We Don't Need Another Hero

My previous blog had to do with the story of ''Shoeless'' Joe Jackson and his fall from grace. At the time of his fall, he was one of the most popular players in all of baseball, a sure Hall Of Famer and someone kids emulated. To see that he was less than human shocked and saddened his many legions of admirers. He was no longer a hero. In fact, baseball itself, after the notorious ''Black Sox Scandal'', took it to the chin in the public eye. Since the public willingly chases heroes and seeks out athletes and public figures to be something more than their human parts, when the emperor has no clothes and is exposed to the general population, we, as a people, tend to switch over to the opposite track: we become more abusive and demeaning. In the aftermath of the scandal in 1919, baseball was seriously floundering. There were predictions that the sport may not ever recover, that there was a permanent black eye around the golden halo of the summertime classic. While the cheating players got their just desserts for their actions, that was only part of a solution for baseball. No, what the sport needed was a genuine HERO, someone who could stroll into the ballparks in the land and, with one mighty swat of his bat, he could erase the bad tidings of a tainted World Series and the blemish would be gone. Baseball was crying for such HERO. And, one was found. His name was George Herman Ruth, better known as Babe Ruth. When he became the mythic figure that he was, the sport of baseball rebounded and has forever flowered in all its glorious summer haze......... Heroes often come at times of trouble, in various forms. Look throughout history, from Jesus to the men who formed the critical Boston militia that put forth our nation's independence [Sam Adams was more than just a beer], there has been someone who has arisen from our darkest times to lead the way into the light. Perhaps, the best example is Abraham Lincoln. While we know what he did was monumental, it is, in some ways, almost underrated. The man, because of his vision and personal charisma, saved the United States from crumbling. A man of decency and principle, he led our nation from the horrors of the battlefield to the freedom of all men and women. The details are immense and he certainly got his hands dirty along his march towards historical destiny, but he never lost sight of his goal. And, that goal, mixed with the natural ability of most human beings to be decent, made us the country we are......... We have always needed heroes. Part of the need is our living through their heroics vicariously. To be in a position to alter history for the better is most attractive. Imagine the joy of bettering all of humankind with your actions. You give a little more positive meaning to a life form that was in desperate need of some salvation. Picture yourself as an Einstein, with his scientific wonders, to an Edison, who revolutionized how we live our daily lives. Martin Luther King with his dream that we all live in peace. The Beatles coming over to revive a nation's spirits three months after we have killed our President in cold blood. Most of our heroes, however, are unsung. These are the men and women who drive the engine of our daily lives. These are the workers who fuel the economy, the doctors and nurses who battle to save us from sickness, the police and firemen who risk their lives, the military personal who fight to keep us free so that we do not need to fight, the single mothers and fathers who work two or three jobs so their kids can live a normal life. In all walks of life, heroes walk amongst us. Unfortunately, we do not celebrate these heroes. It is taken for granted. No, we give our adulation to, mostly, entertainers and professional famous people. I admire many people in these fields but I do not call them heroes. That is putting a label on them---- also, in a weird way----- putting undue pressure on them to live up to impossible expectations of divinity........ Look at who are the leading candidates running for President in 2016. It is almost a macabre, cruel joke that the two front-runners for both parties have the last names Clinton and Bush. Haven't we seen this play before? This is what we have to look forward to? Two families that have long overstayed their welcome on the national stage. Where, we might ask ourselves, are the Lincolns and Roosevelts? Genuine heroes of a past age who made a mark that was a tremendous lunge forward for all of us. Well, they do not exist anymore, at least, in our public face to the world. A smart, decent person who wants to help for the general good is smart enough to not get in the public arena. He or she would get shredded by the hired guns whose job it is to smear the mighty. When I was a kid, the statement my teachers said to us is, that if you work hard enough, you could be anything you want, even President Of The United States. That time is past. It would be almost an insult for me to say that to a student now........ The heroes today are the people I have mentioned above, the everyday folks like you and me that live our lives in normal circumstances and get normal rewards in life. As I have gotten older, I am grateful that I never became the public person that I aspired to be in my youth. I would have liked to have made a mark for the betterment of humankind, but not at the price that a public person, a hero, pays. The price is too high. Either you lose yourself mentally or physically at some point. You cannot live up to the high ideals that the public gives you. And, in private, these people suffer from the internal guilt of not being God. I think that is where the bad behavior and self-destruction comes in for so many heroes. The feelings of self-hatred because they succumb to the pressures of just being merely mortal. They turn to drugs and alcohol and other bad behavior to keep the wolves away from the psychological door to their souls.......We must grab the mantle from the public people and celebrate the achievements of the private person. The Average Joes and Joans. We will never marry a Kardashian [an achievement in itself] and we will never touch the heights of great wealth and fame. No, we are the normal people, people that children should look up to. And, many do, if they have the correct parenting. Heroes are us....... As I write this, there is rioting in the streets of Baltimore. It is over another racial division. CNN just interviewed a thirty year Vietnam war veteran. He went down there after seeing the carnage on TV. He is not there to riot. He said he was there to talk to the youth about what they are doing and to tell them to go home. I hope he is successful in his endeavors. He said he is there because he loves his country and wants to give back. CNN gave the viewers his name. I could print it but I am not......... Unsung Heroes do not use their names........