It's Snowing in Russia

Heroes are frequently found throughout history; they are the Gods in mythology and biblical stories, the leaders of social and political reforms the costumed men and women in comic books. Heroes are our parents and our uncles, our grandparents and older siblings. But what makes a hero? The answer to that questions depends on the person: their past experiences, their personality and the people they are surrounded by. People have different heroes for different reasons; some may have more than one and some none. Also, different cultures have different types of heroes as well. In Western culture, many children, especially young boys, grow up watching cartoons about superheroes, play video games with them as the subject and even use their imagination to create storylines with handheld action figures. Furthermore, comic books, the original form of superhero content, is now being replaced by the bustling movie industries creating prequels, sequels and multiple series with dynamic storylines of the classic heroes. But, as I mentioned before, not everyone has this schema of heroes being from a comic book; in fact, most people’s heroes are simply someone they look up too or people who work in a certain profession that they admire. The dictionary definition of a hero is, a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities: a war hero; however, even the dictionary should be criticized for it’s closed mindedness on gender because it states that a hero is typically a man.

Lets take a look at a syllogism about heroics.

All heroes deserve freedom.

Edward Snowden is a hero.

Therefore Edward Snowden deserves freedom.

First, on the validity of the syllogism, the form is correct.

P is Q

R is P

Therefore, R is Q.

However, as I mentioned before, the premises are high opinionated. Although we may be compelled to accept certain premises, it is hard to agree to logic that is based purely on opinions. Take the first premise for example, “All heroes deserve freedom”. This statement comes from the basis that all heroes are good, but and in that case, why would they need freedom? If someone needs freedom, it usually means that they are in some way being held in a way that they cannot control. There are several reasons for losing freedom though. Although a person may be your hero because of their admirable qualities, this doesn’t mean that the government also admires these qualities; they could be breaking the law to do something. Does breaking the law also justify freedom? Take for example, Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. It is an issue of ethics though. If this is true, there must be a highly justified reason why a criminal should be granted this freedom or else we would have thieves running all over the place stealing money from wealthy citizens and not being reprimanded. The second premise is even more opinionated because it states “Edward Snowden is a hero”. How can we define that he is a hero when to some he is s criminal and to others, a traitor? This premise is so subjective because there are so many opinions about Snowden that people have. Some are confused; their minds say that the legal systems should prosecute him while they appreciate his sacrifice to the people to give out his confidential knowledge about governmental spying. Some feel extremely biased against him, and others are completely sympathetic towards him. I, however, am at a loss of words because I do not know what I feel towards his “heroic” deeds. There is a part of me that wants to believe that knowing this information about the NSA (National Security Agency) spying on Americans’, as well as other countries’, phones messages and calls. It is a breech of privacy that makes me sick. Sick with confusion because the United States is a country that I had not seen corruption in, but was proven otherwise by Edward Snowden. However, despite many ethical arguments that go against the conclusion of the syllogism, I do agree with it. Without Snowden’s sacrifice, people will go on with their lives, oblivious about the fact that their calls were being tracked and their texts analyzed for suspicious information.