Gotham being corrupt should make it even easier for a billionaire like Wayne to control things, because as we see in real life, it doesn’t take all that much money to influence politicians. There’s nothing stopping Wayne from bribing the shit out of everyone to do non-evil things, then once Gotham is in a more stable place, bankroll campaigns for politicians that aren’t corrupt. He could literally drain the swamp by backfilling it with money, but instead he decides to run around at night in his little gimp suit punching poor people
Part of the point of so many of Batman’s villains is that, to quote joker, it’s not about the money but about sending a message. Or holding power in many cases. Many of the most corrupt villains are not only bankrolling bribes, they are also blackmailing tons of people and many more live under threat to loved ones. Wayne just waltzing in and saying “I’ll pay you triple to be good” does nothing. Because if they don’t do the villain’s biding they will get murdered and their family will be slaughtered. Hence the need for a vigilante to disrupt the corrupt system with direct action. That’s the whole arc of Harvey Dent, for example. The system took him down in the worst possible way to shape him into another morally bankrupt psycho.
Gotham being corrupt should make it even easier for a billionaire like Wayne to control things, because as we see in real life, it doesn’t take all that much money to influence politicians. There’s nothing stopping Wayne from bribing the shit out of everyone to do non-evil things, then once Gotham is in a more stable place, bankroll campaigns for politicians that aren’t corrupt. He could literally drain the swamp by backfilling it with money, but instead he decides to run around at night in his little gimp suit punching poor people
Part of the point of so many of Batman’s villains is that, to quote joker, it’s not about the money but about sending a message. Or holding power in many cases. Many of the most corrupt villains are not only bankrolling bribes, they are also blackmailing tons of people and many more live under threat to loved ones. Wayne just waltzing in and saying “I’ll pay you triple to be good” does nothing. Because if they don’t do the villain’s biding they will get murdered and their family will be slaughtered. Hence the need for a vigilante to disrupt the corrupt system with direct action. That’s the whole arc of Harvey Dent, for example. The system took him down in the worst possible way to shape him into another morally bankrupt psycho.