Throughout history, heroes and heroines are characters that, in the face of danger and adversity, and sometimes from a position of weakness, display courage and the will for self-sacrifice for some greater good. On the other hand, villains and villainesses are usually bad people who fight against the heroes and heroines.  These dreadful figures are always involved in or devoted to wickedness and crime.

What is important here is how these bold characters (good or bad) are created.  For example, why did a man like Hitler come to have such huge power and abuse his position in the way he did?  And, why is it that an ordinary woman like Rosa Parks came to be the catalyst for the collapse of segregation and started a new chapter in the civil rights movement in the US?

Famous people in history all had very distinct personality traits of some sort. But the point that I consider as important is the circumstances, the social environment or the moral climate that helped such individuals to flourish and create such extraordinary events. 

Many other black Americans stood up for their rights before Rosa Parks and were brutally silenced in obscurity, simply because the social environment and the moral climate were not yet ready and conducive to change.  Nevertheless, their action was as heroic as the actions of Rosa Parks, and defiantly it was their actions that gradually made the situation favourable for change. 

In the same way, the rise of Hitler and the possibility of what he did result from a particular moral climate, a unique social situation that thousands and thousands of people around him contributed to it.  Such contributions were possibly unintentional or out of ignorance.  Nevertheless, they were accessories to his crime; they made him possible.

When we look at historical events like these and the social climate that led to them, we realise that moral standards were somehow twisted at certain times in history and focused on certain artificial values blown out to extraordinary proportions.  These usually sprout from extreme religious beliefs, intense nationalism, radical ideologies, unrestrained materialism, fear, prejudices, greed, foolish naivety, etc.  Politicians and rulers exploit such weaknesses, and senseless maniacs find a fertile ground to grow huge.

Sadly even now, across the world, injustice, exploitation and large-scale abuse of human rights are rife, and all in the name of religion, national security, and public interests.  The infamous abusers of our time are not alone.  They, too, have the support of millions of others who buy their propaganda through naivety, short-sightedness or greed, and make the situation conducive to the wrong that the villains of our time are doing.

We do not need to have flying power like Superman. We do not need to get involved in militant actions and get public recognition to be the hero of our time.  Empathic understanding and astute awareness are what we need.  We need to realise the influence, the impact and the importance of our choices.  The job we select, the art we admire, the friend we choose, the programme we watch on TV, the website we visit, and other choices that we make affect the moral climate and the social conditions that support or oppose what’s going on around us. 

Particularly in Western societies, our choices as consumers, followers and voters, strongly affect the social, economic, and political environment, and in turn, the direction of the events in our society and the whole world.

Let’s be the unsung heroes of our time.  Let’s be aware of what we choose, the trends we follow and the vote we cast.

Please contact Reza if you have any question about this topic, or want to leave a comment.