Auckland Deep Thinkers

Who is (or was) Your Hero?

Did you ever meet them?
Have we passed the age of heroes?
Are they merely comic book characters for kids?

Heroes in modern society function less as flawless icons and more as mirrors and mobilisers — they show us what we value, what we fear, and what we aspire to become.

The Core Roles Heroes Play Today
1. Moral and Cultural Anchors
Heroes — whether real or fictional — act as shorthand for the values a society wants to elevate.

• Courage, sacrifice, integrity, service, innovation, resilience

These traits become culturally legible through heroic stories.
In a fragmented media environment, heroes provide shared reference points that cut across subcultures.

2. Symbols of Possibility
Modern heroes often represent what could be, not just what is.
They expand the boundaries of the imaginable:

• Scientists pushing the limits of knowledge
• Activists challenging entrenched power
• Ordinary people performing extraordinary acts

This symbolic function is especially important for young people who are still forming their sense of agency.

3. Emotional and Psychological Stabilizers
Heroes help people cope with uncertainty, fear, and complexity.
They offer:

• Hope during crises
• Models of resilience during personal struggle
• Narratives of meaning when the world feels chaotic

In this sense, heroes are psychological infrastructure.

The Types of Heroes That Matter Today
1. Everyday Heroes
Nurses, teachers, volunteers, whistleblowers, caregivers.
These figures reflect a shift away from celebrity worship toward valuing service and community contribution.
2. Civic and Social Heroes
People who stand up for democratic norms, human rights, or community wellbeing.
They embody the idea that citizenship is active, not passive.
3. Cultural and Creative Heroes
Artists, writers, musicians, and creators who shape how we see the world.
They influence identity, belonging, and collective imagination.
4. Technological and Scientific Heroes
Innovators who solve problems or expand human capability.
They represent progress — but also raise ethical questions about power and responsibility.
Why Heroes Matter More in the 21st Century
1. Information overload
Heroes simplify complexity.
They become narrative shortcuts in a world drowning in data.
2. Institutional distrust
When trust in governments, corporations, and media declines, people look to individuals — not institutions — for moral leadership.
3. Fragmented identities
Heroes help unify diverse societies by offering shared stories and aspirations.
4. Youth disillusionment
For younger generations facing climate anxiety, economic precarity, and political cynicism, heroes can re‑ignite a sense of agency and possibility.
The Tension: Heroes vs. Hero Worship
Modern society is ambivalent about heroes.
We elevate them — then scrutinize, deconstruct, or “cancel” them.
This tension reflects two truths:

• We need heroes to inspire us.
• We fear the concentration of power, myth, or uncritical admiration.

Healthy societies don’t eliminate heroes; they humanise them.
The Deeper Insight
Heroes today are less about perfection and more about direction.
They don’t tell us who we are — they tell us who we’re trying to become.
They function as:

• Moral compasses
• Catalysts for civic action
• Narrative anchors in chaotic times
• Symbols of collective aspiration

And crucially:
Modern heroes are often ordinary people doing extraordinary things, which democratises the idea of heroism itself.

The online meetings will use Microsoft Teams, which will work in a browser but will works better using the app, which you can download from:

This month's book is F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom

🌐 Key Discussion Points from The Road to Serfdom
🧭 1. Central Planning vs. Individual Freedom

• Hayek argues that central economic planning inevitably erodes personal liberty, because planners must override individual choices to achieve their goals.
• Markets coordinate resources through prices; planning replaces this with coercive allocation.

⚖️ 2. Economic Freedom as the Foundation of Political Freedom

• Economic control and political control are inseparable: once the state controls economic life, it must also control political life to enforce its plans.
• This leads to a concentration of power, undermining democratic institutions.

📜 3. Rule of Law vs. Arbitrary Power

• In a planned economy, laws become instruments for specific ends, not general rules applying equally to all.
• This shift from universal law to targeted directives opens the door to discrimination, unpredictability, and authoritarian governance.

🧩 4. The Myth of a Unified Social Purpose

• Planners assume society can agree on a single set of priorities.
• Hayek counters that people do not share one unified goal, making central planning inherently conflict‑ridden and coercive.

🛠️ 5. The Illusion of Social Justice

• Hayek critiques “social justice” as an unachievable ideal when enforced by the state.
• Attempts to engineer fairness often produce new injustices, because planners must privilege some groups over others.

🧑‍🏭 6. Impact on Workers and Social Groups

• Central planning treats workers as cogs in a machine, limiting their freedom to choose occupations.
• “Fair wages” become political tools, granted to groups favoured by planners.

🧲 7. Why the Worst Rise to the Top

• Planning attracts leaders who desire arbitrary power, not those committed to liberty.
• These leaders rely on propaganda and suppression to maintain control, degrading public discourse and truth.

🏛️ 8. Historical Lessons: Nazism and Socialism

• Hayek argues that Nazism emerged from socialist-style planning, not from free-market capitalism.
• He traces how Germany’s post–WWI planning laid the groundwork for totalitarianism.

🌍 9. International Consequences of Planning

• When nations adopt planning, they behave like monopolistic groups:
• Dominant states impose their will on weaker ones.
• Control of resources becomes a geopolitical weapon.

🧠 10. The Importance of Decentralized Knowledge

• No central authority can match the distributed knowledge embedded in markets.
• Planning fails because it cannot process the complexity of real-world preferences and conditions.

🔍 Why These Points Still Matter
Hayek’s arguments continue to spark debate about:

• The limits of government intervention
• The balance between welfare and freedom
• The risks of technocratic governance
• The fragility of democratic norms under economic centralization

CUSTOMS:
You must register and be on the “Attendees - Going” list to attend.
Please bring $2 to cover Meetup costs.

The latest attempt on Donald Trump’s life is not an aberration but a symptom of a culture that mistakes outrage for moral authority.

Once again, the usual debates are raging online and in the legacy media. Does the left have a particular problem with violence, or is the right just as bad? Is the incendiary rhetoric of public and political figures to blame? On CNN yesterday, the political commentator Scott Jennings broached both of these questions, citing a speech this week by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in which he vowed ‘maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time’.

But it is not helpful to explain away this behaviour as the unique tendency of a particular political tribe, or the impact of intemperate language on a malleable population. Those who have equivocated or even celebrated recent political murders – such as those of Brian Thompson, Melissa Hortman or Charlie Kirk – all share a tendency to justify violence through a process of moral reframing. There is good reason to believe that this is a sign of an increasingly infantile culture and a weak educational system.

The online meetings will use Microsoft Teams, which will work in a browser but will works better using the app, which you can download from:

Rock The Vote NZ presents "First Do No Pharm".
We have had too much medicine for too many years. The time to act is now. How one doctor's fight against corporate greed led to an ancient, life-changing solution for heart disease.
"Between 2003-2016, fines imposed on large pharmaceutical companies for fraud and other illegal activities amounted to 33 billion dollars."
This is film isn't just an exposé – it's a call to arms. It will provide you with the knowledge and tools to fight back against a system that values profits over patients. We'll show you how to navigate this treacherous landscape, how to protect yourself and your loved ones from the excesses of an industry gone mad.

Rated 9.3/10 on IMDB