On your point about not being a hero, im confused. By definition a hero is someone who is admired for their bravery or courage. You just stated that fighting for your country is an incredibly brave thing to do. What part of that does not make them heroes??
The fact that OTHER people ALSO deserve to be admired for their bravery and courage does not negate the need to respect our Armed Forces?!?!
Firstly, I think the definition of hero is a bit more complex than simply "one who is admired for their immense bravery". That sounds like a dictionary definition, the role of which is to be concise, not necessarily to express all the cultural connotations attached to a word.
What being a hero means is impossible for me to define, because it's culturally bound. But in my mind, being a hero is beyond simply being incredibly brave. Bravery is a nuanced concept that has different levels and aspects. Surgeons perform incredibly complex and life-threatening surgery every day all around the world but we rarely take the time to call them heroes. Sometimes we do, when it's publicised. But not always. Same goes for social workers, emergency services, the police force and a billion other occupations. Yet there seems to be this peculiar habit that when somebody is enrolled in the armed forces, they're a hero. Like, they get their uniform, some weaponry and the ability to be acceptably called a hero in society no matter their role. In my mind, a hero deserves to be a bit more than that.
I respect the people that die for our country. They've made the ultimate sacrifice, it's formidable, and incredibly tough for all the people they leave behind. Ironically I know this from personal experience. But I just feel uncomfortable with the amount of respect we give those in the armed forces
by default. It doesn't seem right to me when there are others out there who are equally if not more worthy of our respect.
As for Matt (to try and make this a little less spectacularly off-topic), maybe he is a hero. I'm not convinced but what the hell do I know. Being a hero doesn't necessarily equate to being a good person anyway. Someone can lay their life down on the line for a cause and not be a hero. It's everybody else who decides whether the cause their championing and their motivation for doing so is admirable. Matt's a boring housemate. He also happened to fight for Australia. I dislike him for the former and respect him for the latter. That's it.
Also, everything that Ayr said.
Don't worry - I don't like MAtt because he fought for Australia but I definitely think he should be respected for that - not everyone can take on such a position like that! He should be commended for that.
