Do we need heroes?
For some of us Julian Assange may be a hero, others may view him as a traitor. For some of us John F. Kennedy may be a hero, others may view him as a womanizing, and politically ambivalent "do-gooder". The category of what we may deem as "heroes" may include: movie stars, sports stars, musicians, authors, scientists, etc.etc. although, I have a feeling that it may be harder now than before to be a hero in today's media savvy world. Anyone with a mobile(cell)phone is potentially a photo journalist. In a few seconds a "hero's" darkest secrets can be posted on the net for millions of people to view and it only takes an instant for their hero status to be demolished, conversely, .....a hero can also be discovered the same way.
Perhaps heroes belong to the Comic Book/Film/Anime realm, and not so much to the human domain? I have a feeling that in the Comic Book/Film/Anime realm, characters can be flawless, consistently well-meaning and benevolent far easier than characters in the human domain, because in my experience, humans are often complicated, flawed, and inconsistent in their behaviour.
Flawed and inconsistent however, does not mean that humans are not capable of performing heroic acts. Many heroic acts have been chronicled, recorded, filmed, etc. verifying how at times a human being can rise above his/her fears and with reckless abandon do something extraordinary (heroic) just because....."it was the right thing to do", "he/she needed me to" "it just felt right".... "who else was gonna do it?"....."I am not sure what made me do it, I just knew I had to".....etc.
In the world of fantasy, Super heroes often come equipped with "super" powers of different kinds, and these super powers make it possible for the super heroes to perform super feats. Often these super powers are qualities many of us humans probably would like to have: x-ray vision, super strength, being able to fly, being able to "time travel", become invisible, etc.etc. but unfortunately, these super powers mostly belong in the world of fantasy. The thing is, .....for a Super Hero to perform an act of heroism is in my view not nearly as impressive as when a flawed, inconsistent, and complicated human being risks his/her life in order to save someone else. I am even going to go as far as to suggest here that there are even professions in which risking their lives for others daily is a job requirement, such as: soldiers, firemen, police, first "responders" of varying kinds, etc.etc. .......it is a long list.
I asked a friend how he would define the word hero and his answer was: a protector, a saviour.
"A saviour? How do you mean? Save us from what?" I asked.
"Hmmm....I'm not sure, ourselves perhaps?"
Luckily for him his phone rang so he was "saved by the bell".....
and I was left to ponder the answer by myself.
Do we need a hero to swoop in and save mankind from itself? If so, what kind of super power would he/she need?
If the hero had the power of being able to see into the future (time travel) and that future entailed the demise of the earths atmosphere, plants and animals dying, and the air and water so polluted that it would become dangerous for humans to consume, would we even listen to what he/she had to say?
Hang on, there are already "heroes" telling us this...they are called scientists, environmentalists, and political/social commentators.
Maybe they are not heroes per se, but in my view, they are definitely courageous in their pursuit of trying to alert us to what may come if we fail to recognize the danger-signs that our planet is sending us.
Pondering this, I am wondering if perhaps the time is here for each of us to find our "hidden/inner" heroes (protectors) and ask ourselves what we can contribute that may be beneficial to the planet we all share.
A few suggestions:
turn off the tap when you brush your teeth and use a glass of water,
turn off the engine rather than letting it idle for prolonged periods of time,
refill your water bottle with tap water
recycle what you can,
if your'e feeling cold, grab a blanket or sweatshirt,
if your'e feeling hot, open the windows, use a fan, set the aircon to 26 degrees cel,
carpool, ride a bike, take the bus, train, tram,
wash your clothes with cold water, etc.
Here's my thinking, which you may or may not share:
do we need heroes?
Nah, we need to care about things, people and the environment in which we live, and at times that may require from us to perform "heroic" acts of some kind or another, but that's okay, because flawed and inconsistent as us humans may be, I believe that we are also capable of great acts of compassion and benevolence.
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