The myth of the egocentric hero states that a person who has spent their entire life doing things their own way, for their own reasons, can suddenly change, becoming the hero that acts in service to others, even at the risk of their own life.

Let us look the 2012 movie The Avengers for an example. Early in the movie Captain America tells Iron Man “You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you…”.  To over simplify the story: Iron man’s other identity is Tony Stark an egocentric playboy. In the movies when Tony comes into a moment of crisis he somehow transforms into a hero willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others.   This is the myth of the egocentric hero. The myth has become a keystone myth represents an understanding of self that is integral to our society. Without keystone myths our society’s self-understanding cannot hold together.

Our society cultivates children of the self: people who are servants of the self-regarding imperative. Our lives are centered on self- gratification. Our economics are based on each individual seeking the best possible return for themselves. Our spiritual lives are subject to a consumer mentality that results in the feel good, motivational, therapeutic, non-threatening, church being king. God has been relegated to the position of life coach.

We tend to believe that in order to truly be alive each of us needs to first seek satisfy their own self. Yet somewhere in our psyche remains the pull of another narrative, that of the self-sacrificial hero. We may want to live a selfish life but we are unwilling to admit it. To square the circle we manufactured the myth of the ego centric hero. The myth allows us to pursue lives of self-gratification while still thinking well of ourselves, knowing or believing that when the moment comes we too can be heroes.

We are experiencing a pandemic: Covid 19 .  Have we as individuals risen to the occasion and become heroes? Well, no. People don’t work that way.  Short of divine intervention people do not suddenly drops the habits of a lifetime to become something else. Behavior patterns become ingrained in our personalities for good and often for ill. The person who has spent a life seeking to maximize their own happiness, their own satisfaction and their own self-preservation does not suddenly become a hero, they continue to act in egocentric ways.

Our response has not lived up to our internal concept of the egocentric hero. We are not who we thought we were. We are not as good as we thought we were. What can we do when we realize we fall short of the glory of our self-identity?  We try to avoid the painful truth even to the point of wanting to kill the truth. See what happened to Jesus. After a lifetime of thinking that it was possible to live a live centered on what we want, and still be a hero, it is not possible for us to face the truth.

Our first impulse was good.  We were willing to give up some passing fancies in order to help and protect others. As time passed we began to notice that the most vulnerable among us seem not to have been protected very much at all.  The elderly are isolated in what sometimes became deathly virus incubators.  The non-infected ill are being denied important medical care, sometimes leading to death.   The poorest among us, those who cannot afford to stay at home, are suffering and dying the most.

We have been subject to extraordinary orders to protect others. Yet time’s passing reveals that the orders protect not the poor, the elderly and the needy but the successful and the well to do. Those who have money can stay home, safe. Those who are wealthy can still work, but in safety. The elites are still catered to by a medical system that has been forbidden to treat many others.

As children of the self there are many of us who demand that the shut downs continue. No matter who goes hungry, we demand safety. No matter who does not get the necessary cancer checkup, we seek our own preservation. No matter who sinks into despair, no matter how much domestic violence, occurs, no matter how much child molestation happen, no matter how many people succumb to addiction we prioritize our lives over theirs. No matter the number of children whose educational futures may be damaged forever, we refuse to be discomforted. No matter the pain, suffering and death the lock down is inflicting on others we continue to live egocentric lives.

We are being treated, in real time, to the disconcerting vision of seeing entire segments of our society demand that others suffer in order to remain protected. We see far too many of us refuse to acknowledge the suffering. We sit at home and cower. We tell each other that we are heroes for giving up our wants and desires while demanding that others give up their needs and necessities.  We are not a society of Iron Men. We are not the ones to risk themselves for the sake of others.  We are the children of the self who demand that all the world bend to our needs and desires.

Of course not all of us are life this. There are still some who care, some who serve, some who give of themselves not just give of their money. These people do place themselves in danger. Usually they are people who have a lifetime in the helping and serving professions: first responders and medical personnel for example. It should not be a surprise that many of these individual are following family traditions. The son joining the force like his father before him. The daughter going into medicine, etc. Values are transmitted by families and these families have values of service.

Too many of us to not share those values.  Our culture does not nurture those values. Those people in the serving professions are not the people in positions of prestige and power. We fete them on TV and say nice things about them on social media but we relegate them to minor positions in our society, necessary in a crisis but inconvenient at the board room or dinner table.

Instead our leadership class, like so many of us, are children of the self. Raised in an environment and culture which all too often tempt us to regard ourselves above others. The temptation becomes a fall. A fall becomes a habit. A habit becomes a way of life. Ways of life have consequences. The course of our society and its emphasis on self has brought us to this point.  At one time we would have shamed people for demanding that others risk death for them. Now it is the accepted opinion of far too many.

Will we see? Will we find the will to change course? Perhaps the cultural powers will succeed in convincing us that the impulse to self-protection at all cost was heroic. But the truth is still out there for those with eyes to see.  A nation’s population, grown up on self-regard and self-preservation was unable throw off their behavior patterns.  If a nation wants its people to act heroically in times of need they must structure their society not only to reward heroism but to inculcate it by practice. Unfortunately a society of real heroes is inconsistent with our current one. As long as the people who control our culture and politics are comfortable we cannot expect to see change.