High School Heroes

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High School Heroes

I suspect it is in high school that we get a real taste of what the hero system is all about. This is, perhaps, our first taste of what socialization, self-esteem, and heroism really mean to us personally.

Each high school seems to offer some means for becoming a hero. Unfortunately it seems that the hero slots are few and they usually accentuate physical attributes. In one high school football is king of self-esteem, in another it may be basketball, in another it may be baseball, in another etc. There are other hero slots that are filled by those with ‘good looks’, ‘witty personality’, ‘has a car’, etc. Most students must find their own means for becoming heroes because the high school does not provide the means for sufficient hero slots to meet the demand.

Self-esteem is the goal and heroism is the means,; those who do not find a means for establishing self-esteem are in trouble. “The supreme law [of life] is this: the sense of worth of the self not be allowed to be diminished.”–Alfred Adler. In other words, the fundamental law of human life is the urge to self-esteem.

Our self-esteem is derived from symbols. In the ape such matters were biologically cared for but we humans depend upon a symbolic constitution of worth. We are largely artificialized creatures dependant upon our society to provide each of us with a means for establishing our own self-esteem, without which we go crazy.

Our whole life is a continual animation seeking an artificial symbol of self-worth. Often net-worth is our avenue for satisfying this craving for self-worth.

I suspect each of us has a movie-reel constantly running in our head whereby we maintain a real time grade for self-esteem. If that grade goes to ‘F’ such things as the massacre at Virginia Tech happen.

These forum postings are part of my hero activity. What are some of your acts of heroism, and are they keeping your self-esteem grade high enough to satisfy you?

Do you think that your society is providing you with sufficient means for your hero needs?

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We judge our value generally by finding approval from our society. If the rest of society does it then it is good. It takes a very strong character to resist what the rest of society calls good. A good example might be when the US went into war in Iraq. Few voices were heard in opposition.

It is a paradox that often what we do to make our self into a hero are at the expense of others. We feel good often by making others feel bad. We become heroes by killing our enemy who in turn become heroes by killing their enemy.

Therein lay the rub. If we are to survive as a species we must learn a new secular moral code that everyone finds acceptable.

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Why do many youth in the inner-cities commit violent and criminal acts?–that is one way, perhaps the only way, to be a hero. Why do many youth walk boldly into enemy fire?—to be a hero. Why does a youth strap on explosives and blow up her self and everyone around her?—heroism once again.

Why does a parent delight in the accomplishments of their offspring—such is the parents’ means for being heroes. Why does a CEO demand an income of ten million dollars from her corporation—so everyone will recognize what a great hero she is. Perhaps corporations need to be heroes also and giving their CEO more money is the corporation’s means for self-esteem.

The most important thing a culture can provide to its citizens is a means for becoming a hero in a way that benefits life (good) rather than death (evil). “Its [culture’s] task, in other words, is to provide the individual with the conviction that he is an object of primary value in a world of meaningful action.”

The ego must find a means to navigate the world of customs, rules, and ideas in such a way as to eliminate anxiety; to do this the individual must choose actions that her comrades praise instead of blame.