A Hero? Believe It or Not

So it's been awhile since my last blog session.  No doubt I have missed some interesting topics with which to opine.   

     It seems today that you can't read a paper or watch a news broadcast without hearing the word hero over and over again.  If I didn't know better, I would expect that every time I walked outside, a sea of red capes would immerse me while I watched others leap tall buildings in a single bound.  Where did all these heroes come from?  Why are they heroes?  The truth is, the media and politicians alike,  have grossly over used the word hero.  

    I am not talking about your every day heroes.  The every day hero is that person who, within a very limited segment of a community, is looked up to and admired for his/her achievements.  They don't ask for anything in return for their deeds and don't leverage their status as a bargaining chip for salary increases or special privileges.  

    No, I am talking about the type of "hero" that arose out of the ashes of the 9/11 tragedy.  After that day, our media labeled every fireman, police officer and military personnel as a hero.  Politicians quickly caught on and used this cliche to appeal to the segment of voters who ignore facts and succumb to emotional appeals.  Don't believe me? Read the transcript of every state of the union address given since January of 2002 or any political debate since then.  Sure there are a few true heroes in the lot of them but certainly not all of them, and probably not most of them. 

     I guess I don't like being told who my heroes are.  My childhood heroes were professional athletes.  As I got older, I realized most of them were disingenuous or greedy and soon they faded from my hero spotlight.  Today, my heroes include Thomas Edison, a handful of Navy seals who risk their lives neutralizing the worlds most dangerous threats and a few others.  Not only are these men to be admired for their achievements, they did not use their success to publicly bargain for more than they earned.  You could say "they earned their fair share."

   Despite what our politicians told you, none of my heroes are policeman or fireman.  Certainly not the fireman who is receiving a fireman's retirement pension and a regular paycheck for the same city at the same time... as a fireman.  No joke!  This guy is certainly not a hero.  The policeman who used derogatory terms while talking to me after incorrectly pulling me over on the interstate is definitely not a hero.  The group of troopers who I overheard talking about how they can't wait to "double-dip" the retirement fund when they turn 55 are not my heroes.  The officers who receive double-time plus time-and-a-half for sitting in the squad car all day while the road construction crew does their thing, are not my heroes. 

     Make no mistake, I am glad we have fireman and policeman and an all volunteer military.  I am grateful for the protection the men and women uniform provide to our society.   It is part of what makes this country great.  And a few of them truly are heroes. And the few bad guys I mentioned above, no more make all policemen crooks than the few good guys make all policemen heroes.  The rest are just like you and I. They go to work so they can get paid.  They do a good job so they can get paid more.  

The heroes I look up to, don't exploit their good deeds for personal gain. For the media and politicians to categorize a whole organization of people as heroes due to the heroic acts of a mere few, is nothing more than a disingenuous stereotype.

     Real heroes don't point fingers when something goes wrong.  They fix the problem and move on.  They know that finding blame elsewhere does nothing to advance the situation and only slows the healing process.  Heroism is synonymous with altruism; unselfish, driven by the interest in the welfare of others. A hero earns their status of hero. 

     Of course the more simpler argument, is to call everyone a hero.  Then we can all strive to be normal again.  But to grossly stereotype all men and women who wear a uniform as heroes and completely ignore every other occupation is preposterous. This country needs a moratorium on the word hero.  And the next time you hear the word hero on the news, believe it or not, they are talking hot air!