Who do you admire and why?

[karadan]

We all have our personal heroes for one reason or another. Who would you guys like to nominate (can be more than one) for a fictitious medal given to people for the services to extreme awesomeness? Please provide reasons. You can use any criteria you wish.

I'll start with two although do have a lot more. I'll write more as it becomes apparent this is a worthwhile thread, not a lost cause

[Neoncamouflage]

The Godless Bastard. He says everything I want to, and I credit him with being the reason I first considered myself an atheist. Also one of my favorite sites ever.

[Tom62]

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
For being the first Brazilian president, who is really dedicated to erase poverty and hunger in his country. Although he is a socialist (nobody is perfect ), he managed to handle economical problems very well, changing Brazil into one of the most prosperous states of South-America.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela
I hate to admit it, but when Mandela was still in prison, I considered him to be just another Anti-Apartheid activist. However, following his release from prison, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa. From that moment on, I deeply admire the guy. He showed that the message of peace and mutual understanding works far better than violence.

[AlP]

Simone de Beauvoir
For her brilliance and thoughts on feminism, ethics and relationships.

[kelltrill]

I second the Madiba vote.
Nelson Mandela was an amazing president and did so much good for this country when he could easily have done the complete opposite. He used his power responsibly and peaceably. I don't see SA having another president as awesome as him for many decades to come.

Richard Dawkins
I think it's important to consider atheist intellectuals, since this is an atheist forum. I recently listened to a two hour podcast of a debate between Dawkins and a Christian, Dr John Lennox. Dawkins was composed and debated flawlessly. I think he deserves our full respect. He has accomplished so much simply by pointing out that the Bible is text totally out of synch with modern morality.

[pinkocommie]

Kurt Vonnegut

His literary voice was a refreshing mix of satirical, whimsical, and candidly honest.  Vonnegut had a way of making the unbearable bearable and he found humor and humanity in every character he wrote.  His gift for showing how imperfect people are shed light on the fact that everyone is flawed and it's through dealing with these flaws in whatever way we figure out how that we become the person we're remembered as and not the person we blindly thought we were.  He was a veteran of WW2 and a father of seven kids, four of whom were adopted.  He was an outspoken atheist, humanist, and free-thinker and he made it a point to cast a light on subjects he felt were being otherwise diminished.  He had this to say about the Iraq war:

"By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East?" he wrote. "Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas."

Basically, he was totally awesome.

[Jolly Sapper]

Comedians that fall into the same category of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Sam Kennison, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, etc.

Unfortunately I cannot choose just one but the reasons are similar to Pinko's reasons for nominating Kurt Vonnegut.  They show us our humanity in both its stupidity and awesomeness.

[Sheeplauncher]

I second Vonnegut and Mandela but for me personally i have a few:

Jefferson: Basically the father of modern libertarianism and was the chief writer of the declaration of independence. He followed and defended the constitution pretty vigorously unlike many today and of all the founders he was probably an atheist.

Warren G. Harding: Most people seem to hate this guy but he balanced the budget and was an outspoken critic of granting full civil rights: “Let the black man vote when he is fit to vote. Prohibit the white man from voting when he is unfit to vote. Whether you like it or not, unless our democracy is a lie, you must stand for that equality." He also said:  "we need a rigid and yet sane economy, combined with fiscal justice, and it must be attended by individual prudence and thrift, which are so essential to this trying hour and reassuring for the future." I really wish we weren't taught to hate this guy in public school but if you do the research he was a damn good president. Heres a good video its pretty long but it awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czcUmnsprQI

Penn Jilette: How can i not relate to this guy... he is a funny libertarian atheist. I myself am a libertarian atheist which already probably puts me with about 2% of the population.He always has funny stuff to say either on his views on politics and religion or just about life in general. His Tv show Bullshit with teller is also very amusing

Friedrich von Hayek &  Ludwig Von Mises: Both made significant contributions to the Austrian school of economics which to me is the best school of economics that has been thought up. Being a libertarian and for free markets i connect strongly with most of their ideas. Also the road to serfdom is one of the best books Ive read on economics. Both are also Nobel laureates.

Ayn Rand: A notable atheist who also came up with the idea of Objectivism which is something i connect strongly with. Also Atlas Shrugged is one the best books Ive ever read period even though its 1k + pages.

Ron Paul: Yeah i know hes a whack job when it comes to religion but the man has some principled integrity and has never compromised his values. His ideas on the role of government and economics are very appealing to me and his message of limited government and non-interventionism are very powerful. He didn't vote for the patriot act and has been serving in congress for a very long time. He is also one of the only congressman who truly understands our economic system and took office in the first place because of the Bretton Woods financial conference where the world basically abandoned the gold standard which in his opinion and mine caused many of our current problems.

Theres a few more but those are my main ones  

[Will]

I'm a big admirer of Congressman Dennis Kucinich. He's a politician, but at the same time he somehow manages to be honest, consistent, and intelligent. I've never seen another politician that manages those while not being totally crazy or fundamentalist. Can you imagine an American politician that supports single-payer healthcare, free college, abolishing the death penalty, focusing aggressively on clean energy, creating a cabinet-level Deportment of Peace, ending the war on drugs, legalizing same-sex marriage, and coming down on the side of workers' rights? He's arguably one of maybe three liberals in congress.

I adore the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He's truly brilliant, but more than that he LOVES science. Every word that comes out of his mouth is enthusiastic and admiring of how the universe works, which is a rare thing. Sure it's messed up what he did to Pluto, but it was done in the name of being objective. BTW, did you know he's an award-winning dancer?

Dawkins, of course.

I admire Noam Chomsky, though we fundamentally disagree about the role of government. He's exceedingly brilliant and never backs down from a debate. And never loses.

[Sheeplauncher]

Ah yes agreed with will on Kucinich he is by far my favorite democrat in congress

[hismikeness]

I adore the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. He's truly brilliant, but more than that he LOVES science. Every word that comes out of his mouth is enthusiastic and admiring of how the universe works, which is a rare thing. Sure it's messed up what he did to Pluto, but it was done in the name of being objective. BTW, did you know he's an award-winning dancer?

Neil deGrasse Tyson is awesome. I first encountered him on the show The Universe, and I ended up looking up some of his writings and speeches.

Matter of fact, a few weeks back, we had a family get together, and the hypothetical question "if you could pick any non politician to be president, who would it be" came up, and my little brother instantly drops "Neil deGrasse Tyson". My older brother and parents were like, who?? I just said "Excellent choice" and couldn't come up with anyone better.

I have a random selection of quotes and quips that I use as email signatures, and they come up randomly every email I send. One of my favorites is this quote:

We stockpile the discoveries of the most brilliant members of our species, allowing us, however strained and with whatever struggle it involved to slowly ascend the ladder of knowledge, maybe compensating for the fact that any one of us is just too stupid to figure it all out.

Brilliant.

I also really admire, believe it or not, Chad Ochocinco. He and I were teammates in college, back when he was simply Chad Johnson. I find all of his "antics" benign and harmless, and I actually think it is funny how up-in-arms the NFL brass get with him when he's just having fun and trying to bring some entertainment to a sometimes boring league. He was (again, believe it or not) the best teammate I ever had.

Hismikeness

[Will]

Matter of fact, a few weeks back, we had a family get together, and the hypothetical question "if you could pick any non politician to be president, who would it be" came up, and my little brother instantly drops "Neil deGrasse Tyson". My older brother and parents were like, who?? I just said "Excellent choice" and couldn't come up with anyone better.

I love proud older brother moments. Every now and then my little brother will drop some knowledge and I just smile and nod.

[Whitney]

Through volunteering with Camp Quest Texas I have come across stories of children who have had to stand up for their lack of belief when mocked by their classmates...I admire those kids; standing up for yourself and not giving into pressure is very very hard for the youth (most adults can't even do it).

[kelltrill]

I admire Noam Chomsky, though we fundamentally disagree about the role of government. He's exceedingly brilliant and never backs down from a debate. And never loses.

I second Chomsky, though for other reasons since I don't know much about his political leanings. I had the fortune of studying a lot of his work in Linguistics and he revolutionised the fields of universal, transformative and formal grammar, and opened the doors to different approaches and methodologies.
 
Also, I was wondering, since we're considering Dawkins why not also consider Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennet? Just curious. I don't know much about the work of the latter two so I'm just putting their names out their.

[Kylyssa]

I third, fourth or whatever Neil deGrasse Tyson for passion and life in regard to science.  And, um, I think he's really hot, too.