An ideology that glorifies the heroic ideal and seeks to ultimately bring about a heroic age.
A hero is a sentient being who voluntarily chooses to knowingly risk their own self-interests for the purpose of a greater good. Heroes and heroic acts are essential to the long-term success of any society. As such, we have historically glorified heroes and heroic acts so that they may be encouraged and appreciated. In today’s society, much of the deterioration can be seen as the rise of villains or villainy, the willingness to do and be evil, and the relative indifference of the greater public towards such things.
People today have benefited greatly from the heroes and heroic acts of past generations, and in some ways have become complacent and feel entitled to what in the past was considered luxury. Villains today are no longer as obvious caricatures for the most part. Many masquerade as heroes to their own kind, or use various manipulations to mask or distort the truth.
Heroicism hearkens to simpler times, but is not conservative or liberal, left or right, except in the sense that its followers want to be right and do what is right. We are people who see through the simplistic narratives being weaved together by villains who claim to be heroes, often distorting the heroic efforts of past heroes, and seek to restore authentic heroism to political leadership, citizenship, business, and society at large.
Heroicism sees both political correctness and dog-whistle politics as dishonest, the former being a kind of band-aid solution to much deeper problems, and the latter as an attempt to conceal the return of old-fashioned villainy that we as a society had worked hard to vanquish. We believe instead in honest, authentic, civil debate and dialogue. We believe in the existence of universal truths about morality, although we also are keenly aware of how quickly evil can be perpetrated in the name of good, and so are careful about making biased judgments, seeking instead to be fair-minded and just.
To conservatives and libertarians we say, just because it is or was this way, does not make it right. Freedom is a lofty notion, but in truth, by giving people freedom, we allow them to do both good and evil, and we need to be responsible about the evil that occurs under our watch. Freedom for freedoms sake, in the end, will benefit the more powerful to begin with, and we know that power comes with responsibility, and that for many, power corrupts. We must guard against enabling evil and stifling good, and this requires balancing people’s freedom with more fundamental fairness and justice.
To liberals and socialists we say, it is true that people should be held as moral equals who all other things being equal, deserve a good life. However, the manner in which we achieve this requires us to be vigilant about empowering the state, which is a force which has historically been used for both good and evil. Furthermore, the value of people’s contribution to society and the world are not equal. Some do more good and others more evil. To that extent, we should encourage doing the right thing, and discourage deliberate malice. To pretend that all ideas are equal and refrain from judging them on their value to the common good, is to turn a blind eye to one of the factors that cause people to turn towards making evil decisions.
The ultimate decision making process of Heroicism is thus: Is this a choice that would make an impartial reader of the story think I was the hero or the villain of this story?
Please choose wisely.