Wondering why people who get killed in service to country or community are always branded “Heroes” in the local news and so forth… Don’t get me wrong I have hell of a lot of respect for these people but I struggle with why they should be called heroes. Is everyone a hero??
They put their life in danger doing a job to protect you. I’d say so.
Everyone who joins the military with the full realization that they might have to put their life on the line is a hero in my mind. It is a shame though that we generally only recognize the ones who don’t make it home alive. I make it a point to thank soldiers when I see them in public so they know that at least some of us appreciate their service.
higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Everyone who joins the military with the full > realization that they might have to put their life > on the line is a hero in my mind. It is a shame > though that we generally only recognize the ones > who don’t make it home alive. I make it a point > to thank soldiers when I see them in public so > they know that at least some of us appreciate > their service. True but not everyone’s motivation is selfless service for the country. Many join for the money, benefits, pension, paid tuition etc. which they otherwise wouldn’t find in other careers. Yes, they are aware of the risks but are they heroes if they are motivated by other factors to join?
marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > higgmond Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Everyone who joins the military with the full > > realization that they might have to put their > life > > on the line is a hero in my mind. It is a > shame > > though that we generally only recognize the > ones > > who don’t make it home alive. I make it a > point > > to thank soldiers when I see them in public so > > they know that at least some of us appreciate > > their service. > > > True but not everyone’s motivation is selfless > service for the country. Many join for the money, > benefits, pension, paid tuition etc. which they > otherwise wouldn’t find in other careers. Yes, > they are aware of the risks but are they heroes if > they are motivated by other factors to join? I think heriosm has to be in the eye of the beholder. If there was a gunman in the office and I happened to be in a position to knock him over the head with something, I would be considered a hero by everyone. But my motivation was self preservation, not being a hero.
Analyze_This Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > marcus phoenix Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > higgmond Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > Everyone who joins the military with the full > > > realization that they might have to put their > > life > > > on the line is a hero in my mind. It is a > > shame > > > though that we generally only recognize the > > ones > > > who don’t make it home alive. I make it a > > point > > > to thank soldiers when I see them in public > so > > > they know that at least some of us appreciate > > > their service. > > > > > > True but not everyone’s motivation is selfless > > service for the country. Many join for the > money, > > benefits, pension, paid tuition etc. which they > > otherwise wouldn’t find in other careers. Yes, > > they are aware of the risks but are they heroes > if > > they are motivated by other factors to join? > > > I think heriosm has to be in the eye of the > beholder. If there was a gunman in the office and > I happened to be in a position to knock him over > the head with something, I would be considered a > hero by everyone. But my motivation was self > preservation, not being a hero. Exactly- I think self-interest governs a lot of our behaviors, not necessarilly altruistic motives.
marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >> True but not everyone’s motivation is selfless > service for the country. Many join for the money, > benefits, pension, paid tuition etc. which they > otherwise wouldn’t find in other careers. Yes, > they are aware of the risks but are they heroes if > they are motivated by other factors to join? That’s an excellent point and something I was trying to touch on with the phrase “with the full realization that they might have to put their life on the line” but I didn’t really get it across correctly. To that end, I was talking politics with a friend of a friend during the Bush - Clinton election and he was voting for Clinton without question. When I asked him why he said it was because Bush sent him to Kuwait. He had joined the Marines out of high school and was very upset with the fact that he actually had to be a soldier instead of just pretending to be a soldier for 4 peaceful years and then collecting his GI Bill funds. I do not consider him a hero. Anyone who joins the military today though, knows that there is a very real chance that they will be put into harms way. They accept that risk for whatever reason and that makes them a hero in my opinion. Because of them and those who came before them, we have the freedom to debate if they are heros or not.
What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? Dude. Huh? Uhh… I don’t know sir. Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn’t that what makes a man? Hmmm… Sure, that and a pair of testicles.
To paraphrase, some are born heroes, some achieve heroism and some have heroism thrust upon them.
I thought this was going to be about the TV show. I was prepared to discuss how awesome the first season was and then how rapidly it went downhill. Now I’m leaving disappointed.
I saw Hiro from Heroes at a Knicks game–the crowd gave a nice ovation when he appeared on the jumbotron, pretty much as if he was actually the superhero. Kinda cool.
The biggest Foreign policy weakness possessed by the United States is the fact that there is no real fanatical, elite military class like the nobles, Prussian Junkers or the upper class Victorian English. Truly excellent soldiers and military thinkers are trained from birth, not just through high school career services. Of the standard bearers…there are some upper class southern/midwestern military families but that’s about it. Americans care more about who annihilated what sports team rather than who annihilated the enemy resistance. They care about losses of life and humane measures. There is worship of sports stars but not of the bravest soldiers or the most cunning military commanders. There are relatively high standards of morality which is definitely good and progressive in civilian life but unfortunately these standards do not serve the nation well in a ruthless military actions. This is good for a peacetime society but not a global hegemony…
As for soldiers being “Heroes”, I’m sure that many people have heroism ingrained in their brain through life ideology, genetic proclivities, and education but do not run into the opportunity to show it. I would probably say that many, if not most US special forces men and officers have heroic qualities. Most of them have already accepted the prospect of death and are willing subject themselves to destruction if need be. To many of them, war is life. Among regular Army, marines, and airforce the number of heroic, fanatical soldiers are far fewer in proportion.
Fallen soldiers are heorized because we need the living soldiers to know that if they are killed, they will not be scorned as “what a loser, he got himself shot by the enemy.” The moment that ethic appears to spread through the ranks, you destroy morale, unit cohesion, and effectiveness. There are still gradations of heroism. If you do something truly heroic, like hold off 30 enemy soldiers while allowing the rest of your unit to pull back and redeploy to a better position, people will know the difference. All the same, that doesn’t mean that the guy whose brains got splattered by a grenade deserves to have his sacrifice minimized because he was hoping to pay for dental school.
haha I read an article about altruism when was preparing for TOEFL. It said that there is no true altruism, even in selfless acts, because the society appreciation is also a reward, which is not monetary but not less valuable.
Ayn Rand much? Yea, like when hollywood/fashion industry types go crazy with their “non-profit fundraising” after every disaster. After the relief money is expended and the disaster blows over, they resume snorting away their celebrity earnings and buying of useless material items.
Yes, the military cohesion element factors in significantly. There has to be glory allocated to individuals who achieve these things. In more militaristic societies (ie. late 1800s Prussia pre 1945 Germany) winning a military reward would set an individual for life in civil service/govt career and entry into the “club”.