What is a hero?

[PatrickHenry]

What is a hero? The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word as "a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life."

Anybody see the New Heroes on PBS? http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/
This guy is a person who frees slaves from their bondage.

Kailash Satyarthi has saved tens of thousands of lives. At the age of 26 he gave up a promising career as an electrical engineer and dedicated his life to helping the millions of children in India who are forced into slavery by powerful and corrupt business- and land-owners. His original idea was daring and dangerous. He decided to mount raids on factories — factories frequently manned by armed guards — where children and often entire families were held captive as bonded workers.

I watched six stories on Tuesday, 6/28 that were about real heroes who are doing good work without getting a lot of taxpayer funding. Many of them create profitable businesses to fund their desire to extend charity.

Two more segments will be aired with six more stories on July 5. PBS is so great.

Washington Post had a look at the series with the producer and callers on a phone in show: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...062401071.html

Syracuse, N.Y.: It's so refreshing to know that there are people out there not driven by greed alone! What a concept, to better life for some. The CEOs of the U.S. could learn something from this, that it's not all about money. Maybe our elected officials should look at this too. We live and die, it's not how much that you make that determines if you were a good or great person; it use to be how you could benefit mankind !! With money being thrown at you all the time it's no wonder that our country is taking the wrong path! Mike Malone: I understand how you feel. However, it is important to recognize that what makes these folks successful is that aren't trying to simply "do good". Crucial to what they do is accountability: that is, they are taking the tools and techniques of the business world (financial accounting, marketing, R and D, etc.) and applying them to the world of non-profits. This gives them a discipline -- and a chance of long-term, systemic impact -- rarely possible with people who are just trying to help, but with no real way of measuring their success and failure.

[Cephus]

Ever since 9/11, the word hero has gotten overused and has become meaningless. People are being called heroes for just doing their jobs. Heck, there's a kid's show on Disney Channel called Higglytown Heroes where they sit around singing how heroic it is that the mailman delivers your mail.

The word is pointless today.

[oranged]

Is Michael Moore a hero? There are still people in existence who take bullets for people. There still are heroes, but admiring them will get you no-where. Be your own hero.

[Athena]

Yes, I watched the Hero show. I think it is sad some people felt moved to attack the word "hero", instead of keeping quiet, when they do not know the good that their careless words are ruining. Folks, please think twice before trashing what someone is saying. Why do you feel a need to do this? This seems to be a social problem, like we are a nation of very negative people who have lost hope and the belief in the good of mankind.

I get the point that these men have made profitable businesses to fund their life's work to help others. That is instead of profitting personally, they turn the profits of the business to doing more good work for others. They are demonstrating what all of us can do to make the world a better place, if we so determine ourselves. They are disproving all the negatives we say about humanity.

I wonder why the one government acted against the man who is getting electricity to the poor at a price they can afford? I think those in the government do not have a good understanding of economics and how to improve the standard of living, and in so doing, improve their national economies.

I hope I remember to check our local imported carpet store for the MARK. If I do not find the find the MARK, I will speak with the store owner and our mayor and the press. For those who missed the show, children are used to make carpets India and they severely mistreated. If the MARK is on the carpet, it means the factory is open to inspection and is less likely to be using and abusing children. Like we can no longer import ivory, we should block import of carpets that do not have the MARK.

I want to buy the videos of the show and use them for educating in children. Our children are so fortunate compare to children in other places, and I like the way the shows stress the importance of education to liberty. If I am allowed to teach next year, I want the students to understand how important their education is to liberty.

[Jack]

What I find sad is that self-sacrifice and doing good for others without expecting reqard is so rare that we have to do a TV special about them, and that we can idnetify them by name. There should be so many people doing this everyday, in their own way, that it's not considered so unusual and awe-inspiring. But I do salute those who are out there being true heroes.

[PatrickHenry]

Athena, the New Heroes website had teaching materials and lesson plans for the topic of social entrepreneurs. Thanks for making some relevant comments. You too, Isherwood.

You other guys, I think I know why you are cynical. I think for me making heroes out of soldiers goes over the top. If a war is defensive in nature, the Luke Skywalker heroism is appropriate. David vs Goliath, or Israel vs the Arab millions 1948, you folks may pull for the underdog, too. But if the warriors are an overwhelming force going against those who defend their own land, my view of current US policy overseas, then the term hero doesn't apply. I think we can redefine the selflessness to these kind of actions by folks with some vision for helping others.

[tinybear]

This is what I call a hero: one man, one sword against one mighty army and though he walks the valley of death, he feels no fear:

Watch the trailer: http://www.hero-movie.jp/phase2/trailer.html

[PatrickHenry]

Tinybear, I don't know whether to laff or scream. YOU DO THIS ALL THE TIME!

A movie named "Hero" is not what we are talking about. It is OFF TOPIC!

Are you even a teenager, yet? Do you understand that the world is not a movie? That some real flesh and blood people who cannot fly through the air are laying aside other concerns and the chance to become fabulously wealthy to help people who are suffering?

If I was a mod, you would get warning points for this, and seeing you do it time after time would make me want you out of here if I ran the show.

You got anything to say about real heroism?

[ibm]

hero is a word that has been used too extensively in this country.

i was watching the discovery channel (a few years back) and they're airing this program about the eruption of mt. st. helen. a 70-some- or 80-year-old ignores the warning and refuses evacuation – just because he’s lived in the vicinity for his entire life. and then he dies at the eruption. and then he becomes an american hero.

[Jack]

Well then, ignore the term itself and use the definition PatricHenry offered at the start:

The American Heritage Dictionary defines the word as "a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life."

After all, I doubt he started this thread to quibble over the overuse of a common term. He's speaking about very real people who do very real things to improve the lives of others, often strangers, without reward or favor. In other words, people who exemplify the best human beings can be. We certainly hear enough news everyday about people giving example of the worst humans can be.

[Cephus]

Quote by: ibm i was watching the discovery channel (a few years back) and they're airing this program about the eruption of mt. st. helen. a 70-some- or 80-year-old ignores the warning and refuses evacuation – just because he’s lived in the vicinity for his entire life. and then he dies at the eruption. and then he becomes an american hero.

That's not my definition of a hero, that's my definition of an idiot.

Sometimes, evolution clears the deadwood from the gene pool. Too bad it doesn't work more often.

[castille]

You could argue Osama bin Laden is a hero, as he is sacrificing a comfortable life to fight for his beliefs.

In fact, millions of people around the world would call him a hero.

[Athena]

Quote by: Isherwood Well then, ignore the term itself and use the definition PatricHenry offered at the start: After all, I doubt he started this thread to quibble over the overuse of a common term. He's speaking about very real people who do very real things to improve the lives of others, often strangers, without reward or favor. In other words, people who exemplify the best human beings can be. We certainly hear enough news everyday about people giving example of the worst humans can be.

This is the true meaning of democracy. I am struggling with the best way to teach this.
Talk about misuse of words! The word democracy is so distorted and preverted. Democracy is not a form of government. It is an ideology that believes our true human potential "to do real things to improve the lives of others". There is away of interpreting the bible to support this ideology, but the ideology and reasoning behind it, does not come from the bible. Only when the masses understand the ideology of democracy, can it be manifest. Christianity without education for democracy is a liability to democracy.

You see, Christianity teaches we born in sin and it expects evil. Democracy is the opposite of this. It believes we are born as the Gods with the ability to learn and reason, and it is because of this ability we can "to do real things to improve the lives of others".
Our forefathers agreed with this, and saw it as a human way to bring heaven to earth.
They accepted the wisdom of the bible, but rejected the superstition of the bible. It is through our human capability and science, that we have so improved life. It is the constant preaching of our evilness and expectation of bad things, that we destroy the good.

We used stories of heros in public education to teach citizenship. These stories were deliberate myth, to be understood as stories, abstractly, not as fact to be taken literally and understood concretely.

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: Isherwood After all, I doubt he started this thread to quibble over the overuse of a common term. He's speaking about very real people who do very real things to improve the lives of others, often strangers, without reward or favor. In other words, people who exemplify the best human beings can be.

Bingo, Isherwood!

I saw this documentary on Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in the bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad in 2003. I find him heroic, regardless of my distaste for much of the UN shenanigans. I think he was the best that the UN had to offer, and it is sad that he was killed by a bomber. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/e...ad/sergio.html

[Sonart]

Here's my nominee for heroic feats of courage and/or nobility of purpose...

Saira Shah -- the creator of documentary films shot from inside Taliban Afghanistan, such as 'Beneath the Veil' and 'Unholy War'.



Watching 'Beneath the Veil', I was absolutely stunned. This woman has more balls than any ten men.

.

Quote by: Cephus Ever since 9/11, the word hero has gotten overused and has become meaningless. People are being called heroes for just doing their jobs. Heck, there's a kid's show on Disney Channel called Higglytown Heroes where they sit around singing how heroic it is that the mailman delivers your mail. The word is pointless today.

Not pointless, just ill used.

[Nono]

In the same vein as Sonart's pick: Taslima Nasrin. Balls indeed.

And here's my vote for an Authentic American Hero, a guy I've been thinking of lately for some reason: the late Ron Ridenhour.