My+Civic+Hero-Sophia+Maes

media type="youtube" key="z-mf942gIUQ" height="315" width="420" __My Civic Hero__  He was born Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, a boy with asthma and dreams of being a doctor, but would one day become one of the most influential guerilla leaders of the 20th century against the capitalist system. He not only influenced change in South America (let alone the rest of the world) while he was alive, but has also become almost as symbolic and iconic as Jesus himself (BBC News). Though this symbol of Che Guevara, Guerrilla Revolutionary and Rebel, is his most prominent impression nowadays, I respect the man behind the legend. My civic hero is Ernesto Guevara, the man who traveled across South America in his youth and was stricken by the poverty he saw; stricken enough to do something about it. Even after earning his degree in medicine, he left what could have been a comfortable existence and chose to fight broken systems to help the people he saw suffering. My civic hero was a young man who gave his own life for what he believed was right, for millions of suffering people; my civic hero was just a man who decided to make a difference. Ernesto Guevara, or “Che” as we know him today, was born on May 14th, 1928 in Argentina (although his documented birth is June 14th because of the controversy of his mother’s premarital pregnancy) (Petersen). He developed asthma when he was two years old, and although he overcame this challenge by participating in sports and other physical activities, it was this factor in his life which prompted him to study medicine in his college years (Petersen). His family was of middle class background, and Che had a reasonably comfortably life growing up. It was not until he began to travel (not simply touring but visiting and meeting local people in the cities he visited) that he truly began to realize the implementations of a capitalist society on the poor majority. There is one particular story, one that many people contribute to Che Guevara’s political engagement, where he encountered a poor Chilean farmer and his wife who were communists (which was illegal in Chile). They told him of their terrible fortune, his months in prison, starvation, unemployment, and his friends who had mysteriously disappeared and were never to be heard from again. Their extreme poverty was the absolute picture of the struggling class which Che Guevara saw throughout Latin America in his travels (Guevara). Although he was of middle class background and by then had acquired his degree in medicine, his travels built up his ultimate stance of fighting for “proletariat” rights, against the oppression of the wealthy, and ultimately against capitalism and even the United States of America. Che Guevara obviously did not begin his life as a leader of a guerilla revolution against capitalism, let alone even a politically active personality. His evolution into a guerilla leader was quite slow in fact. The majority of his life he simply observed, analyzed, and formed opinions and theories after extensive scrutiny. This approach was a very intelligent and original tactic that was not seen by many revolutionaries used among many revolutionists at this time in history. He began without even the mindset of trying to create a revolution, but simply by just listening to the people he wanted to help. Quite a novel approach, this proved vital specifically in the Cuban revolution (which he helped Fidel Castro become communist leader of Cuba in 1959), as it confirmed the majority of people’s desires in a political upheaval and rule. This tactic helped Che Guevara understand the needs and wants of the people, which also helped him gain a substantial amount of support. Che Guevara also authored a book called Guerilla Warfare. The outcomes of Che Guevara’s efforts were tremendous. Through his networking skills and observational knowledge of strategies, he along with others in the rebel force, overthrew the oppressive, US supported Batista regime in Cuba, putting Communist leader Fidel Castro into power. Although there are many different views of these events, both positive and negative, looking at them objectively proves the amazing magnitude of Che Guevara’s skills and dedication to what he believed was overall “societal good.” However, if we examine more closely the specific statistics of the Cuban livelihood from 1958-1978 (after the revolution), we actually see an amazing improvement. For example, in 1958, there has been an improvement of 1.25% food per capita, 4.46% education per capita, and 2.02% health per capita (Proyect). Up until the recent years (because of the recession), Cuba had one of the lowest infant mortality rates among the developing countries (Proyect). It is my personal opinion that these cannot be seen as anything but improvement for Cuban society, all of which Che Guevara helped to begin. Although there is a sustainable amount of controversy surrounding what Che Guavara fought and died for, he has left us with several undeniable lessons for future generations to uphold. His determination and relentless struggle for equality, though sometimes losing sight of composure, compels us to strive for the same. It is seen through his character that we must see other people and their struggles, and not ignore them, or pass them by like road kill, but fight for them and their rights, because they are just as deserving as everyone else. He showed us that we must use our lives to know the world, not just tourism, but to see the real people of the world, and to form our own opinions about the world only after we truly understand its complexities. And as a final lesson to us all, Che Guevara shows us that it does not take a millionaire, or societal status, to change a situation. All it takes is an ordinary person who gives a damn with a will to do something. This is why Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara is my civic hero.