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Comment by 2OEH8eoCRo0 | Hacker News Reader

I wonder which modern heroes will have their statues torn down by future generations.

I was watching Jackass the other day and they have a new disclaimer that it contains outdated social norms. I like this approach but at the same time, why does anybody need to be told this? Nobody is perfect and social norms change with time.

Why do people need to be told that we are celebrating achievements, and not political beliefs?

There is a severe deficit of autonomous thought in the modern US.

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In 1,000 years humanity is going to look back on everyone alive today and think we are all backwards monsters for our conservative acceptance of the 40-hour work week, mistreatment of Earth's ecosystem, factory farming of animals, and society's dismissal of people who want to legally marry their computers.

"The vegans didn't take up arms against the oppressors? Silence is violence!"

Everyone's a critic.

And in 2,000 years, what will they think of them?

If the definition constantly changes, no one gains the confidence to challenge the people enforcing the definition; they can change it at will to suit their needs, and revel in being hypocritical because they know there's no consequences to it. The demoralization takes hold that the system cannot be questioned or fought against, and any resistance fails.

Just as dishonesty can be used to tear down every statue of heroes from our past, even those who did nothing wrong, dishonesty can be used to glorify every villain who should be vilified. For example, statues of Confederacy “heroes” went up in the South in a racist backlash to rights that blacks were gaining in America. Those statues should be torn down, they exist as middle fingers to the Black community in those areas.

Where does one draw the line? I think the NYT article did it pretty well. Webb was not part of the efforts to remove homosexuals from NASA, indeed it was federal law at the time, and to expect him to be a radical activist is at total odds with his administrative post. He was progressive for his time and helped move society forward.

> why does anybody need to be told this

Because of the fragility of the American mind.

I might show my bias but: I think that social media makes it difficult to think for yourself. You're rewarded for going with the crowd, the crowd decides your opinions for you, and you take that mentality offline.

I don't feel fragile.

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