I decided to write this blog because I feel like a lot of people gloss over the philanthropy aspect of Bruce Wayne's character. Just like in his own universe, Batman's methods of fighting crime and corruption in Gotham have received a lot of scrutiny from real world critics who have made erroneous arguments against the character. One thing in particular that I keep seeing all over the internet are people demonizing Batman by spreading this pretentious, cringe inducing, meme worthy rhetoric. This rhetoric is mostly uttered on Twitter, a cesspool for retards, contrarians and SJWs, but I have seen it on many other places too. Either way, people who spread this rhetoric are sanctimonious, pretentious airheads that automatically lose their credibility when critiquing comic book characters. The rhetoric goes along the lines of something like this:
"Batman is just some rich guy who beats up poor people and mentally ill for his own gratification, and could do so much more if he just remained Bruce Wayne and used his wealth to get rid of crime in Gotham city!"
There is so much wrong with this rhetoric that I wasn't sure where to begin. Firstly, I'll just start with refuting the lie that Batman beats up criminals for his own sadistic gratification:
Bruce: And I wonder what Alan thinks of that. The savage part of what being Batman is about. I don't enjoy hurting people, but it has to be done.
Source — Detective Comics (1937) Issue #786.
Bruce explicitly states that he doesn't like hurting people (i.e. criminals and supervillains), but it has to be done. This has something to do with the fact that criminals and supervillains in Gotham are cruel, homicidal people who prey on the innocent and have information about what goes on in the criminal underworld, so they leave Batman no choice but to hurt them whenever he encounters them. Let's also not forget that Bruce is saying this in his own internal thoughts, he's not talking to anyone, he's contemplating. People are far less likely to lie when contemplating internally than people who are having verbal conversations with others. So no, Batman does not indulge in the act of beating up criminals.
Secondly, the people that Batman "beats up" aren't always "poor" and "mentally ill" because Gotham is infested with organised crime. Even when they happen to be "poor" and "mentally ill," they also happen to be murderers, thieves and/or rapists. Sure, Batman does fight petty criminals when seeing them commit robberies and shit, but the criminals that Batman usually faces are people who work for organised mob bosses who have a lot of wealth and resources e.g. Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, Penguin and the Black Mask. He also fights a terrorist group known as the League of Assassins. Heck, Batman doesn't always actually beat up criminals. Sometimes he just scares them interrogating them whilst holding them on the edge of a building:
Source — Detective Comics (1937) Issue #785.
So the idea that Batman beats up criminals for his own sadistic gratification doesn't actually make sense in-character, considering that he is perfectly willing to scare them without actually hurting them. A lot of people also exaggerate how brutal Batman is. Even when he does beat people up, his brutality varies depending on the situation and it's not always that severe. He's a lot less brutal than people think he is. After Bruce got his back broken by Bane in Knightfall, Jean Paul Valley took on the mantle of the Batman, and took a very brutal and violent approach to criminals:
Jean: Rough justice, perhaps. Not the way Bruce Wayne would play it at all. But I am Batman now--and with Bane triumphant, and a crime wave engulfing the streets, Gotham has never needed is justice rougher!
Source — Batman: Shadow of the Bat Issue #17.
As Batman, Jean dishes "rough justice" that Bruce wouldn't use at all on criminals. In fact, Jean was so violent and brutal that Tim Drake detested Jean's methods:
Source — Detective Comics (1937) Issue #665.
Tim remarks that Jean is doing "maybe a little too good" of a job of filling in Bruce's mantle as Batman, saying that Jean is "into it" and "quick and tough and scary." But Jason also says that "somehow he's scary in all the wrong ways" because he's overly brutal and violent to the point Tim himself is scared of Jean. So Tim stops Jean from hammering a criminal and confronts him on his brutal methods, saying that Jean is "going way over the top here" and that Bruce made a mistake of asking Jean to take on the mantle of Batman.
Jean's brutality as Batman didn't end there. He actually he had no qualms about killing people, and Jason had to save people that Jean nearly killed:
Source — Detective Comics (1937) Issue #665.
Jean had no qualms with allowing Tony Bressi's gunmen die, Tim Drake had to save one from falling to his death, whilst remarking that Jean is out of control. Jean even threatens to kill Tony himself if he doesn't reveal any information about Bane. Jean's threats terrified Tony enough to reveal that Bane coerced him into caving into Bane's reign, and Jean takes Tony somewhere else. This is what happens next:
Tim [internal thoughts}: As the Batman, Bruce Wayne struck terror into the hearts of criminals. Jean Paul Valley prefers faces.
Jean: DO WE UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER, TOUGH TONY?
Tim: STOP IT! There's no need to beat him like—
Jean: YOU SHUT UP!
Tim [internal thoughts}: It's turning into a nightmare... The whole idea of the Batman-Robin team up is nothing but a bad joke. He's out of control--and there's not much more that I can say in front of Bressi without blowing our cover.
Jean: Now--do we have an understanding, Tough Tony?
Tony: Y-yeah... Sure... You keep the other dons here long enough for me to convince Bane we're handing over the unions... So he hands over my kids.
Jean: ... And when the release is set, you leave word for me right here.
Tony: ... G-got it.
Jean: Then get out of here--and start contacting Bane's people!
Tony: I...I'll do it--you know I'll do it--anything to get my kids back.
Jean: Forget your kids! You cross me on this, Tough Tony, and I'll make you eat your eyes.
Tim [internal thoughts]: Bruce was tough, but never like this. Whatever the score, he played it straight and he won... At least until Bane,
Source — Batman (1940) Issue #499.
Whilst watching Jean interrogating and pounding Tony's face, Tim remarks Bruce "struck terror into the hearts of criminals" as Batman, but Jean was different in that he "prefers faces" rather than hearts. Tim tries to calm Jean down, saying that he doesn't need to beat Tony so severely, but his efforts are futile as Jean tells Tim to shut up. Tim remarks that the Batman and Robin team up has become "nothing but a bad joke" because Jean is "out of control" and there's nothing Tim can say in front of Tony without blowing Jean and Tim's cover. Jean continues to brutally interrogate Tony, Tony caves into Jean's demands because he'll do anything to get his kids back. Jean treats Tony's concern for his kids with contempt, threatening to make Tony eat his own eyes if if Tony tries to double cross Jean. Tim compares Bruce and Jean's use of fear as Batman, saying that "Bruce was tough, but never like this" in that "whatever the score, he played it right" and won until Bane entered the picture.
There are more examples of Jean beating the shit out of criminals and being detested by Tim Drake for his brutality, showing how he's a far more violent and brutal Batman than Bruce Wayne was, but I think I have posted enough evidence to prove my point. The Batman that some people say that beats the shit out of criminals is a much more accurate description of Jean Paul Valley than Bruce Wayne. Now I will move on to my further points.
Thirdly, most Batman comics, which aren't just limited to Post-Crisis, depict Bruce as one of the biggest philanthropists in Gotham City because he uses the Wayne Foundation, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises, to fund scientific research and provide financial support to victims of crimes that need financial support. Bruce has used Wayne Enterprises to donate money various good causes, such as funding rehab clinics for drug addicts:
Bruce: What I became was beyond your control, Leslie... And perhaps beyond mine. Besides, don't I support this clinic, and others like it? As well as many social programs, under your direction?
Leslie: The Wayne Foundation does, yes...
Source — Detective Comics (1937) Issue #574.
Funds free clinic work to Doctor Shonda Kinsolving:
Leslie: -- Exceptional generosity of the Wayne Foundation in funding the free clinic work being done by Doctor Shonda Kinsolving under my supervision...
Source — Batman (1940) Issue #495.
Rebuilds a Gotham viaduct (which he destroyed in costume but only because he wanted prevent the Joker from killing all of Gotham):
Jim Gordon's internal thoughts: It takes the city a few weeks to calm back down even after Joker is locked safely away in Arkham. His prints aren't in any database, so we'll probably never know who he really is. He's certainly not saying, if he even knows. Wayne was so glad to survive his part in all this that his company rebuilt the Gotham viaduct at no charge. People were sweaty and miserable for a week, and by the end of it water was going for ten bucks a bottle, but we survived.
Source — Batman: The Man Who Laughs.
Even sends out checks to refugee camps overseas, and makes a mental note about sending "another check" to an Ethiopian refugee camp to help those suffering from starvation and poverty:
Bruce's internal thoughts: An Ethiopian refugee camp just outside Magdala. The misery has returned. Once again the world doesn't listen in time. The same mistakes were repeated. Starvation and death cast a long shadow over this island. The refugees flock into the camps by the thousands each day. It's utterly heartbreaking. When I return to Gotham, I'll send out another check to help the effort and try forget what I've seen here. I'm no different than anyone else. There's only so much even Bruce Wayne -- and Batman -- can do.
Source — Batman (1940) Issue #427.
He even carries a stack of Wayne Enterprise business cards in his Utility Belt and when he stumbles upon someone he can help, he gives them a card so that they can get job. For instance, he offers who goes on to be a receptionist:
Batman: Thought you promised me you'd get a straight job, Ellie.
Ellie: I... I can't hardly read or write...
Batman: I don't need to hear your excuses. You can talk. You can smile and answer a phone, right? I hear these people are hiring reception girls. Don't let me see you on the streets again.
Source — Batman (1940) Issue #664.
Ellie then becomes a receptionist in Grant Morrisons' Batman: Incorporated.
Bruce also the owner of the Daily Planet, the prize winning newspaper that Lois Lane and Clark Kent work for:
Clark Kent: Lois, I'm not sure`that P.D.A. is the most appropriate form of behavior with the owner of the Daily Planet.
Source — Batman: Hush Issue#3:
Keep in mind that Planet is one of the few newspapers in Metropolis not owned by Lex Luthor, making it the only newspaper in Metropolis that’s printing negative stories of LexCorp and Lex Luthor. Bruce's ownership of the Daily Planet enables the newspaper to be free of Luthor’s control. So yeah, he even helps places outside of Gotham.
Bruce even fights corrupt business man like Lex Luthor:
Bruce's internal thoughts: Before Luthor became President, he made a grab for Gotham City, extending his empire out beyond Metropolis. As Bruce Wayne, I was integral to stopping him. I did so with pleasure. In retaliation, Luthor tried to destroy Bruce Wayne's reputation -- his reputation. It took nearly a year of my life to clear my name. Luthor never paid for what he did to my family. To my city. To me.
Source — Superman/Batman Issue #6.
Keep in mind that Luthor was the president at the time and Bruce's efforts to fight Luthor came at the expense of being framed as a murderer.
Another Bruce also funds the Bludhaven Police department and military, such as providing them with high tech bullet proof vests and body armor:
Zeddmore Washington: There really has been a misunderstanding, Sergant. Z Washington, Wayne Enterprises Head of Security here in Iraq. I'm here as a personal bodyguard to young Tim Drake here while he's in country on Wayne Foundation business. You're familiar with the Wayne Foundation, I assume... They're the ones providing body armpour to us U.S. troops here. Like what you're wearing now.
Source — Red Robin Issue #4:
You can't just argue that Bruce could do so much more philanthropy than what he already does when it's never actually been quantified how much money he has and how much of it he invests for charity, nor can you argue that he should increase the funding of the GCPD when you don't know much money he provides for the GCPD. Batman stories conspicuously convey that he does a lot of philanthropy. Every single issue of Batman: Hush has Bruce Wayne narrating:
"I made a promise on the grave of my parents that I would rid this city of the evil that took their lives. By day, I am Bruce Wayne, billionaire philanthropist. At night, criminals, a cowardly and superstitious lot, call me... Batman."
So everything that SJWs think that Bruce should be doing... Is already being done off panel and even shoved down our throats on panel. One of the pivotal story elements of Batman: War on Crime is that Bruce makes Gotham a better place both in and out of costume by capturing and locking up criminals in costume and using his wealth and resources to rebuild poor and ruined areas of Gotham (e.g. Bayside).
And this isn't the real world, Batman exists in a world with people with superpowers and all kinds of fantasy elements, so trying to apply real world logic to the DC universe is really asinine.
Fourthly, the entire notion that Bruce Wayne could solve Gotham's problems with crime and corruption solely through his wealth is laughable beyond comprehension because throwing money at your problems isn't always going to solve them. If Bruce never became Batman and just remained a billionaire philanthropist, he would get killed by Gotham's mob bosses such as Carmine Falcone, Salvatore Maroni, Penguin, Black Mask, Ventriloquist or even the terrorist group called the League of Assassins. What's Bruce going to do to stop that from happening when there's no Batman around? Bribe them with a check? Criminals will have nothing to be afraid of when there's no Batman around. Bruce Wayne can easily be subdued because he's just a man in the eyes of criminals. Batman on the other hand, can't easily be subdued because he is more than just a man in the eyes of criminals; he's a creature of the night.
One might also ask why Bruce chose to fight crime as a vigilante when he could've worked within the law, given that vigilantism is illegal. The answer to that is that he already tried that, and it just wasn't enough:
Narrator: Bruce entered FBI training. He stayed in it for exactly six weeks. During that time, he'd learned much about writing reports, obeying regulations, analyzing statistics, and dressing neatly... And nothing else. The experience confirmed a suspicion he'd long had: He could not operate within a system. People who caused other people to fall did not recognize systems.
Source — Secret Origins: The Man Who Falls.
Bruce entered FBI training for "exactly six weeks" and "learned much," but left because the experience "confirmed a suspicion" he long had, which was that he couldn't work within legal systems because people "who caused other people to fall did not recognize such systems" i.e. Bruce couldn't work within the law because the law wasn't good enough to stop Gotham from being plagued by organised crime. The law didn't stop Bruce's parents from being murdered in cold blood. As Batman, Bruce is operating outside the law, but as a citizen of Gotham, he didn't have any other viable choice because Gotham's law enforcement was so corrupt, that he couldn't work within the law. The Gotham City Police Department (GCPD), is notorious for being infested with corrupt cops like Arnold Flass that have no qualms about beating people up for no real reason:
Source — Batman: Year One Deluxe Edition.
The GCPD is so corrupt that the corrupt cops such as Flass, were so uncomfortable with Jim Gordon because he was a good natured cop with high moral standards and refused to allow the GCPD to entice him into giving into their ways. So they all brutally beat him up to put him in his place, but were careful enough to not hurt him so much to be require being hospitalized:
Source — Batman: Year One Deluxe Edition.
But when Batman began his career, he successfully managed to mitigate crime and corruption in Gotham by removing a lot of corrupt cops and kept Gotham's mob bosses at bay:
Jim: Still, I'm not all that surprised, all the changes Gotham's been through in the last year... Like the Batman trying to wage a one-man war on crime and corruption. Helped me take down a lot of crooked cops and got the mob's hand from around the city's throat. For a while at least. But in the end, no matter how you look at it, the landscape of the city has changed. That Red Hood character a few months back was the first sign. Fool running around in a costume taking down scores. Disappeared the first time he got a look at Batman, though.
Source — Batman: The Man Who Laughs.
The reason why Gordon understood Batman and permitted Batman to carry out his crusade against crime was because the law sometimes failed to protect the people of Gotham from organized crime, and the GCPD needed someone outside of the law:
Jim: You and I have seen more than our fair share of tragedies and thirsted for revenge. If Batman wanted to be a killer, he could have started long ago. But, it's a line, on one side we believe in the law. On the other... Sometimes, the law fails us. Maybe that's why I understood you... Allowed you to help protect the city.
Source — Batman: Hush Issue #7.
And here is an out of universe source confirming that Batman reduced the suffering in Gotham:
Prologue: New York, New York. The city that never sleeps. Tired-wired citizens too stressed out to care about or connect with anybody but themselves.
A boy named Matt Murdock could go that way... But his boxer-father teaches him to fight past the self-interest trying to T.K.O. his decency. When the mean streets threaten to run down an old man, Matt's training comes to the rescue. That reckless idealism costs Matt his sight... But the accident magnifies his remaining senses. At first, all it means is he feels the pain of his father's murder that much worse. After he brings the killers to hard justice, though, those senses connect him to the world around. They remind him what it means to care.
And it's because he cares, that Daredevil protects his city with such reckless idealism.
Gotham city. Deep skyscraper canyons of vice. Men and Women here suffer just to get by. Or they've found a way to rise above. The privileged Wayne family, out for the night at the movies. A fanciful illusion of light and shadow. Except when the lights finally die at the end of the picture show, all that's left is the darkness. And out of that blackness comes a man and a gun and a double murder that leaves young Bruce Wayne an orphan. Not that he's alone. He has his rage... And the cold obsession it spawns. A mission to drive cowardly, superstitious criminals to their knees and crawling back to the shadows.
Gotham's still no paradise, but the suffering's been eased some. Because now those skyscraper canyons belong to the Batman.
Source — Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye.
Here is another out of universe source stating that Batman helped maintain law and order in Gotham and was actually the city's saviour in the aftermath of an earthquake:
Biography: The Dark Knight helped maintain law and order in Gotham City when a contagion struck killing tens of thousands. He was also the city's saviour in the anarchic aftermath of a catalysmic earthquake. With Gotham declared a No Man's Land by the goverment, Batman and his allies, including a new BATGIRL, fought a yearlong struggle to take the town back block by block. Gotham City was eventually rebuilt, and Batman redoubled his efforts to make known to all returning criminals that a Dark Knight defender still ruled the night. More recently, Batman faced several more personal losses. The first involved the end of his "working" relationship with Commissioner Gordon, who left the police force after a near-fatal shooting. Batman's clandestine ties to the G.C.P.D. would never be the same with his friend and ally retired.
Source — The DC Comics Encyclopedia (2004).
Batman hasn't just made Gotham a better place, he's also made the world a better place:
Biography: As one of the first heroes to operate on any of the Earths, Batman enjoyed a particular place in the hearts and minds of his fellow heroes. His example of an average man making himself the equal of almost any super hero was a model for countless others. He was a founding member of the Justice Society of America in Earth-2 and the Justice League of America on Earth-1. His planning and preparation kept the world safer, although his plans also came back to haunt him.
Source — The Essential Batman Encyclopedia.
Granted, the Encyclopedia does say that Batman's plans have come "back to haunt him," which is a reference to Ra's Al Ghul stealing, exploiting and modifying Batman's contingency plans for the scenario of the Justice League going evil. But regardless of that, Batman made the world a safer place, not just Gotham.
And there are more reasons for why Bruce decided to fight crime as vigilante. Being a vigilante enables Bruce to be anonymous, if he wasn't anonymous, he would be risking attacks on his friends, business associates, company, as well as himself and his only remaining parental figure, Alfred. Many superheroes make themselves anonymous by being vigilantes to safeguard their personal lives and loved ones, it's not exclusive to Batman. If that's not enough evidence of Bruce Wayne's philanthropy, click here for more information.
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