Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Notes -
Man I haven't seen someone that offended I said their joke was funny in a while.
Yes. He is. Putin is highly heroic. My dad constantly wonders why Putin doesn't just choose to retire to China/Venzuela/Switzerland with his money and his women and leave the whole mess behind. That's heroism, dedication to a cause. Which points to some of the problems with heroic leadership, versus a "nation of shopkeepers" where your leaders aren't constantly getting mixed up in bullshit. But that's not really all that interesting, Putin is expected to act heroically, he was invading countries while NATO wrung their hands about it when Zelensky was still singing songs on Russian late night TV. He's an ex KGB officer whose been a militaristic president for decades, you aren't confused when he acts like one, it's Tom Brady playing well in a big game versus Nick Foles outplaying him in the big game. And yes, ordinary soldiers do engage in acts of heroism, the difference being that their acts are individually less consequential, and their freedom of action is smaller.
But you have yet to offer any definition or example of heroism of your own, which was the question asked, once again.
Well, if you're going to fairly call basically everyone involved heroes, fair enough.
My definition of a hero is someone who goes above and beyond the expectations of their station to achieve some pro-social outcome even if the cost to them is likely to be catastrophically high. This would put the glory of heroism firmly on the people, not the leadership, which aligns with my moral intuitions.
Some examples of heroes:
Medal of Honor and similar "super-soldiery" commendations, but not the average voluntary soldier;
Non-firemen who rush into burning buildings to help people;
A good Samaritan who confronts an active shooter, especially one who successfully kills them;
A whistleblower who exposes corruption even if it destroys their own career prospects;
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