5 Bad Ideas in Black Pather

I watched Black Panther tonight and thourolly enjoyed it. The story was very compelling, the characters where interesting, and the world they created was very engaging. It is a great superhero movie.

But there are still some bad ideas that show up in the movie. Here are five:

1. The rich are responsible for saving the poor:
   • One of the big morals of the story is that this rich hidden society has been wrong in isolating themselves from the world. They bear a responsibility to share their technology with the world and to try and uplift the poor from other places. This may be a noble thing to do, but it is certainly not true that by living a prosperous life you owe those who aren’t.
2. Wealth comes from luck:
   • Wakanda is the most technologically advanced place on earth because of the discovery of a super resource and the technological development that allowed. This story is one that is commonly accepted by many people around the world—that countries are wealthy because of luck with the resources they have. The reality is that economic freedom is the source of wealth and not simply having plentiful resources (see Venezuela).
3. Kings create prosperity
   • The idea is that a great king brings stability to society. This may be true in the short-term, but over the long-term, in reality, political structures make the whole civilization fragile. The power that is afforded to the Black Panther becomes a great danger when the wrong person is allowed to wield it.
4. Going to the UN as a path to progress
   • The Black Panther and many Wakanda learn from this ordeal that they should have shared their wealth and technology with others. They should not have been hermits. But instead of simply stating to trade with the world, they go to the UN and make a speech and set up charity centers in Oakland. The most value they could create with their resources and knowledge would come from simply opening up trade with the world.
5. Finally, the potentially most egregious one, using an outdated meme in a movie.
   • About a third of the way through the movie, The Black Panthers sister is walking him through her Q like lab when she notices her brothers sandals and drops a 2015 classic