Originally posted by orangetom1999
I dont know what kind of spoon you were raised with in your mouth to where you can post such astonishing ignorance but like so many I wonder if you were brought up in public education schooling and in front of a television. Public education=television education=entitlement beliefs.

in fact its actually an enlightened idea, and would definitely not be taught in any public school. it isn't new, he didn't come up with it - but its pretty advanced.

its true, there are no heroes. heroes can only come from an external label, from an external point-of-view only and if you think it of yourself then already you aren't one. in the best case scenario you're doing it for some kind of internal pleasure-feedback. you might be doing it "because it needs to be done" but you're deriving pleasure from that principle. you're feeling good about yourself.

but is it so bad to feel good about yourself? isn't that better than doing it for karma, or because a god wants you to, or to make up for bad things you've done in your own past? or to get laid?

a lot of personal problems are caused by people not feeling they deserve things, maybe because of guilt or low self-value. so what if the trade off is that people are helped in some way and you feel good about yourself, maybe even consider yourself a hero? is that so bad?

Originally posted by AllTiedTogether
I was in the military for 26yrs and am now legally sane... Anyone willing to stay in and believe they are fighting for freedom when they follow leaders such as bush are brainwashed. My view..

These firefighters, like military soldiers, train to perform tasks without thinking. They become automatic. I was on the fireteam on many stations and the training reinforces automatic actions. What you find difficult to fathom as abilities is drilled into these people day after day. It becomes a normal daily task. Because they don't have to think of it, much like the Marine who can strip down his rifle in the dark, he can now concentrate on other things going on within his area. You as the untrained firefighter would see this as heroic. Not me.. I see that as a well trained and probably "deservedly' proud firefighter.

Well then you above many others know a military person doesn't just close up shop when a leader is elected and they disagree with it. We don't have the luxury to do that.

I also think people do not realize that you can have a “hero” or you can call a group of people heroes in a general sense that has more to do with their profession than each person being an actual “hero”. Just deciding to be a fireman, military person etc. kind of sets you in a position that helps people in some way, and there is honor in picking those types of professions.

Your idea of an automatic response I find to simple in a person has many decisions to make in a situation. Yes they might do something reflectively but there is always a thought process. You are in a gun battle and a child is in harm’s way, you can continue to shoot towards the enemy or you can try and save the child…

A hero will take themselves out of a safe situation and into harm’s way to help another person even when they have the choice to stay in the safe situation. This is not an automatic reflex action, but a thought process that every one of us will come up with different scenarios as to what we will do. Most will be help until there are great risks, some will not help even under low risks, and a few will help no matter how high the risk is.

The US military is a Cult! All you are is a pawn in some oligarch's chess game. Notice how they weed out anyone who has done drugs or has a criminal record. This is not about image, its about control. these people have already shown an affinity to think for themself by going against the social norm and therefore are much harder to brainwash. Same with the Police. I was in the military and purposefully got my ass kicked out because it was such a joke! The military besides the Navy seals and army rangers is just a military wal mart with all the rejects of society that cant and dont fit in anywhere else and become cannon fodder!