I think some of the analogies used in this debate are not entirely apt.
Firstly, comparing Steve Rogers super serum to say using steroids for the Atlanta Braves is a false analogy and it is a false analogy precisely because the Atlanta Braves play in a league where steroid use is not allowed.
There is a difference between using something performance enhancing for your own agenda, and using a performance enhancing substance when you have voluntarily agreed to participate in an organisation where that is not allowed. Steroid cheats in sports are not bad people because they've taken steroids. They are bad people because they voluntarily agreed to play that sport in a league with certain rules, and they have then broken those rules.
Compare that to Steve Rogers who took the super soldier serum to fight in a war. Not exactly the same thing. In fact it is not even close to the same thing.
People have also suggested that Steve Rogers is somehow lesser because he 'didn't have to work for it'. I think there are two points which go a far way to dispelling that viewpoint. Firstly, from my reading at least, Steve has to exercise constantly and strenuously to maintain his level of physical perfection. It is not as if he took a magical pill and has that strength, speed, etc for the rest of his life without having to do anything.
Secondly, I think it is important to remember that Steve was a very sickly individual. The story has been told a number of times with changes however at the very least, Steve was extremely skinny and frail. It's fair to say that his problem was medical at the very least.
At the end of the day, for me, while working for something is a benefit of itself, it is a persons actions and character that I judge someone on. Steve Rogers cheated nobody, he broke no promises. Every day of his life he has used the gifts he received to fight for freedom and help others. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that story in any way.
To be honest, if there was a pill that granted me perfect speed, strength, etc I would definitely take it. And I would use it for good. And it is the using it for good which is the thing that should be judged.
As an aside, I don't want people to have the wrong idea about steroids. There is a misconception that you can take steroids and basically slack off and get buff and strong and fast. Steroid users are not lazy and if you took steroids and did nothing, nothing would happen. In fact one of the primary benefits of steroids (particularly for people who already have pushed their bodies to that upper threshold) is the increased recovery capacity. This allows for greater volume and intensity which allows you to achieve that next level.
Personally I have nothing against people who use steroids for whatever reason, as long as they are not using it in breach of rules of a sporting organisation that they of their own free will decided to play in. Whether they use it to decrease injury recovery time, to increase speed or strength, or simply to get bigger, I have no problem with that and I don't think less of them. I simply hope they use steroids responsibly and with proper advice and protocols. Unfortunately in jurisdictions where steroids are (basically) illegal, people use them in ignorance and incorrectly, leading to significant side effects, both temporary and permanently.
Regarding CM Punk and straight edge, his attitude is an attitude that was partly why I left the movement. I used to be straight edge but it seemed to have gone from a principle where you don't wreck your body (through drug and alcohol abuse etc) to a weird rigid cult where you can't consume a gram of caffeine and if you do you are evil. It's gone from being healthy, to following cult rules. It is why Ian Mackaye, the singer of Minor Threat, and widely credited for starting Straight Edge, eventually abandoned the movement.
Out of all the super heroes, CM Punk would bash (LOL) Captain America because he was a frail, sickly, young man who wanted to defend his country, and took a serum to help him do so much good.
Straight edge is a joke.
NB: No I'm not a steroid user, however I certainly won't rule out use in the future IF I have a good reason to do so.
Get the fugg outta here! All of them are on the roids.
