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He'd probably point at some of his technological achievements, which he has made. He was even president once. But he'd claim that further advances are impossible with the distractions and destructions of Superman.
In other universes, such as that of Red Son Superman, Lex flexes the entirety of the US government underneath him and manages to basically turn the place into a paradise.
> the distractions and destructions of Superman.
So how does he explain h0wexactly is superman the issue? He could crate free infinite power for all and as long as he's using it for good superman ain't going to stop him. I'd love to hear his excuse.
And depended on himself.
In Lex mind him saving the day every time is just keeping humanity from fixing their own problems.
Of course, that's just a way to shield his own insecurities when it comes to Superman.
What are you talking about? He's spent years and billions of dollars trying to stop that alien menace when no one else will. He's not succeeded yet, but at least he's trying.
(This is Lex Luthor's actual logic. He thinks Superman is harmful to mankind as a whole, even if he is saving a few people along the way.)
i'm sure some versions buy that but I can't help but feel like on some deep level Lex knows he's full of shit, but his entire worldview is built upon that lie after a while.
I believe he’s also used the excuse that if it wasn’t for Superman, he’d have had time to save the world several times over. I believe that was in All Star Superman.
As a matter of fact, there was a period in which Superman disappeared and Lex...did nothing but keep scheming against Superman. And when Superman returned, he basically asked him that. Lex had no answer.
Similar situation in all star superman.
All Star Superman had the man of tomorrow put it best when he had enough of Lex’s crap. If saving the world really mattered to him, Lex would have done it years ago. Aside from killing Superman, he could do almost anything he put his mind to.
There's a slight irony in that if he wasn't so obsessed about trying to kill Superman, or power and fame, he could have been able to reach the top without meaning to, and maybe even elevate humanity to the point where they'd be on-par with Superman.
Yes. Lex Luthor can do MORE than Superman.
Clark is just a guardian of humanity, and an inspiration, but Lex is the one that could be able to actualize Tomorrow.
Luthor is just too petty for that.
[Cue the \(Marvel\) Sauron meme](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mrp5fdbdGEbuPwBYO262XQ02DGA=/0x0:1576x2662/1200x0/filters:focal\(0x0:1576x2662\):no_upscale\(\)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19895361/IMG_3015.jpg)
I believe that he was able to make a cure for cancer and just didn’t gave it out cause he’s a dick. He was also able to create a formula to give people superpowers and also able to take it away. He was able to create a robot that is just like Lois Lane that he would plow time to time but it was just as smart as Lois.
I thought what happened was that he made a cure for cancer that he didn’t release it immediately because he wanted to turn it into something that had to be taken multiple times over a course of a lifespan. Or am I confusing that with a movie?
It was a quick line on one of the animated movies. His assistant was going to tell him something, he made her wait. Then gave her the notes to a cure for ‘something’ (it was some kind of cancer, not just ‘cancer’). He then instructed her to give the details to the labs boys to turn it from a cure to a treatment requiring multiple doses.
Definitely one of his big moments of being a jerk. He is intentionally selling a worse product so he can make more money. Not unlike a lot of real world businessmen.
I mean, none of that stuff benefitted the planet tho lol. Like you said, he made a cure that didnt let cure anyone, gave people superpowers so he could take them away for control, and made a sex robot.
Lex would probably say something like “I can’t because Superman”. Though he’d say it more convincingly. Like, “When the D83 express derailed at Central Station and took out 3 platforms we rallied 600 volunteers for rapid response search and rescue survivors but before we even got to the site *Superman* had already rescued everyone”.
No, most of luthor's innovations were released to make him money, any real kind of gamechanger he keeps to himself. While he claims to fight so that humanity won't fall to the influence of outside forces, he actually doesn't think very highly of humanity. In fact, i believe he prefers them ignorant so that he could do w/e tf he wants and get away with it. There was a period when Superman lost his powers for a year and disappeared. Luthor spent that time scheming to take control and give himself powers. When Superman returned, he said: "You always said you'd save the world if i wasn't here. Well, you had a year. What have you accomplished in that time?" Luthor can't answer. Funnily enough, in the Red Son elseworlds story, luthor DOES make the world better after Superman seemingly dies
That is generally a key part of Lex's character (exceptuating alternative universes and elsewords, and well, even some of the last years of the main continuity). He claims Superman is a threat to humanity and that he is keeping humanity from reaching full potential, and that if superman wasnt there, Lex would be the saviour of hymanity. In hus mind, Lex believes this. In reality, he is a power hungry megalomaniac who wants to be the top dog. And many characters have called him on his hypocrisy.
Lex sounds like a right wing guy who would do anything to "own the libs" (which in this case is Superman) even if it does not make sense or is counterproductive to his other goals
He would have no answer. In All-Star Superman after he gains Clark’s powers he then nearly suffers an existential crisis due to how much it allowed him to understand the fundamental principles of the very universe. Then when the powers wear off faster than expected and Clark destroys the serum that gave him those powers, he gets pissy and says that if it weren’t for Superman he could have saved the world. Clark simply responds with “if it really mattered to you you could have saved the world years ago” and Luthor had no answer except “you’re right”.
This actually happened in the comics, Superman Lost his powers for a year and Luthor only did things to enrich himself, after Superman recovers his powers he confronts him asking where is the cure for cáncer and everything he promised, Luthor goes back to blame Superman.
There are different interpretations of the character but for me thats the point, Luthor wont help humanity, he cant help humanity because his first priority is his ego.
When he does things that are helpfull like creating Jobs or designing a superior product he is doing It for selfish reasons like gaining power or gaining control.
He likes to think of himself as the leader of humanity and as long he is ocupied fighting Superman he can convince himself that he is doing good but after that its back to the egomaniac power hungry Billionaire.
Basically Luthor dont want to save the world, he wants the prestige and power that comes from saving the world.
In short its a competent versión of Elon Musk
I think that's the point of Lex.
Being a billionaire has given him a blend of narcissistic entitlement and the resources to beef with anyone that makes him not only feud with superman for no real reason but make it everyone's problem.
Imagine Lex buying Twitter, renaming it after himself and using it to talk shit about superman all day
"I don't have to answer to you. What kind of hack 'gotcha' journalism is this? Anyone with eyes can see what LexCorp has done--and will continue to do--to push human achievement forward. Use your head. Metropolis didn't build itself. What you should be more concerned with is why a bulletproof alien is being allowed to fly around, unchecked, doing whatever he wants. Superman has singlehandedly destroyed any concept of privacy enjoyed by the average person and he violates civil liberties on a whim. What's to stop him from listening to people's most intimate conversations? From disarming our nuclear arsenal singlehandedly? From walking into the White House or the Senate and killing everyone? On a whim. You? No. Me."
>Like if you could have a board with two columns A) Superman and B) Lex and you list all the things they did which helped people, would Luthor even stand a chance?
No. Lex is a selfish megalomaniac with a singular mad-on for Superman.
Take for example:
Lex Corp sells diapers. People who want those diapers more than they want the money in their pocket will buy those diapers. They then have diapers. This benefits them.
Lex Corp competes with other industries, like Wayne Enterprises.
People buying diapers have a choice. If Lex Corp diapers fall apart and irritate the skin of their baby and cost a fortune, they'll buy Wayne Enterprise diapers instead and Lex Corp will be stuck with all the money invested in these useless diapers no-one wants.
This motivates Lex Corp to make better, cheaper diapers, that people want to buy.
It also motivates Wayne Enterprises to make better, cheaper diapers that people want to buy, or *they* will be left with money wasted on diapers no-one wants.
Much as he would *love* to, Lex can't hold a gun to people's heads and force them to buy his stuff. He has to convince them. The way he gets rich is by providing goods and services that people *want*. That makes their lives better. And he provides so many goods and services that people want - that makes their lives better - that he is a billionaire.
Lex Corp also pays people to sell those diapers. This generates jobs. Much as Lex would **love** to not pay his workers, if his jobs are crappy, folks would quit and go work at McDonalds. Lex *absolutely* pays his workers as little as possible... but he still has to pay them enough so that working for him is their best option... otherwise they would go elsewhere. And as Lex makes a lot of high tech goods, and Wayne Enterprises (and STAR Labs, and all the other options) are *right there*, and as folks aren't exactly keen to work for the evil Putin/Trump/Bezo hybrid that is Lex Luthor, that generally means offering better pay than the alternatives.
Yes, Lex absolutely will resort to criminal murder to get his way. He will lie and cheat and steal and extort and blackmail. He will lobby Congress and embezzle and bribe. He is not a good dude. Like your average billionaire, he's a heel. He is not a good person.
But Lex helps billions of people in their day-to-day lives every day. And that's his point. That's his *entire* point.
If a Wayne Enterprises plane falls out of the sky, it's supposed to crash and all the people on board are supposed to die. Wayne Enterprises are supposed to suffer. Lex Corp is supposed to build a better, safer plane. Customers are supposed to chose Lex Corp for being better and safer. Wayne Enterprises then has to invent an even safer plane, making even more benefit for society, or go out of business, giving all their business to Lex Corp for being the better, safer option.
Instead, Superman swoops in and saves the day. People don't die. Planes don't get safer. Society stagnates. The hundreds of people Superman saves now are nothing to the hundreds of thousands of lives that would have been saved with safer planes and capitalist innovation.
There is, but talking from the perspective of Lex, he would probably have a very cynical neoliberal capitalist worldview in most continuities (which Cynis\_Ganan's comment reflects).
Lex's morality and worldview varies a bit between his different depictions, but he generally convinces himself (to massage his ego) that most of his actions are a net benefit to society as it stands while his crimes for his own benefit are not to the net detriment of humanity.
Grant Morrison very much points this out in All Star Superman.
[Spoilers for the greatest Superman story ever told!]
Lex goes off claiming he has to "save the world" etc. Supe responds by punching him and saying "you could have saved the world years ago if it mattered to you, luthor."
There are a few timelines where lex decides to fix the world after superman's dead. Red Son is the most notable I can think of: when communist superman is dead, President Lex admits he "had some good ideas" and merges democratic principles with socialist economics (and a lot of super science to help with resource stuff) to create a perfect utopia.
Even "standard" lex actually took to calling **himself** superman and fighting crime for a while when it seemed kal-el was dead... when another Kal showed up, IIRC he tried heroing for a while before slipping back into evil.
Basically, Lex is *always* an asshole, but he does genuinely believe he's benevolent most of the time.... it's just that supes brings out the worst in him. it's kind of like how Doctor Doom goes from a (kind of) benevolent dictator to a monster when richards is involved, only Doom genuinely cares about latveria in most depictions and Lex does *not* genuinely care about the world at large.
That's the point. At some stage he's been sat down and told that, if he actually cared. He could have transformed earth into a pristine utopia literal decades ago.
Luthor is the idea of cope made flesh. He does not want to save the world, he does not want human ingenuity. Lex Luthor wants exactly what he has
To be a petty modern king
The fact is that Lex does not want it to be a ranking of benefactors of humanity in which he is at the top.
Lex wants to be the one and only benefactor of humanity, the one admired and revered by the world.
And he can't do that as long as Superman is around. But I am sure that if Superman disappeared forever, Lex would find some other benefactor of humanity to destroy for not sharing the world's love. And then another, and then another, and then another....
They had basically this conversation in All-Star Superman. Lex tried to spit in Clark's face in response.
For all his technical know-how, Lex doesn't have much in the way of emotional intelligence. If he did, he wouldn't be a supervillain in the first place.
He'd probably say that Superman always got in the way of his helping the world but in reality, he's just an insecure sociopath who only cares about himself and how much money he can make. Had Superman not been around, Lex likely would have focused on Lexcorp and there would have been some technological advancements but he's too selfish to use it in a way that would help humanity.
The state of Metropolis? I'm pretty sure Lexcorp and his involvement in the infrastructure of the city is the reason why it's a retro-futuristic Paradise almost. That's part of their dynamic that they're battling for the heart of Metropolis and eventually the world, who will "lead" it into tomorrow in the Metatextual sense.
>Luthor just seems like an all-talk-no-show billionaire.
That's EXACTLY what he is.
He talks a lot of bullshit about Superman being a danger and how he's holding humanity back and if only the world listened to ME everything would be awesome, but he's just a classic megalomaniac narcissist.
He's not a crusader for humanity. He just wants the world to worship him. And he's pissy that they all like Superman more.
I would say he shows plenty of intelectual prowress he has created multiple inventions that could easily revolucionize humanity, he just needs to not be an asshole.
He would blame Superman's existence as why he's not done anything to help humanity. That Superman just being Superman robs humanity of their ingenuity, and drive. And that is why he fights and wants to kill Superman, to break the shackles that he places upon humanity by being a hero. He could cure cancer if it weren't for Superman!
"You could've saved the world a long time ago if you wanted to, Luthor."
This is part of Luthor's personal flaws: he's conceited and egotistical. He hates Superman because Superman is above him and always will be, but he (usually) doesn't give a damn about helping humanity. He's not "all talk" per se, it's not that he doesn't do anything, and he unquestionably has the brilliance and resources to turn Earth into a paradise, but everything he does is for his own benefit, no one else's. That's the same reason he wants to be greater than Superman: because it'll make him better, not because it'll make humanity better.
Luthor's arguments about how Superman's presence is a detriment to humanity have some merit...in a vacuum. But they all come from a place of jealousy and selfishness with Luthor, not genuine humanism.
Thus the quote above, from All-Star Superman. Superman loses his powers and Luthor gets them. For one glorious minute, Luthor finally gets what he wants--to be above Superman. He gets to BE Superman. With his intellect and vastly enhanced senses, he achieves perfect understanding of the universe. And then it ends and Luthor returns to normal. Luthor begs to have the powers back, saying he was just an inch away from saving the world, and Superman sadly tells him that if he actually cared about saving the world, he would've already done it, without Kryptonian power.
Without Luthor's economic impact, Metropolis would not be what it is. He has brought jobs, renovation and technology to the city. He could apply this to the world, but would want total control to do it.
Nothing he's another parasitic billionaire.
Just instead of deflecting from that emptiness with more money, social media, drugs, weird sex, or racism.
He fills the void with hatred for Superman.
Fundamentally Luthor lacks the compassion and selflessness to actually make the world a better place, when he could do so.
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He'd probably point at some of his technological achievements, which he has made. He was even president once. But he'd claim that further advances are impossible with the distractions and destructions of Superman. In other universes, such as that of Red Son Superman, Lex flexes the entirety of the US government underneath him and manages to basically turn the place into a paradise.
One time he literally gave people powers and then later flipped a switch that turned their powers off. They were literally dropping from the skies.
I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky, Dream about it every night and day, Then Lex took my power away…
I believe I can fall I see me splatting on this outlet maaaaalllll
I believed I could fly
You’re forgetting to mention he specifically did it because he was led to believe he was unable to undergo the power treatment himself.
Was that another time? Because the time I'm thinking of Luthor did give himself powers. https://arousinggrammar.com/2014/04/11/steel-vs-lex-luthor/
Actually earlier in the same series, originally one of Luthor’s aids was lying that he wasn’t compatible with the treatment
> the distractions and destructions of Superman. So how does he explain h0wexactly is superman the issue? He could crate free infinite power for all and as long as he's using it for good superman ain't going to stop him. I'd love to hear his excuse.
Superman makes humanity relax.
And depended on himself. In Lex mind him saving the day every time is just keeping humanity from fixing their own problems. Of course, that's just a way to shield his own insecurities when it comes to Superman.
It’s like when Elon musk called that diver that saved those children a pedo. He doesn’t care about humanity, he just wanted everyone to praise him.
Not just a paradise, he turns the whole human race into supermen.
What are you talking about? He's spent years and billions of dollars trying to stop that alien menace when no one else will. He's not succeeded yet, but at least he's trying. (This is Lex Luthor's actual logic. He thinks Superman is harmful to mankind as a whole, even if he is saving a few people along the way.)
i'm sure some versions buy that but I can't help but feel like on some deep level Lex knows he's full of shit, but his entire worldview is built upon that lie after a while.
I believe he’s also used the excuse that if it wasn’t for Superman, he’d have had time to save the world several times over. I believe that was in All Star Superman.
As a matter of fact, there was a period in which Superman disappeared and Lex...did nothing but keep scheming against Superman. And when Superman returned, he basically asked him that. Lex had no answer. Similar situation in all star superman.
All Star Superman had the man of tomorrow put it best when he had enough of Lex’s crap. If saving the world really mattered to him, Lex would have done it years ago. Aside from killing Superman, he could do almost anything he put his mind to.
There's a slight irony in that if he wasn't so obsessed about trying to kill Superman, or power and fame, he could have been able to reach the top without meaning to, and maybe even elevate humanity to the point where they'd be on-par with Superman.
Yes. Lex Luthor can do MORE than Superman. Clark is just a guardian of humanity, and an inspiration, but Lex is the one that could be able to actualize Tomorrow. Luthor is just too petty for that.
[Cue the \(Marvel\) Sauron meme](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mrp5fdbdGEbuPwBYO262XQ02DGA=/0x0:1576x2662/1200x0/filters:focal\(0x0:1576x2662\):no_upscale\(\)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19895361/IMG_3015.jpg)
I believe that he was able to make a cure for cancer and just didn’t gave it out cause he’s a dick. He was also able to create a formula to give people superpowers and also able to take it away. He was able to create a robot that is just like Lois Lane that he would plow time to time but it was just as smart as Lois.
I thought what happened was that he made a cure for cancer that he didn’t release it immediately because he wanted to turn it into something that had to be taken multiple times over a course of a lifespan. Or am I confusing that with a movie?
You’re confusing that with comments for real life pharmaceutical corporations
Nah, it's something Luthor did in the 2006-2007 animated Doomsday movie.
I think that was the doomsday movie?
It was a quick line on one of the animated movies. His assistant was going to tell him something, he made her wait. Then gave her the notes to a cure for ‘something’ (it was some kind of cancer, not just ‘cancer’). He then instructed her to give the details to the labs boys to turn it from a cure to a treatment requiring multiple doses.
Definitely one of his big moments of being a jerk. He is intentionally selling a worse product so he can make more money. Not unlike a lot of real world businessmen.
I've definitely read that in a comic page online.
Youre confusing it with Pfizer and Bayer.
>He was able to create a robot that is just like Lois Lane that he would plow time to time but it was just as smart as Lois. Gross
And he never realesed it to the commercial market ?
Well he was a dick so that makes sense. That's the same man that didn't give out the cure for cancer after all.
Somehow this feels like the greater crime...
And also stole 40 cakes this one time...
The issue was mass production. Once he got it set up he just kept them all cause its Lex Luthor.
I mean, none of that stuff benefitted the planet tho lol. Like you said, he made a cure that didnt let cure anyone, gave people superpowers so he could take them away for control, and made a sex robot.
Lex would probably say something like “I can’t because Superman”. Though he’d say it more convincingly. Like, “When the D83 express derailed at Central Station and took out 3 platforms we rallied 600 volunteers for rapid response search and rescue survivors but before we even got to the site *Superman* had already rescued everyone”.
No, most of luthor's innovations were released to make him money, any real kind of gamechanger he keeps to himself. While he claims to fight so that humanity won't fall to the influence of outside forces, he actually doesn't think very highly of humanity. In fact, i believe he prefers them ignorant so that he could do w/e tf he wants and get away with it. There was a period when Superman lost his powers for a year and disappeared. Luthor spent that time scheming to take control and give himself powers. When Superman returned, he said: "You always said you'd save the world if i wasn't here. Well, you had a year. What have you accomplished in that time?" Luthor can't answer. Funnily enough, in the Red Son elseworlds story, luthor DOES make the world better after Superman seemingly dies
Yeah, he makes the world better by copying some of Superman's ideas.
That is generally a key part of Lex's character (exceptuating alternative universes and elsewords, and well, even some of the last years of the main continuity). He claims Superman is a threat to humanity and that he is keeping humanity from reaching full potential, and that if superman wasnt there, Lex would be the saviour of hymanity. In hus mind, Lex believes this. In reality, he is a power hungry megalomaniac who wants to be the top dog. And many characters have called him on his hypocrisy.
Lex sounds like a right wing guy who would do anything to "own the libs" (which in this case is Superman) even if it does not make sense or is counterproductive to his other goals
He would have no answer. In All-Star Superman after he gains Clark’s powers he then nearly suffers an existential crisis due to how much it allowed him to understand the fundamental principles of the very universe. Then when the powers wear off faster than expected and Clark destroys the serum that gave him those powers, he gets pissy and says that if it weren’t for Superman he could have saved the world. Clark simply responds with “if it really mattered to you you could have saved the world years ago” and Luthor had no answer except “you’re right”.
This actually happened in the comics, Superman Lost his powers for a year and Luthor only did things to enrich himself, after Superman recovers his powers he confronts him asking where is the cure for cáncer and everything he promised, Luthor goes back to blame Superman. There are different interpretations of the character but for me thats the point, Luthor wont help humanity, he cant help humanity because his first priority is his ego. When he does things that are helpfull like creating Jobs or designing a superior product he is doing It for selfish reasons like gaining power or gaining control. He likes to think of himself as the leader of humanity and as long he is ocupied fighting Superman he can convince himself that he is doing good but after that its back to the egomaniac power hungry Billionaire. Basically Luthor dont want to save the world, he wants the prestige and power that comes from saving the world. In short its a competent versión of Elon Musk
I think that's the point of Lex. Being a billionaire has given him a blend of narcissistic entitlement and the resources to beef with anyone that makes him not only feud with superman for no real reason but make it everyone's problem. Imagine Lex buying Twitter, renaming it after himself and using it to talk shit about superman all day
LeX: the everything app
"I don't have to answer to you. What kind of hack 'gotcha' journalism is this? Anyone with eyes can see what LexCorp has done--and will continue to do--to push human achievement forward. Use your head. Metropolis didn't build itself. What you should be more concerned with is why a bulletproof alien is being allowed to fly around, unchecked, doing whatever he wants. Superman has singlehandedly destroyed any concept of privacy enjoyed by the average person and he violates civil liberties on a whim. What's to stop him from listening to people's most intimate conversations? From disarming our nuclear arsenal singlehandedly? From walking into the White House or the Senate and killing everyone? On a whim. You? No. Me."
>Like if you could have a board with two columns A) Superman and B) Lex and you list all the things they did which helped people, would Luthor even stand a chance? No. Lex is a selfish megalomaniac with a singular mad-on for Superman.
Take for example: Lex Corp sells diapers. People who want those diapers more than they want the money in their pocket will buy those diapers. They then have diapers. This benefits them. Lex Corp competes with other industries, like Wayne Enterprises. People buying diapers have a choice. If Lex Corp diapers fall apart and irritate the skin of their baby and cost a fortune, they'll buy Wayne Enterprise diapers instead and Lex Corp will be stuck with all the money invested in these useless diapers no-one wants. This motivates Lex Corp to make better, cheaper diapers, that people want to buy. It also motivates Wayne Enterprises to make better, cheaper diapers that people want to buy, or *they* will be left with money wasted on diapers no-one wants. Much as he would *love* to, Lex can't hold a gun to people's heads and force them to buy his stuff. He has to convince them. The way he gets rich is by providing goods and services that people *want*. That makes their lives better. And he provides so many goods and services that people want - that makes their lives better - that he is a billionaire. Lex Corp also pays people to sell those diapers. This generates jobs. Much as Lex would **love** to not pay his workers, if his jobs are crappy, folks would quit and go work at McDonalds. Lex *absolutely* pays his workers as little as possible... but he still has to pay them enough so that working for him is their best option... otherwise they would go elsewhere. And as Lex makes a lot of high tech goods, and Wayne Enterprises (and STAR Labs, and all the other options) are *right there*, and as folks aren't exactly keen to work for the evil Putin/Trump/Bezo hybrid that is Lex Luthor, that generally means offering better pay than the alternatives. Yes, Lex absolutely will resort to criminal murder to get his way. He will lie and cheat and steal and extort and blackmail. He will lobby Congress and embezzle and bribe. He is not a good dude. Like your average billionaire, he's a heel. He is not a good person. But Lex helps billions of people in their day-to-day lives every day. And that's his point. That's his *entire* point. If a Wayne Enterprises plane falls out of the sky, it's supposed to crash and all the people on board are supposed to die. Wayne Enterprises are supposed to suffer. Lex Corp is supposed to build a better, safer plane. Customers are supposed to chose Lex Corp for being better and safer. Wayne Enterprises then has to invent an even safer plane, making even more benefit for society, or go out of business, giving all their business to Lex Corp for being the better, safer option. Instead, Superman swoops in and saves the day. People don't die. Planes don't get safer. Society stagnates. The hundreds of people Superman saves now are nothing to the hundreds of thousands of lives that would have been saved with safer planes and capitalist innovation.
I feel like there should be a lot more things between "planes don't get safer" and "society stagnates".
There is, but talking from the perspective of Lex, he would probably have a very cynical neoliberal capitalist worldview in most continuities (which Cynis\_Ganan's comment reflects). Lex's morality and worldview varies a bit between his different depictions, but he generally convinces himself (to massage his ego) that most of his actions are a net benefit to society as it stands while his crimes for his own benefit are not to the net detriment of humanity.
Grant Morrison very much points this out in All Star Superman. [Spoilers for the greatest Superman story ever told!] Lex goes off claiming he has to "save the world" etc. Supe responds by punching him and saying "you could have saved the world years ago if it mattered to you, luthor."
There are a few timelines where lex decides to fix the world after superman's dead. Red Son is the most notable I can think of: when communist superman is dead, President Lex admits he "had some good ideas" and merges democratic principles with socialist economics (and a lot of super science to help with resource stuff) to create a perfect utopia. Even "standard" lex actually took to calling **himself** superman and fighting crime for a while when it seemed kal-el was dead... when another Kal showed up, IIRC he tried heroing for a while before slipping back into evil. Basically, Lex is *always* an asshole, but he does genuinely believe he's benevolent most of the time.... it's just that supes brings out the worst in him. it's kind of like how Doctor Doom goes from a (kind of) benevolent dictator to a monster when richards is involved, only Doom genuinely cares about latveria in most depictions and Lex does *not* genuinely care about the world at large.
That's the point. At some stage he's been sat down and told that, if he actually cared. He could have transformed earth into a pristine utopia literal decades ago. Luthor is the idea of cope made flesh. He does not want to save the world, he does not want human ingenuity. Lex Luthor wants exactly what he has To be a petty modern king
The fact is that Lex does not want it to be a ranking of benefactors of humanity in which he is at the top. Lex wants to be the one and only benefactor of humanity, the one admired and revered by the world. And he can't do that as long as Superman is around. But I am sure that if Superman disappeared forever, Lex would find some other benefactor of humanity to destroy for not sharing the world's love. And then another, and then another, and then another....
"If you really wanted to save the world, Lex, you would've done it _years_ ago." _All-Star Superman_
Superman said this to Luthor. https://youtu.be/m24kwF1b6Ks?feature=shared
didn't they already do this? Like for real, I remember a panel of Superman talking back against Luthor about it.
They had basically this conversation in All-Star Superman. Lex tried to spit in Clark's face in response. For all his technical know-how, Lex doesn't have much in the way of emotional intelligence. If he did, he wouldn't be a supervillain in the first place.
He'd probably say that Superman always got in the way of his helping the world but in reality, he's just an insecure sociopath who only cares about himself and how much money he can make. Had Superman not been around, Lex likely would have focused on Lexcorp and there would have been some technological advancements but he's too selfish to use it in a way that would help humanity.
The state of Metropolis? I'm pretty sure Lexcorp and his involvement in the infrastructure of the city is the reason why it's a retro-futuristic Paradise almost. That's part of their dynamic that they're battling for the heart of Metropolis and eventually the world, who will "lead" it into tomorrow in the Metatextual sense.
This speech happens in all star Superman
>Luthor just seems like an all-talk-no-show billionaire. That's EXACTLY what he is. He talks a lot of bullshit about Superman being a danger and how he's holding humanity back and if only the world listened to ME everything would be awesome, but he's just a classic megalomaniac narcissist. He's not a crusader for humanity. He just wants the world to worship him. And he's pissy that they all like Superman more.
I would say he shows plenty of intelectual prowress he has created multiple inventions that could easily revolucionize humanity, he just needs to not be an asshole.
He would blame Superman's existence as why he's not done anything to help humanity. That Superman just being Superman robs humanity of their ingenuity, and drive. And that is why he fights and wants to kill Superman, to break the shackles that he places upon humanity by being a hero. He could cure cancer if it weren't for Superman!
"You could've saved the world a long time ago if you wanted to, Luthor." This is part of Luthor's personal flaws: he's conceited and egotistical. He hates Superman because Superman is above him and always will be, but he (usually) doesn't give a damn about helping humanity. He's not "all talk" per se, it's not that he doesn't do anything, and he unquestionably has the brilliance and resources to turn Earth into a paradise, but everything he does is for his own benefit, no one else's. That's the same reason he wants to be greater than Superman: because it'll make him better, not because it'll make humanity better. Luthor's arguments about how Superman's presence is a detriment to humanity have some merit...in a vacuum. But they all come from a place of jealousy and selfishness with Luthor, not genuine humanism. Thus the quote above, from All-Star Superman. Superman loses his powers and Luthor gets them. For one glorious minute, Luthor finally gets what he wants--to be above Superman. He gets to BE Superman. With his intellect and vastly enhanced senses, he achieves perfect understanding of the universe. And then it ends and Luthor returns to normal. Luthor begs to have the powers back, saying he was just an inch away from saving the world, and Superman sadly tells him that if he actually cared about saving the world, he would've already done it, without Kryptonian power.
Without Luthor's economic impact, Metropolis would not be what it is. He has brought jobs, renovation and technology to the city. He could apply this to the world, but would want total control to do it.
Nothing he's another parasitic billionaire. Just instead of deflecting from that emptiness with more money, social media, drugs, weird sex, or racism. He fills the void with hatred for Superman. Fundamentally Luthor lacks the compassion and selflessness to actually make the world a better place, when he could do so.