We don't produce heroes anymore
14 2017-04-11 by Billsucksass
As a species we just don't produce noble, courageous and justice driven people anymore. Im not saying there is anything wrong with being a regular person, in fact they are the backbone of any society, but these regular people are herded by both heros and villians. A hero is someone who stands up for what is right, in the face of adversity, and speaks out to encourage others to do the same by following his/her lead. A villian is someone who shepards the cattle in a direction dependant on his own desires, not the desires of the collective good or moral good.
Take the man on the plane. Now like most people I wasn't there so I don't know the full story. But what happened definately isn't justified. You see from the multiple angles the different expressions on the peoples faces. Most are indifferent, some are uncomfortable, some quietly angry, some even look as if they are enjoying the show. There wasn't one person who even looked slightly on the edge of doing something. This applies to most situations like this.
Heroes really do seem like a dying breed. How many people do you know that would risk their plane ticket, freedom and risk physical injury to try and help someone else, bearing in mind its easier said then done. Not many if any. Yet sometimes, when you risk all that and do the right thing, you will change the sheep dynamic. One person standing up in a situation can encourage another to stand up, then another, then another, Until the new herd mentality isn't sit and watch its get up and fight back.
I think heroism is dying out. Society villifies those who stand up against the norm when they consider the norm to be bad. People support the troops fighting these greed driven wars in the 3rd world but if one of these soliders stands up and says its not right, what we do isn't right, suddenly he has some contagious disease and is pushed away. Its insane.
We don't produce heros anymore and even if we did, would you stand beside them?
31 comments
n/a plato_thyself 2017-04-11
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness
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n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Thank you it was a good read. Looking back I think I might of been suffering from that at one point. I had tried and failed so many times at so many different things to pull myself out of a bad area in my life I gave up completely for a while on it ever improving. It took a "Shock" of sorts to spur another attempt later on that was successful.
n/a basketodeplorables 2017-04-11
Truly. People who speak the truth to power end up having short lives. They die in plane, auto or other mysterious accidents. They suddenly die of heart attacks or cancer. Hmmm.
They aren't a dying breed, but they also are.
n/a basketodeplorables 2017-04-11
There's also this:
“If you don't choose heroes, heroes will be chosen for you, and they will not represent values that empower you, they will represent powers that will enslave you” ― Russell Brand
Now, think of someone like Chris Kyle.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Yeah that is an issue in todays world though. We are so divided we couldn't choose a hero even if we had a selection available. We would split into different groups for each hero then start fighting with each other instead of whatever it was we were choosing the hero for.
n/a basketodeplorables 2017-04-11
The media puts forth those we are supposed to view as heroes all the time. One thing is certain, if the media tells you so and so is a hero, they almost certainly are not. Jesse Ventura is a hero. Christopher Hitchens, Hastings, etc. are a few.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Well as they say history is written by the winners, and winners always put themselves in a good light. Winston churchil is a hero because he planned and ordered the murder of hundreds of thousands of women and children and then many more died from the aftermath. And that was just step 1, step 2 never got put into motion because of fears of retalition. Just one example of many.
n/a fatcyst2020 2017-04-11
The Bush sucking neocon shill is your hero?
n/a basketodeplorables 2017-04-11
It's true he became a neocon at the end of his life. I wondered about that also, and it was puzzling. But his body of work, his revealing the truth about Kissinger and Mother Teresa speaks for itself.
n/a fatcyst2020 2017-04-11
Die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain, I guess.
n/a basketodeplorables 2017-04-11
I wonder if he was almost given a warning to not fuck with the system. Look at someone like Bill Hicks, he was only in his 30's iirc.
n/a Putin_loves_cats 2017-04-11
I'm not an expert nor am I a lawyer, but I think that situation could've legally been handled under common law (people subdoing the LEO's for unlawful assault/battery). The problem is, LEO's are ignorant and so are people, and one could say we do not live under common law (we do, but don't - it's admiralty law currently). You try to invoke common law, and you will most likely either a. have a gun to your face or b. shot, possibly fatally.
Education is the foremost thing lacking in society. When your educated, you have the power.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
I have to disagree with you on a personal level there. Im not saying your wrong and im right I just feel like education isn't the problem. Its morals, courage and a lack of conviction in these situations. Education is highly important in all aspects of society, but you don't need a law degree to know an injustice when you see one.
Your right though, we have laws, but they are not enforced on a global or national scale. They are enforced against citizens and not treated as a blanket of law over society as a whole, like they should be.
Thats why you need heroes because they will take that risk. We aren't talking superman here, or even a bodybuilder, just someone with good values and the courage to express himself when he sees something wrong. It takes alot of courage to stand up in a situation like that, but it takes less courage to stand up after someone else has, which is why you need the front man.
n/a RedditRuinedMyLife 2017-04-11
Serious question: If someone took the lead on the plane and stood up to the officers, do you think it would've sparked more people getting up? Or would he be the lone hero?
n/a IanPhlegming 2017-04-11
Probably alone.
n/a RedditRuinedMyLife 2017-04-11
That seems to be an argument against heroicism in that particular scenario then. A sole person isn't going to take on armed officers alone, it's just asking to get beaten. We should all aim to be heroic, and to rise with others to do so.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Could go either way. But that is the point I am making. A hero-esque person doesn't think like that. He stands up because it is what should be done, he doesn't do it for a reward of expect any support, he does it because its the right thing to do, period.
Id say in our society he would end up as a lone hero, probably get demonized in some way. But again a true hero would do it anyway because it needed to be done, regardless of the overall effect.
n/a RedditRuinedMyLife 2017-04-11
This thread has gotten me all introspective, trying to figure out if I would stand up or not. Recently, I pulled a pit bull off an old woman because i heard her screaming for help. I didn't even think twice. It needed to be done, she was being attacked. I got bit in the process but I'd do it again.
However.... I don't think I would have been the sole hero on this plane. The only reason I can think of is that I'm already conditioned to fear the police. There are so many police brutality stories, it makes people nervous just to be in police presence. I think that speaks volumes in of itself.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
See thats the biggest issue I think. You pulled a pitbull of a women which is heroic in a sense, you risked injury to yourself, recieved said injury, but you acomplished your mission and you know it was something to be proud of. But a dog is a dog, it can only inspire the fear of pain. Being heroic in society however can mean Hate, pain, abuse, prison, losing your job, losing your life, putting your family at risk, being an outcast, ridiculed etc......
I don't blame you for saying you wouldn't be the hero on the plane, I have thought myself and I think the proof would be in eating the pudding, you can't really guess without the variables. The police wouldnt be my issue though it would be the hundred judgemental eyes on me that might hold me back.
n/a RedditRuinedMyLife 2017-04-11
Interesting perspective! I don't think in the moment with adrenaline going that I would even be capable of considering the societal consequences of acting. I would be acting on fear vs morals and while you're right, proof would be in the pudding, I don't know that I could overcome the fear of being injured or dying at the hands of police brutality.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Exactly. People would call soliders heroes but I would just say they are brave. Being a solider in the army doesn't mean you have good morals or fight for justice. Doesn't mean your bad either. You could even assume you were a hero, but really the people your fighting for are using you.
n/a acosmicbreath 2017-04-11
Very interesting. For me, it would have been the fear of cops as I've been personally held at gunpoint by a group of police officers and over 5 years later I still get flashbacks.
The people judging me I wouldn't have given a flying toot about. Judgmental people surround us everyday and if my only repercussion was people judging me for standing up for someone, it wouldn't be enough to stop me. I get judged anyway, may as well help someone along the way. It is unfortunately the police state with big guns and the power to take away my rights that instill fear in me. People whispering behind my back or trying to hurt me with words doesn't take away my freedom if I don't let it.
Also, kudos to the redditor that helped the elderly woman being attacked by a pit bull. To me, that is heroic and acts of day to day heroism like this are slipping away too. Day to day heroism like this will inspire more and bigger acts.
Nice thought provoking post. Thumbs up.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
Its a difference in experiences.
n/a acosmicbreath 2017-04-11
Hence why I think it is interesting. Along with fear of a police state, we have also let the judgements of others shape our actions and who we become...down to very acts of standing up for one another. Each of us hold something inside of us that will try holding us back from what we feel is right or what our destiny is, and sometimes we don't really think about how much it has consumed us until we are in a situation such as United Airlines, etc.
n/a Billsucksass 2017-04-11
People go their whole lives held back/down by others. It doesn't have to be literal or even intentional but it is very real.
Take physical attraction for example. You don't know how your looks hold up until you're judged in the world. How people, namely the opposite sex, react to you is what will determine your base confidence in that area. If you get attention you will automatically have a level of confidence, and you will probably build on this, perhaps over-build and become arrogant. On the flip. If your not so lucky geneticly, you will have an automatic lack of confidence, which you will probably further damage overtime, potentially until you no longer believe your worth anything to anyone in that area. Variables like power, money and materials will play a part aswell but generally speaking the above is true.
Society is a unified front, whether you want it to be or not. When a kid takes a gun to school and shoots at everyone because he wasn't loved or he was bullied and it isnt a false flag, you can blame guns but the gun didn't talk him into doing it. The blame lies with the teachers, parents, other kids, other kids parents, the bullies and such. You get what you put in.
Society today is diseased. Take homeless people. I get it okay, some are lazy, some are drug addicts and some are unlucky/hard up. But helping people like that doesn't just get them off the street, it sets the stage for what your society values. If your pillars are made out of love, kindness, acceptance and peace, thats what you will live alongside. If they are made of hate, cruelty, distance and war.....thats what you get.
n/a fatcyst2020 2017-04-11
Great man theory is a myth.
n/a factsnotfeelings 2017-04-11
Being a hero means acknowledging hard, uncomfortable truths about our lives and our existence. Something that most of us, are not willing to do.
The situation that you described with the man on the plane was due to physical fear. The police outnumbered any potential dissenter...
I've seen (with my own eyes) people standing up for others on a physical level. That part is relatively easy.
The real difficulty is realising that you have been lied to, or that you or others have been harmed in some unforeseen way. People who do that are the real heroes.
Anyone can wield their fists. But to challenge perceived wisdom? That takes real strength...
n/a MumenRiderForJustice 2017-04-11
When did we ever produce heroes? When was the time of heroes? Name some heroes?
n/a BassBeerNBabes 2017-04-11
I've tried to be the hero. I got shunned.
Fuck those guys, I took a beating from a couple of roided out cops so that they could walk away without tickets.