People need heroes to give them hope. This may be more prominent at the moment, because there's so much screwed up with the world right now, but the fact remains that, in one form or another, superheroes have always appealed to people. The Iliad, the first extant work of Western literature, is about demigods and heroes; the modern superhero is essentially a contemporary re-working of the ancient Greek hero of legend. People have always needed heroes, and always will.
Ironically enough, Lex Luthor would doubtless argue that this idea of needing heroes that the article expresses (and which I agree with) is a serious problem; he's always claimed that this is why he hates Superman. There's obviously more to that, largely his insatiable ego, but in a way, he has a point. Expecting a hero to come along and solve our problems for us isn't the best way to live our lives; Lex has always believed that Superman holds people back from greatness, and argues that, if people believe they can do great things, they will; but with superheroes in the picture, there's no need to. He's shown in at least one continuity the amazing things people could do if Superman weren't around; maybe we ought to take a lesson from him? Maybe we ought to stop hoping a hero will save us, and make the effort to fix things on our own.