Clark actually wanted to ask this because he had thought about it before. Illegal immigrants are already quite miserable, right? They traveled thousands of miles to get here, having no identity, no skills, and can only do physical labor in the kitchen. But at least they could make some money and have a stable job.
This group of people who chose to wander seems to have hands and feet, and some have not yet reached the point of damaging their brains through addiction. To put it simply, who can't wash dishes? Even if you earn only a thousand bucks a month, at least there is hope. Why can't they work?
But when the old man said this, Clark began to understand a bit. The key lies in the fact that psychology developed too late, causing most people in the world to focus only on physical health and to underestimate mental health too much.
Regarding whether these people are physically healthy, when they first arrived, they definitely were healthy. The human body is more resistant and energy-saving than imagined, handling several hours of physical labor a day is no problem. From the perspective of physical fitness alone, they are capable of supporting themselves through work.
Many people only focus on their physical fitness and judge from this perspective alone, thinking they don't find work because they are lazy, and that they deserve to wander, as it is their choice.
But in reality, this viewpoint is very one-sided because it completely ignores factors of mental health. Mental health is extremely important to a person, often even more important than physical health.
A person who is physically weak but mentally healthy often fares better than one who is physically strong but mentally unhealthy. Because whether it's physical pain or mental suffering, they eventually boil down to spiritual pain. As long as one doesn't feel mental pain, most of the discomfort from physical pain and weakness can be alleviated.
Most vagrants have very unhealthy mental states. Even if they don't use drugs, their mental state is very concerning. Falling suddenly from cloud nine, going from Heaven to Hell, all efforts of the first half of life turning into ashes—how many can endure such a mental blow?
Moreover, the reasons why many of them fall to such a state are quite laughable. If it's truly because of an economic crisis or the like, it would be understandable, you might sigh at the unfairness of fate, claiming Heaven seeks your demise. But becoming a vagrant just because you couldn't pay towing fees, how can one not go mad with such?
Many vagrants choose not to work, instead idling away, just because they feel: working yields no good returns. Didn't they work hard before? Didn't they lead serious lives? And what was the result? Haven't they ended up like this?
Some highly educated intellectuals, like this old man here, can sum up the rule: This society is not a river but a waterfall. All the waters constantly descend, quickly when they drop, and going against the tide is nearly impossible.
If you are a drop of water flowing down the waterfall, would you want to climb up? Of course not, because even if you climbed up, you would still flow down the waterfall. Climbing up might take ten years, yet falling down takes just a second, so why even try?
Thus, many of these vagrants are not incapable of working; they just don't want to work. And the reason they don't want to is: in this society, hard work brings no reward. You attend college, even earn a PhD, and in the end, you still live in tents with those bottom-dwellers. What's the point of working hard?
Moreover, these lowlifes may have always lived at the bottom and thus have more experience, and in the end, they might even trample you. Faced with such circumstances, who would still have the spirit to stage a comeback?
Many feel this whole system crushes your body through various means, to the point where you cannot make a living, thereby becoming a vagrant. But in reality, it's much more malicious because it's an assault on the heart. Anyone who has fallen like this, the psychological trauma they endure ensures that even if they have a healthy body and a chance to stand up through labor, they won't do it anymore.
The despair brought about by such experiences is the real guillotine. The death of one's spirit is true death.
Understanding all this, Clark feels one thing: Zod, come down, we really need to talk seriously about invading Earth.
He suddenly realizes that this Earth indeed needs some remodeling. If he doesn't teach the human government a lesson, they truly don't see people as humans.
Originally, he thought he did perfectly by helping the human government obtain the key tool to dealing with Kryptonians, namely Kryptonite, successfully resolving Earth's crisis.
Now it seems, it's no wonder particular countries always have issues. Why did aliens land here instead of other places? It's hard to say it didn't involve some "cannot bear watching" factors.
Clark can't help but think: Even so, America survives well, then how did his beloved homeland Krypton manage to destroy itself?
Clark ultimately took the infant's corpse to a more remote suburb. After burying the body, he went to Wayne Manor.
Seeing Clark flying over, Bruce raised an eyebrow. Who knew Clark would ask as soon as he entered the manor hall: "Do you have equipment capable of communicating with aliens?"
"...What do you want to do?"
Clark's hands flipped in front of him, opened his mouth, then closed it again. After miming for a long time, he said: "My dad had a theory."
"Go ahead, I'm all ears."
"If I dared to open the fences of the sheep pen before the shepherd dog could reach them again, he would break my legs."
"What?"
"That was his theory. He always insisted one mustn't spoil children too much. If verbal education fails or the harm caused is too severe, then they ought to be punished."
"There is some truth to that," Bruce said.
"Have you ever hit a child?" Clark asked. He realized immediately that he'd probably touched a nerve.
Unexpectedly, Bruce seriously thought about it for a moment, then said, "No. I don't think there's ever a situation extreme enough for me to lay a hand on him."
Clark's super brain suddenly had a flash of insight. He realized: if that's the case, then in the matter of Damian's death, Damian himself is scarcely responsible, almost negligible. This wasn't just a simple case of a rebellious kid running away, followed by an accident.
Only thinking for a moment, Clark's mind returned on track, and he said, "I think we should help out that thing above us."
"Are you referring to the sun?"
"I mean the Kryptonians," Clark sighed deeply, "or any other aliens would do. I'm really fed up."
"What has caused you to have such a negative view?"
Clark sat there, starting to ramble on about his experiences. He thought Bruce would listen intently, weigh the matters seriously, but instead Bruce, while wiping a wine glass, said, "Sounds like Los Angeles is doing alright. The people running the tent camps are very responsible, and efficient too, which means they have a clear work plan that's quite sustainable."
Clark looked at him in disbelief.
Bruce paused his actions momentarily. He gently adjusted the collar of his turtleneck, then resumed wiping the glass, saying, "In Gotham, this model wouldn't work. By the third day, a serial killer would show up, and within a week, two cannibals would sneak in, one of which has a baby-eating fetish. Most of the women are not to be messed with either; they might stab you when they're excited. A drunken addict could develop a geo-thermal Earth-Moon launch device just to catapult their waste onto the Moon in three days. But they usually don't succeed, only managing to scrape off a layer of the ground. In less than half a month, there'd hardly be any living person left."
Clark, with his expressions and body language, gave him a huge question mark. He suddenly realized that his previous "baby theory" might actually be true; Bruce must have lived for millennia to say such things with such a calm expression.
"To prevent such situations, I've funded over twenty charitable foundations to develop a comprehensive 'crisis rescue' process, helping those suddenly experiencing life crises get through difficulties, preventing them from suddenly falling into poverty and ending up homeless. Arrangements have also been made for some welfare positions to help those who have suffered irreparable disasters, like sudden disabilities, to stay within society, preventing them from losing hope and, say, blowing up the entire city."
Clark opened his mouth again. His logical mind told him that this was a good thing, that Bruce Wayne was very great, but why did it sound so odd?
Bruce's following words explained his confusion.
"Other cities experience this because ordinary people are too powerless. When they're being ground into mincemeat, they have no power to resist, so some people can kick them down without any constraint.
"Gothamites are different. I don't know if this city is cursed or what, but anyway, if you dare leave them on the streets, they dare to strap themselves with explosives and say they want to play a game with you. So here, nearly all the entrepreneurs, including myself, dare not go too far. This results in better welfare for the citizens here, and the economy is quite good."
Clark couldn't help but rub his face. He realized that Bruce was right, things indeed seemed this way.
It had been said before that many homeless people had despaired with society, so they chose to muddle along, completely giving up.
However, in the vibrant city of Gotham, maybe it's the mysterious elements in the water veins and air, making the people here excessively lively; the word "despair" simply isn't in their dictionary.
They're the kind of people who, if you dared throw them off a waterfall, they'd dive like a giant dragon into the sea, then deftly circle back to turn you into a basin.
As always, mental health is very important. Good mental health helps people live better lives. But being too mentally unhealthy can also make life better.
The homeless are disappointed because they see through social rules, thinking they have no strength to resist, so they give up. Madmen can see through social rules too, but they don't think they're powerless; they think they're quite capable, that if they jump up, the Earth has to orbit around them, so they fully exert their subjective initiative, naturally causing some big disturbances.
So essentially, Arkham Asylum is a nuclear deterrent unit to capitalists. Because of the existence of these madmen, all the upper-level people in Gotham dare not go too far.
Even in Gotham, it can't be said that everyone is a highly talented mad artistic genius, but the probability here is always high. This also means, the more people you kick down, the more people who could blow up your factory to rubble. So, even for the sake of their industries, it's necessary to reduce unemployment as much as possible, find them something to do, not giving them the opportunity to showcase their ingenuity.
Ultimately, a low crime rate in an area seems like it's because of strict law enforcement, but in the end, it's due to good social welfare. When everyone has something to do, the chances of going astray are relatively small. Conversely, the same logic applies.
Bruce placed two mugs of coffee on the table, looked at Clark, and said:
"You want to apply external pressure through aliens; it's indeed a method but only effective in the short term. The path for the human race must be walked by themselves. Ultimately, it requires humans to change. Right?"