a real american hero

The President honored the US Airways pilot who landed safely in the Hudson River as a real American Hero. While what he did was really an amazing story, that's part of his job and part of his training.

The definition of a hero is "A person noted for special achievement in a particular field". He didn't achieve anything. He didn't advance the human race. He didn't advance knowledge. He didn't enlighten people. At best, he may convince more young people to become pilots. He seems like a great guy and he should be congratulated for a job well done, but he's no hero. And I'm not the only person making this important point.

Watch this video to see what a real hero looks like. Someone who is easily 15 years ahead of his time. Someone with passion and is making a huge difference in the world not only by his work, but by his direct spreading of knowledge to others. He should be noted for his extraordinary achievement in his field. He's not just a farmer than does his job exceptionally well. He effects change on the world and he is one of my heroes because of it.

The most important point, I feel, in the whole video, is his passionate defense of avoiding applying labels to things and people because it compartmentalizes discussion and prevents true knowledge from happening. This is so completely what's wrong with politics in this country, I don't even know where to begin. Imagine having discussions about issues and people without mentioning their party affiliation or labeling them as 'right wing' or 'socialist' or anything else, but just LISTENING to what they have to say. We pre-judge everything because we filter it through this elaborate set of terminology that we apply to things. It sounds like an obvious point, but one rarely made and rarely followed. Try having a political discussion with ANYONE and see how long it is before it's buried in labels.