of intercourse would kill your significant other. even if intercourse didn't kill her, the child most likely would.

In conclusion while having the powers of "the man of steel" would be a blessing it would also be a curse. there are two sides to every coin, and a coin does not exist without both its sides. in other words you could not have powers beyond everyone else in existence without feeling both positive and negative effects. me personally as a simple man, i would not want to have these powers(am i saying i wouldn't want any powers? no, but not supermans) to much give and take to them, its like receiving a double edged sword.

A Curse:

He has almost too much power, but he does have his limits. Not only would keeping your powers in check be a problem, but once you are discovered, the world would expect you to fix everything that is wrong with it. The pressure to try and fix all the world's problems would just be too stressful.

Plus, not even Superman can be all places at all times, but with his super-hearing he might be hearing a woman getting brutally raped while he's stopping some super powered criminal's rampage. Hearing other brutal crimes, while saving lives would eventually take a toll. How does he even face these people later? Hearing the thousands of screams, and people begging for his help every day, and having to choose which ones to answer.

I'd much rather be Batman; no powers, no one expects to him to be everywhere. When Batman fails, at least he can use the excuse of being only human.

i don't even know why...but i've lolled so hard!

Give dat dvd to this guy!!

Curse???

N.E.V.E.R.

Superman's powers are never, and should never be considered a curse.

The Man of Steel's powers are a blessing for 2 very simple reasons:

#1 - Control

Superman's powers are controllable.

Flight.

Super Speed.

Super Hearing.

Super Breath.

X-ray Vision.

Even Superman's Heat Vision is controllable; he's not like Cyclops "cursed" to always wear a ruby visor to keep his uncontrollable Heat Vision in check, and to keep him hurting others around him for the rest of his life.

Super Strength too; Superman seems fine being able to gauge between using it when he's mild mannered Clark Kent.

Only time his powers are probably not controllable is when Superman sleeps; maybe then you could consider that a semi "curse" or a super inconvenience, but then again Lois Lane may beg to differ about that with her "experience."

#2 - Being able to Make a Difference

The notion that Superman's multitude of powers are a curse simply because he now lives a never ending life of protecting the world (universe) fom threats is just... balogney.

To steal Uncle Ben's "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility" - this rings true for anybody not just superheroes.

Superman is the global protector, that is his calling.

Just like when a person becomes a new Father or Mother, being a parent is now your calling. It's a blessing, never a curse to be able to protect those that need protection and to defend the weak.

People who do that are heroes. These people will always look to them, to you as a "hero", their hero.

Being able to make a difference in someone else's life for the good is and always be a blessing.

Same with Superman.

Otherwise, why be a superHERO at all?

im not gonna lie if i had these powers im taking over the world asap

They're cool...but not like Batman level cool.

*wins contest*

Definitely a curse. Having those powers are a burden. Yes, Superman can do amazing things and save hundreds of people every day, perhaps thousands. You must remember, however, that all of him is super, including his hearing. Every second, he hears millions of souls in pain and he must act as judge to decide who is worthy of being saved. How can he, someone who is powerful but not a deity, weigh and decide who should live and who should be left to die? Such a power would weigh on anyone's conscience. When he fails, he fails big time. Thus, his powers are a curse.

QFT

I literally died after reading that. I think you win this contest by default.

for me, a blessing as long as they were secret. i would try to live a normal-looking life. i wouldnt don a costume, i would use my powers for personal reasons, only making them known to others in situations of extreme danger. for example, to save a friend or family member from certain death, or to save the planet from destruction via meteor or whatever. the global implications of such power would be too daunting for me to feel comfortable flying around saving kittens from trees and stuff like that.

Its a curse, as much as we dream of having superpowers with great power comes great responsibility. Out of all comic book heroes most seem to either life depressing and sad lives as the life of the hero mixes with the life of the man under the mask.If you chose to use your powers you put everyone you care about in danger. When you have power, especially those as great as Superman, your powers are a blessing to those you help but a curse to the one who carries the responsibilities of always doing the right thing.

While keeping Kal-El's good-hearted nature in mind; someone that never falters, someone we can depend on, someone who will ALWAYS make the right choice, the powers are a curse. They are a curse to him, yet a blessing to us mortals. Kal feels compelled by the human condition to do what is right, always putting others first. He is our role model, our savior, and our blessing. But our blessing becomes his curse. It is because of these powers, he commands a moral obligation that does not allow him to be his real self. We know that based on his upbringing by the Kent's, he would act the same if he were powerless. This is why his powers are a curse to him and a blessing to us.

It would definitely be both a blessing and a curse. Having the power to help everyone around the world in any situation would be wonderful, but at the same it would be a huge burden in that same sense. I would have the ability to help anyone in the world, but it would be impossible to be at all places at once, despite me having superspeed and hearing. Even if I tried my best to help as many people as I could, just knowing that other people were hurt in ways I could have possibly prevented would make me feel guilty. Along with that, my desire to put all my efforts into helping others would completely destroy any normal life I would want to have. However, if I could convince myself that its not my fault I can't help everyone and just do the best I can, the powers will be a total blessing. Beyond just having a long list of super powers, just knowing that I do something to make the world a better place would be a blessing.

If I had the powers Superman has I honestly would feel like they are a curse. That's a big part of what makes Superman....Superman. Not only does he have these god like powers but he can still connect with and feel empathy for a lot of people. He can manage these powers. It would be so hard to not feel like someone is beneath you when you can literally soar above them. Or not to break everything you touch. The greatest thing about Superman is he doesn't let this power go to his head and honestly I don't think I could do that.

His powers would be a true blessing in hands of the right person and that has always been true of Superman. Clark is the real Super in Superman not his powers the man not his powers...its the hope we all inspire to be a good man. And if I had those powers I would try to a blessing to as many as I could

I think we all at one point have wanted to fly in the air, looking through walls, speed faster than a bullet, and be... a person of steel. That feeling of being a hero, everyone looking up to you. It would be so amazing.

And when his parents had to explain to him that he was different from everyone-An alien!-he probably wouldn't be able to process this, and-at least if I were him-break down in hysterics. And then the weight of Metropolis's safety on his shoulders, while trying to maintain a job, keep his identity a secret, and keep up with social contact would be all too much.

IT could go either way. A mojority of us will most likely think that his powers are amazing and we want them right away, but then we don't look down to the core of having these things. They may look good when you see him smiling and flying in the air, but it truly would be hard to handle.

In the hands of someone who understands and appreciates them, they're a blessing. Someone raised with the values that Clark was raised on, actually, anybody with a shred of compassion, believes in lending a neighborly hand, even if the person in trouble isn't their neighbor. I think a lot of people feel helpless in the modern world. Not endangered themselves, but unable to help others. Our world is so hostile and impersonal, and the challenges we face are massive, all-encompassing, and often lacking a clear answer. When others are suffering, people feel powerless. To have that power, no matter what burdens it may put on you personally, is a massive gift to those who want to help their fellow man. As I stated earlier, many of the problems we face today lack a definitive answer, and even if problems like prejudice and economic inequality did have definitive answer, I don't think super speed or heat vision would come into play. But when somebody comes forth with that kind of power, using it to help others and showing the utmost humility, demonstrating that the powers are only an extension of the good that comes from within, they make us believe that we can change these problems if we believe in ourselves and each other. Superman's greatest power isn't his strength. It's his ability to shake people out of cynicism. He doesn't believe that his powers make him better than anyone, simply more capable, and he uses that capability the way he hopes anyone else would. We all want to help others, but we don't always know how, and we can't always tell if we're doing enough. With the powers of Superman, we could do everything. It's an enormous pressure and responsibility, but it also makes you breathe easier to know that you've changed a life, and that your actions have moved others to do the same. That's the power that I envy the most from Superman, and like everything else about him, it's merely a representation of what already lives within ourselves. We just need the strength to find it.

Obviously, I spend a lot of time dwelling on the exact details of how I would live my life if I suddenly had Superman's powers. This was my first chance to put some of it to use. Sorry for the length, folks.

Curse. It's not like he can turn them-off and he has to have serious focus and control over them in everyday life or else he'll accidentally kill people. That's a huge burden on a daily basis.

Superman's powers would be a blessing for me, but that's assuming I would have been raised the same way or had the same experiences in life. I would most definitely use Superman's powers to accomplish the things I want to be done in the world (reduce hunger, discrimination, war, etc.), but I would only like to do so if I had the same perspective in life.

I don't think it would be a curse to me because I would be willing to sacrifice my ability to live a normal life if it meant that I could help millions of others live normal happy lives. There are public service employees like police officers and firefighters who already do that sort of thing, just not to the extreme that Superman does.

I also wouldn't hide my real identity. That just makes things more difficult and I would rather be open about who I am. I would most likely be considered a vigilante because I would not be afraid to kill.

Flying would be AWESOME! Heat vision would be too fun and cold breath is all right. But other than that I wouldn't want any of his powers. Not even strength cuz I'd be afraid about ripping my GF in half haha