Thanks to Magnus for this one. It’s from a Times Online article about how the modern world lacks heroes. You can see the original article here if you really want to.
Where, indeed, have all our heroes gone? It would seem that to find civilian and non-combat heroes today, we have to look at the list of recipients of the George Cross (including its predecessors).
As the George Cross is the counterpart to the military Victoria Cross awarded for gallantry in combat, it is an award for those who of their own volition, and when they did not have to, stepped forward to put their own life and limb in jeopardy. Those heroes came from all walks of life, and (ranged from pensioners to school children as young as 13 and 14.
What is disturbing is to see that fewer and fewer whose actions have measured up to the George Cross standards.
1900-09 — 2
1910-19 — 31
1920-29 — 25
1930-39 — 91
1940-49 — 183
1950-59 — 18
1960-69 — 7
1970-79 — 11
1980-89 — 0
1990-99 — 3
2000- 4
(The war presented more opportunities for heroism.)
Is the Health and Safety Nanny breeding heroism out of the British character?
Bob Evans, Anaheim, California
Your chart really brought it home to me. Where’s the opportunity for heroism when all our wars involve bombing the fuck out of poor people, thousands of miles away, who are no threat to us whatsoever? We need to start a war with someone who’s:
- Local
- Armed
- No, sticks don’t count. Armed like we are, with aircraft carriers and fighter jets and 500lb bombs.
Only then will we see the necessary rise in the number of people losing limbs whilst trying to save dying children.
Of course, this would all be rather inconvenient and expensive so, as an alternative, I propose that we just start awarding the George Cross to the people we’re bombing instead. We’ve got a guaranteed supply of heroes there. Every last one of them has tragically lost family members and body parts. Perfect.