Why You Should Be On Team Cap: A Political Argument

Now that all the hype surrounding Captain America: Civil War has essentially died down, it’s time to talk about the more intellectual side of a movie which mainly consists of people hitting each other with magic, arrows, shields, magic fingers… you get the point.

For all three people who haven’t seen the movie, Iron Man wants the Avengers to be part of the UN to allow for greater oversight and Captain America doesn’t like that because he’s an ideological microcosm of American culture and values (and we know how they feel about the UN telling them what to do *wink* *wink* Iraq). This quarrel puts us, the viewer, in a sort of moral quandary because both Cap and Stark are both, as the kids say, “bae”.

The issue comes because the Avengers are now a threat to the world hegemon, the United States of America.

The real reason countries want to assimilate the Avengers is because of power. Power is the linchpin of our current belief structure. Power, is also a zero sum game meaning that the more power the Avengers have, the less everyone else has. For most of the lower powers that isn’t so much of a problem. The issue comes because the Avengers are now a threat to the world hegemon, the United States of America.

Obviously the United States cannot just role up into Avengers mansion and arrest them, because for the first time in centuries, the US military is simply not powerful enough to contend with the likes of demigods. Didn’t you wonder why Ross was so eager to put them in superhero Guantanamo? So since the use of force is no longer a viable option, they turn to a softer form of power.

They force the UN to use diplomacy and put the Avengers in a place where they cannot threaten American interests.

So the world hegemon does what it does best, coerce Global Civil in order do their bidding for it. They force the UN to use diplomacy and put the Avengers in a place where they cannot threaten American interests.

We currently live in the age of the individual, no other time in human history was the action of a single person so valuable. The Avengers is just taking this new age to the nth degree. The last time the US tried to take control of an Avenger was in the terrible Iron Man 2. They did so via the use of force which didn’t turn out so well. During this time Iron Man, yes Iron Man, gave the best argument as to why he and he alone should be allowed to do whatever he wants.

“The world is experiencing its longest period of uninterrupted peace because of [him]”.“Because [Iron Man] is your nuclear deterrent, it’s working, we’re safe, America is secure.”

He is right.

Captain America (Chris Evans)/ Marvel 2016

They have the potential to break international law (rightfully so) and disregard the current balance of power in the world in order to do what is right.

For the first time in human history there is a force so far beyond the realm of existence it is literally science fiction. The point of global civil societies which the Avengers are, is supposed to facilitate the interactions of states. Usually because these global civil societies have no military force or hard power as it were, they cannot enforce their ideals efficiently and universally. We do not need to mention all the times that UN peacekeeping groups failed in their mission, and the other times where government intervention was either too slow or didn’t work at all.

The world is anarchical in nature. This is where the Avengers come in, they have structural power. They have the ability to control how things are done. They have the potential to break international law (rightfully so) and disregard the current balance of power in the world in order to do what is right.

The only reason you would be for the Sakovia Accords, in the paraphrased words of Kanye West, “No [team of heroes] should have all that power”. But if you think about it, corrupting the Avengers is much more complicated than corrupting a member state of the United Nations. Think Winter Soldier, think how easy it might be for a malevolent party to continue to block the attempts of the Avengers.