Let's Finally Dispense With 'Hero' Nonsense
lewrockwell.com/greenhut/greenhut65.1.htmlPosted Jun 5, 2011, 8:57 PM UTC
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lewrockwell.com
Since 9/11 cops and firefighters in the United States believe that they should be elevated to sainthood because they're "out there every day, putting their lives on the line." The problem with this is the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled data from such hazardous jobs and created this list of The Top Ten Most Dangerous Occupations and guess what? Neither police or firefighters even cracked the list. A lot of these guys (especially firefighters) take these jobs out of a sincere desire to help their communities, but can we stop pretending that Officer Billy Bob from down the road is some kind of savior for simply taking a good paying job with great benefits? I know too many of these guys who are just grown up schoolyard bullies who are just continuing their ways with the blessings of the State.
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I think they have been claiming that since long before 9/11. It is just used as another feather in their persecution cap.
Also looking at that list 5 and 6 are part of 10, and as a 10 I do an awful lot of 9.
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You're right, it just seems to have gotten a lot worse since then-and thank you sir, for going out there every day and building things.
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it's because these people don't see you as human beings, they see you as the enemy and a paycheck. What pisses me off is these big government Democrats and Republicans who see this shit and then want to trust more power to these people who already have ZERO fucking accountability.
I think the people at the polls should be the target for grievances.
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And their gold-plated pensions.
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The bystander who fished out his body didn’t have cold-water gear (let alone a big pension from the fire department), but she jumped into the water any way and acted like an actual human being.
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Some of those people we task with onerous, unpleasant, difficult, and sometimes dangerous work, when presented with exceptional circumstance behave in exceptionally good ways.
Many of those people are heroes. They deserve every accolade and many accommodations, especially if they are injured in the pursuit of this good behaviour.
Those who merely claim the status based on uniform, badge, or affiliation seem bereft of not merely honour but humanity, as they demean those who've earned the appellation Hero at the cost of themselves, and often the additional cost of the easiness of spouses and children.
TL;DR: There are heroes aplenty and those who claim it rarely are; those who are rarely claim to be.
PS. Know a hero? Buy him or her lunch, help how you can, if they're away take their kids to the zoo, mow their lawn, do whatever, but don't fawn.
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Fuck those California pussies. I bet NYC or Boston firefighters would have pulled that guy out.
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I am a volunteer firefighter/EMT. I save lives--and risk my own--routinely because it is what I volunteered to do. I avoid accolades and reporters, and never attend "first responder appreciation" events. I am not in it for kudos or ego, but to help people in my community when they need it most.
Fuck these paid poseurs.
I work for Geek Squad and I occasionally get offered free donuts for showing my badge, a tongue-in-cheek deal that mirrors the offer they give cops. I'm not self-righteous, I'll take their free donuts.
I appreciate your service to your community, but "f these paid poseurs" reeks of "my mommy and daddy pay my bills." Real life requires paychecks and accepting them doesn't make you a bad person.
No, but getting paid to idly stand by as a man drowns while calling yourself a hero makes you a very, very bad person.
Exactly.
Mommy and daddy have been dead a very long time, and they (or anyone else) never paid my bills. I work a real job and volunteer.
If you choose a profession, don't go seeking hero status for doing your job--just for doing your job. If you enter a burning structure and carry someone out, that's usually above-and-beyond many department protocols and commendable. But just showing up for work and expecting adulation and respect as part of the package is bullshit.
Again, fuck paid poseurs. Real heroes earn the title--and usually shun it.
you missed the point, so anything you might have added to the discussion became invalid.