By Neli Demi
He's not a hero. He's vulnerable.
In this photo we don't just see a fire.
We see a man entering it.
A firefighter.
No mask.
No protective clothing.
No gloves.
And instead of being shocked by this sight, we have a dangerous reflex: we call him a hero.
But the problem is not that he is a hero.
The problem is that he is forced to be a hero.
Because in a normal state, heroism is not part of the job description.
Safety is.
In a normal state:
– a firefighter does not enter a fire in everyday clothes
– does not risk his life because basic equipment is missing
– does not rely on courage to compensate for the failure of the system
The opposite happens here.
Here, every time the system fails,
we produce a hero to cover up that failure.
And then we applaud him.
We distribute it.
We praise it.
We use it as proof of our "strength."
But in truth, it is proof of our weakness as a society.
Because a country that asks firefighters to enter flames without protection
is not a country with strong people.
It is a country with weak institutions.
And the worst thing:
it is a country that is accustomed to this injustice.
The problem is not this fire.
The problem is that this view no longer seems unacceptable to us.
