Discordant heros....I say a societal problem

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
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Location
west Texas
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Dave Taylor
Home Airfield
KMRF
I was at the Mountain Home airshow all weekend and had the great privilege of spending it with a man I have immense admiration for. He flew in three wars, starting out in the P-40 then P-47, P-51, then the F-86, several others jets including the F-100, ending his distinguished career with the F-4. He has many combat accomplishments and is well-decorated. He willingly shared many of his stories about his flying, and filled in so much info for us during the airshow - but he does not have a bragging bone in his body. Polite, intelligent, extremely likeable guy.

It just struck me very odd that few people know this hero and society offers him such little recognition. The incongruence which I note in the title became apparent to me as we stood in the hotel lobby today with him waiting for our ride. A has-been rapper who wasted most of his life on drugs and was in jail for attempted murder and other things was fawned all over by a at least a dozen folks who wanted his autograph and to have their picture taken with him. Yet the real hero stood beside me, ignored.
What are we teaching our children??
 
Direct impact. We cannot help but notice those that have a direct impact on our own life and emotions. No matter how brave or competent or accomplished, if they have no direct impact on your life, unless they are brought to your attention you will not recognize them as "heroes" or influential.

If the man you admired wrote a book about his stories, and it became popular because it grabbed at the soul and influenced others, he too would be fawned over.

Not sure that what you observed indicates any problem with society.
 
I spent some time in Georgia building for my client. When I had to drive due to weather, I would enter the state southbound on I-75. In the Dalton area there's a sign for the "Georgia High School Coaches Hall of Fame".

On one trip it was time to stop for some gas and I was in no hurry so I decided to check it out. The man attending the place asked me if I had any questions.

"yeah" I said "I'm curious, where is the Georgia High School Teachers Hall of Fame?

"I don't think there is one" he responded.

"And herein lies the problem" said I.

And, then there was the time when I was with FedEx in Harrison, AR and we (FedEx) wanted to donate $1 mil towards a new stadium for our local high school and yet, at that time (2004), this school system didn't have computers in the classrooms and they were struggling to produce graduates with enough functional literacy to compose a simple business memo.

What are we teaching our children?

Not much but we're certainly helping to screw up their priorities.
 
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No matter how brave or competent or accomplished, even if they have a big direct impact on your life, unless they are brought to your attention you will not recognize them as "heroes" or influential.
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Fixed.

What are we teaching our children??
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It's teaching them that image, illusion and social status is everything.

Who's the real hero? The social idealized illusion of a person in the nice clothes hobknobbing fake illusions so everyone slobbers all over them? Or the irrelevant person who lays in the sub freezing water/ice puddles for half a day in torn jeans and a tshirt doing something for someone who will never actually know they did it even though it's critically important to that person?

Kings in the courts - Peasants in the puddles. Chose one. Can't be both. Not allowed.
 
A lot of who should be considered is a hero has to do with your own values.

I think the people that invented the transistor had enourmous impact on mankind.

Of course who was it that actually invented it? Some post WW1 hobbyist that accidentally got gain out of a crystal with 3 leads, but could never repeat the result or the guys at Bell labs (William Shockley, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain in 1947).

I believe Will Durant, in his history of philosophy says that Archimedes predicted that end of slavery would come when men invented machines to do menial work (like rowing ships), to free mankind.

As an engineer, I buy into that. There have been thousands of unsung heros out there that made incredible contributions. We stand on the shoulders of giants every time we turn the lights on in a room.
 
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How exactly has modern engineering freed people from slavery?

We may not be chained to the ship anymore, but there's plenty of folks in debts so large they'll need most of their natural-born life to pay them off..

An awful lot of folks who *think* they're "middle class" don't own anything.

A comfortable prison cell is still a prison cell. Stop paying your taxes and see if the prison cell stays as comfortable.
 
I recognize that slavery goes back thousands of years. The root word is from Slav because apparently early Slavic peoples were slaves for someone.

I also believe human nature and the nature of human cruelty hasn't changed significantly in thousands of years.

Sadly, I also believe that if we still needed slaves to have realistic commerce and industry, we'd be socially acclimated to accept that as a necessity.

My personal belief is that we are in a place in history where we may have more people that we need to make or run all the things society needs, because of technological advances. If everyone was educated to their fullest potential, could we gainfully put them to work? I'm not sure.

I do think the in many regards credit card dept is a more universal form of the company store debt of the coal miner days.

I also believe there is no such thing as a logical human being. There is sufficient evidence of this all around us. Including the huge numbers of educated professionals that just buy things they cannot afford.

I didn't make the world the way it is. I struggle to understand it.
 
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There is sufficient evidence of this all around us. Including the huge numbers of educated professionals that just buy things they cannot afford.
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That's because society is set up around the concept of money and buying material objects.
Objectively look around you and you can see it. After 3 months mostly away from all cities, I rolled back into civilization. When you do that, it's much easier to see what is going on. There really isn't much to do here unless you (a) are buying things, (b) paying money for activities of any type, (c) working to get money to do (a) and (b), or (d) creating an illusion to support (a, b and c).

Based on that, social status is based on possessions and the image that those objects and fees create and the ability to afford those possessions. Hero's become illusions, the ignored are the ones that do the real work.
 
There are a lot of people out there selling happiness. Just do or buy XYZ to be happy. Oh wait, try ABC, and on and on.

I like the aphorism, "find yourself in private meditation or reveal yourself in public disgrace."
 
Everskyward said:
Has he even tried to gain recognition? The has-been rapper probably has a publicity department.
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That's part of the discordancy to me. He is a humble, honest man who always did the right thing for his country. Including almost giving his life, many times. (At dinner tonight, it was about bailing out at fl330 in a thunderstorm, when the engine seized.) Should he really be required to wave his own flag in order to get recognition?

Public honor is geared to the musician or movie star, who did nothing of relative significance....but has a publicity director!
I was struck by how backwards that is.
 
Everskyward said:
Has he even tried to gain recognition? The has-been rapper probably has a publicity department.
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I've found that many people whom are truly accomplished do not want/need the recogntion. The accomplishment is enough in itself. These people are driven internally by their own values, goals, and purposes in life. I highly admire them.
 
The incongruities the are the subject of this thread arise because the human nervous system is basically wired like that of a chimpanzee.
 
Anthony said:
I've found that many people whom are truly accomplished do not want/need the recogntion. The accomplishment is enough in itself. These people are driven internally by their own values, goals, and purposes in life. I highly admire them.
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True, but how is anyone going to get recognition outside their own small circle if they don't seek it? How is anyone going to find out about their stories if they don't tell them? I knew someone who had a compelling military story to tell who occasionally did speaking engagements. He also raised money for a charity that way. I wouldn't have called him "well known" but he was certainly not unknown and many people probably have heard the story even if they don't remember the person.
 
denverpilot said:
Heh... and the Internet is our version of flinging poo. ;)
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So what you're really saying here is that after a million years of effort to make ourselves better than we once were, we're suddenly right back right where it all started...
 
I'm glad you were standing on the correct side of the lobby, Dave.

Are you going to introduce us to this hero? Let's rectify the gap in knowledge / awareness!
 
steingar said:
We never left. Look at the world.
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Sometimes I think that's why the Universe is so huge and everything is so insanely far apart. It keeps the screwed up places from infecting the rest of the Universe by isolating them in their own little self centered mindgame world then anything that is left over at the end gets blown to bits and vaporized when the star goes kablooey.
 
We become what we celebrate.
-Dr. Woody Flowers

I'd encourage anyone interested in celebrating the "right" things to look into getting involved with FIRST.

www.USFIRST.org
 
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