If we don't stand for something, then we stand for nothing. In her famous novel Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand asks through Dr. Robert Stadler: "Have you ever felt the longing for someone you could admire? For something, not to look down at, but up to?" Or perhaps it was Cassius who put it better: "Some goals are so worthy, it is glorious even to fail." Certainly there are actions by people that we appreciate, but they aren't always acts of true heroism. In our world of constant war, political corruption, terror, and suffering, many of us have a desperate need for someone to look up to. We certainly can't look properly to politicians for heroism.
Who are those in your life who exhibit great courage? Who do you admire and why? What obstacles do your heroes and heroines overcome? What achievements do you admire? What principles and characteristics define heroism for you?
What do you have to say about these remarkable nuclear technicians in Japan who are risking their lives (and potentially even trading them) to try to prevent a nuclear catastrophe? Does it remind you of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Spock spoke about the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the one? What can we do to honor them?
FTA:
Since the disaster struck in Japan, about 800 workers have been evacuated from the damaged nuclear complex in Fukushima. The radiation danger is that great.
However, CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports that a handful have stayed on the job, risking their lives, to try to save the lives of countless people they don't even know. The exact number of workers is unclear and has been reported to be anywhere from 50 to 180.
Although communication with the workers inside the nuclear plant is nearly impossible, a CBS News consultant spoke to a Japanese official who made contact with one of the workers inside the control center. The official said that his friend told him that he was not afraid to die, that that was his job...
"The longer they stay the more dangerous it becomes for them," said expert Margaret Harding. "I think it is a testament to their guts for them to say, 'We'll stay and if that means we go, we go.'"
...Keep in mind they'd be volunteering to head into a place so potentially dangerous, that anyone within 20 miles of it was just asked to evacuate.
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Mar 17, 2011 at http://www.braincrave.com/viewblog.php?id=503
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