What is a hero?

Image: nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is in response to: http://www.aahea.org/bulletins/articles/heroes.htm


First, you listed 2 options for heroes based on response and noted one
as objective and the other as subjective. They are both subjective.
There is no scale of measuring courageousness, or any other human act.
Without definable units of measure, it is by definition subjective.
Really annoyed me to see that word used in this context by someone in
a teaching position.

Next, all of the "heroes" and "villains" listed by your students seem
to be based on popular media or popular stereotypes. It kind of
surprises me that you didn't admonish your students, for example, for
looking to Saddam as a villain - esp. as one near the top of the list.
He held a sovereign nation TOGETHER - how are we doing leading them?
Is there less death and destruction? More to the point, contrast him
with some of the other world leaders. Mugabe? Kim Jong-Il? How about
our own president? How many people are dying and suffering every day
at the hands of our global military presence? Have you seen pictures
of Kabul before we got involved? How about of Kabul now? How about
shipping people off to be tortured in Kazakhstan, the abuse of Private
Manning, or other actions which are commonly held to only occur in
"bad" countries?

I do not expect a response from you, other than a cheeky "piss off"
clothed in politeness. But I beg you, as a fellow man, to start
thinking deeper about such topics. And to pass that quality on to your
students.

Best,

Zach