Among countrymen, should even the definition of a hero stir controversy? In America, we no longer celebrate the pioneers, the protectors, and the brave without vitriol and division. The definition of “hero” is derived from myth and perhaps the hero is still simply mythical. But culturally, we define “hero” as someone who lays his life down for a cause or a person. The hero need not die, but he must live for something greater than himself.
In today’s society we enjoy countless luxuries, not the least of which is the security bought for us by heroes of the past. In our security there is little need and little to fight for, so we have adopted a participation-ribbon brand of heroism. Today, every American has a cell phone and every American is a hero. We have abandoned the leveling concept that all men are created equal and instead live within the boundaries of man’s definition of worth. If we are to be worthy ourselves, then we must earn our worth by pleasing these men who define us. Merit stands in the vacancy of grace and without grace, we are a self-driven society. We are working to achieve under the quiet tyranny of class warfare and will gladly serve those we deem deserving, which means those who may someday return the favor. These may be the wealthy, the powerful, the righteous, or the popular, but they are certainly not the poor, the meek, the scoundrel, or the “haters.”
There are few exceptions to this rule, one being the police officer. Police officers are traditional protectors of people and property. They willingly fill a role that could some day cost them everything. They sacrifice, not just for those they would encounter in their darkest hours, but for the greater ideal that men are created equally and don’t deserve to be judged in one moment of desperation. These men and women are willing to sacrifice everything for their hope in the human spirit.
Recently, media has portrayed police to be more concerned with personal safety than public well-being. It’s an easy image to sell. We have a 24-hour news cycle filled with violence and corruption and peppered with opinion. Further, Americans view these stories through their own lens of self-interest, so it is easy to believe that police, too, are putting their needs above the people. And surely some of them are. At this moment, it is crucial to determine whether police officers serve the people or themselves and their benefactors: the wealthy, powerful, righteous, and popular. When one’s motivation becomes self-preservation, he becomes less trustworthy. Even if the motive is only perceived, it is still dangerous when trust is the only option. When desperate people cannot trust, fear settles in and the situation quickly deteriorates to a dangerous and reactive level. It happens on both sides. When the accused is desperate, he is unpredictable. When faced with an unpredictable adversary, the officers become desperate. The desperation is perpetual and pervasive.
With greater threats than ever before, a militarized police-force, and an intrusive government, we must learn to recognize the heroes among us and celebrate them. More importantly, we must emulate these heroes, the men who would lay down their lives to ensure a better tomorrow; men who worry less about their own prosperity than that of the nation. If we fail to do this, we will squander the security gifted to us by yesterday’s heroes. Once we have lost this security, we will all operate from a place of mistrust and our country will be a dangerous place, indeed.