2b) EXAMPLES OF HEROES: MARTIN LUTHER KING & GEORGE WALKER BUSH

Example of a hero from a previous era in time is Martin Luther King Jr. while an example of a contemporary hero is the current president of the U.S, George Walker Bush. These are men that displayed strange characteristics of a true hero like courage, strength of character, determination, boldness, leadership ability and charisma. Both commanded the attention of the whole world.

Because of the changes in the society from one generation to another, the resources available to each hero are (to a large extent) dependent on the changes that takes place in the society. In terms of power, G.W. Bush stands at a better advantage to Martin Luther because of the technological advancement in this era. Martin Luther King "took his ideals from Christianity and his operational techniques from Gandhi" (retrieved January 29, 2006 from http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html) while President Bush is aided by the power of technology.

Conclusively, changes in the society ultimately affect the people in the society. U.S. for instance has been able to attain and maintain the super power status over the years simply because of inventions, innovations and cultural changes that have taken place in the nation. Occurrences (like September 11attack on the Twin Tower, War in Iraq) have also brought some people to heroism in the United States. People like the fire fighters who rescued the lives of men during September 9-11 attack and the military folks fighting in nations like Iraq, Afghanistan etc.

Note:

Martin Luther King, Jr. Picture. Retrieved February 2, 2006, from http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
President Bush’s Picture. Retrieved February 2, 2006, from http://groups.msn.com/PresidentGWBush/messageaids.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=220

2a. HEROES AND CELEBRITIES

We live in a media-obsessed culture. The society reaches out for heroes and celebrities because of their beautiful and fascinating images presented to the public by the media. Any sane person would like to associate and identify with success, fame, and power which are some of the characteristics of celebrities and heroes.

Human beings are influenced by their senses-sight, touch, hearing etc and this generation has been blessed with a lot of technological and scientific advancements which enables the media industry to flourish greatly by harnessing the power of technology.

For instance, through the media, people get familiarized with sport's heroes like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods etc and a lot looks up to them as standard of achievements and success while people like Martin Luther King, Jr., President G.W. Bush are celebrated for their determination, courage and power.

The impacts that the interaction with some heroes and celebrities have brought into our lives cannot be over-emphasized. Many people with low self images have rose up to become great people in the society by mastering virtues like courage, determination and boldness displayed by heroes like Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Carnegie et al.

Conversely, many lives have been destroyed (especially the youths) by watching the lifestyles and "virtues" displayed by some celebrities (rogues). Through the multifaceted advancement in technology empowered by the media and vice versa, our society is been plagued by vices such as crime, sexual perversions, hooliganism, pornography, murder, suicides to mention a few.