Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Certainly, the wealthy wouldn't be so kind-hearted as to give money to the pale knight directly. Municipal funds all entered the government's accounts under the guise of donations. And those employees who had previously gone on strike all returned. This was equivalent to the elite's proxies still managing the money.

But first, let's not worry about who's managing the money; the main point is that there's money in the accounts now.

Moreover, would the proxies who manage these funds really selflessly devote themselves, burn themselves out, and not take a dime, not even use a fraction to improve the quality of their own working environment?

Of course not. No one is a Saint. Those who engage in such matters do not have faith and are not here to serve the public. Since I'm in charge of the money, why can't I use government money to buy the best quality toilet paper? Why can't I install two more air conditioners in the office? Why can't I hire a couple more cleaners to keep my workspace tidy?

That's what most of these little leaders installed by elite figures in the government think, and what they do as well.

People in each department also engage in mutual benefit. You're responsible for selecting coffee brands, choose the most expensive one, and supply every office with the most professional coffee machines. Then when I book hotels for your business trips, naturally, I'll book the best ones and provide luxury car transfers. Everyone comfortably gets the work done.

As for how much money is spent, who cares? The money won't fall into my pocket if I don't spend it. If I spend more, I can take more from it.

But this raises an issue, and that is, everyone has to take; only then can the atmosphere be harmonious and pleasant. If one person doesn't take, it becomes somewhat awkward.

And if that person happens to be the mayor, then the situation becomes even uglier. When the pale knight questioned the necessity of his office's coffee set-up, that was more professional than what's found in cafes, for the sixth time, Ms. Weiss really couldn't hold back anymore.

With her hands clasped in front of her, Ms. Weiss stood at the doorway and said to the pale knight, "I've worked in the municipal government for 36 years, and I'm about to retire soon. You are the best mayor I've ever seen."

"So, I hope you understand that the common people of this world, while not as intelligent as you, are not stupid. They may not be all that good-natured, but they haven't all lost their humanity."

"You have high standards for yourself, but if you apply those standards to us, we just can't handle it. Not everyone can sacrifice so much for justice and fairness like you do."

"Within our capabilities, we are willing to provide conveniences for others and are open to helping those slightly less fortunate than us to achieve our own sense of self-worth. But we can't do more, and you cannot always expect us to."

"If you still want to continue being the best mayor, you can't always expect us to selflessly contribute; instead, you must learn to accept and utilize our very limited small-town kindness. This is what will keep the municipal government functioning smoothly, and it will benefit you and this city."

After Ms. Weiss left, the pale knight pondered a lot. He was someone very good at self-reflection and gradually realized the problems he had always had.

He was the kind of person who took it for granted to stand up for justice and to sacrifice himself to help the poor.

This might be because he had once been Joker. Although he had no memory of being Joker, he was still using Joker's body. He felt he should take responsibility for the evils done by Joker before, hence this Jesus-like sacrificial mindset.

He was undoubtedly arrogant. He believed that through his steadfast sacrifice, he could save others, having a very strong savior complex.

From another perspective, he actually believed that the people in this city were incapable of saving themselves.

This kind of thinking is also prevalent in everyday life. When people see the weaker ones, they feel that since they are so weak and pitiful, they'll surely die if not helped.

But this is a subjective assumption, lacking solid evidence and logical reasoning.

It's a classic cognitive fallacy—regardless of whether or not they will die without help, people can help. Hence, very few people take the time to thoroughly investigate the real plight faced by those being helped and their self-help capacity. Yet, it's critical to do so.

If such investigation is not conducted, one might end up not helping effectively, or worse, good intentions could lead to bad deeds, causing a "farmer and snake" tragedy.

The pale knight had such thoughts before. No matter what hardships the Gothamites were actually facing and whether they had tried to save themselves or how they did so, he would go to their rescue. And he partly succeeded.

It was this success that made him overlook the aforementioned problems, to the point that when his rescue efforts came to a standstill, he didn't know which direction to put forth his effort.

Many disciplines in the world don't have ultimate answers. Like mathematics does not have a universal formula, physics does not have a truth of the cosmos, chemistry does not have an ether factor.

They don't even have ultimate questions, a single question that, once thoroughly resolved, would declare the end of research in that field.

But sociology does. The ultimate question of sociology is how to rid the world of poverty. To put it succinctly—poverty alleviation.

This is an extremely complex problem encompassing all the knowledge of sociology and all its related disciplines. Researching this problem is no small feat as there are too many prerequisite issues to address first, such as how to keep people alive, how to stabilize society, and how to cultivate a group of people capable of poverty alleviation, etc.