Who are the people who inspire you and whom you admire?

[mustavaris]

I am curious about the people who contribute to WAB, so I want to find out a bit more about you… so, please contribute


Not in any particular odder:

I admire certain national resistance figures who have been ready to go to the extreme in order to fight for their nation and to set an example of devotion.

Jonas Zhemaitis (Vytautas), the leader of the Lithuanian anti-Soviet resistance. They kept on fighting til the 1950s and despite of being defeated, they managed to curb the colonization of their fatherland and fighting the Red Army and NKVD behind the Iron Curtain, without help from the outsiders requires something extraordinary. They caused over 10 000KIA casualties to the occupation forces which is borderline incredible considering the situation and brutality of the Soviet forces. From Finnish point of view they and the Ukrainian resistance were crucial: in post WWII situation the Soviets pondered the possibility of occupying Finland, but their experiences in Ukraina and Lithuania (and to lesser extend in other Baltic states and Belarus) convinced that they do not want another gruesome war – unlike Lithuanians or Ukrainians, we were preparing for Soviet occupation and the country was full of veterans willing to fight and the patriotic officers of the Finnish military were hoarding weapons for the resistance warfare if the Soviets take over the country or the indigenous Communists. Never to mention the geography that was far more favourable for such warfare (Lithuania being too small, much of Ukraina ill suited for guerrilla war, and we were connected to the West).

Another example of bravery, though in different way was presented by Bobby Sands of Provisional Irish Republican Army. Ireland and Irish resistance movements have special place in my heart. Even while dying, Sands humiliated the British despite of being rather irrelevant person prior to that and eventually the Irish resistance fought the British into stalemate, they were among the most dangerous and sophisticated resistance movements. I support united and free Ireland.

Those who kill the tyrants are men who can make a difference. Persian Pirouz Nahavandi killed the Caliph Umar, righteously so. Eugen Schauman fed some lead to Bobrikov who was given dictator´s rights to govern Finland during the late Russian rule. Marcus Junius Brutus was key factor when a rising tyrant was put to death. Great men all three.

People who have (re)vitalized their native cultures and brought them to new heights are important for if the culture vanishes, it dies. What we see in museums are fossils, a living culture is practises by living people. Ferdowsi wrote one of the greatest epics of mankind, Shahnameh and possibly saved the Persian culture from being absorbed into Arab realm – or at least was a significant player in laying of the foundation for later era of Iranian culture. Lönnrot did pretty much the same for Finnish culture and saved our oral heritage during the last moments possible when he compiled Kalevala and Kanteletar. The youngest of the folks who still knew the poems and songs were in their 60s or so.

From the Finnish realm I have to pick up another one, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. He lead us through four wars and was a Cosmopolitan patriot (without excessive nationalism, as he was of aristocratic background, Swedish speaker of Swedish/German background who started his career in Russian army). He was not a democrat though, but a man of ideals. When he had won the Civil War in Finland in 1918 many the White Guards were expecting him to take power, most of the officers would have loved it and after a victorious war no one would have dared to step on his way. He was even a short time formal leader of the country when there was no president.. then he lost the elections and…. stepped down. He then worked in the financial sector, helped to lay the foundation of national military, worked to establish new child care foundation and worked for Finnish Red Cross. During the 1920s when the right wing radicalism was strong, many of the White Guards and nationalist wanted him to take the power, thousands would have followed him had he chosen that path but he never spoke for illegal action despite of considering the democracy to be a decadent way of ruling the country. He did not try to get presidency via elections either. And when the whistle was blown again, he lead us through the turmoils of Second World War, became president of the country in 1944 to make peace with the Soviet Union..and stepped down in 1946.

From political figures of other countries I admire Geoge Washington, one of the greatest statesmen in history, another one being Mohammed Mossadegh of Iran – had he been able (allowed) to reform his country and the minions of US and UK hadn´t given the power to shah-wannabe, Iran would be a secular democracy that would be shining example of what such a great nation could achieve, imagine Turkey on steroids. No one would spit on Iran if men like Mossadegh had been allowed to lead the country. Instead, due to short sighted policies we have Islamic Republic of Iran and more and more tense situation that will benefit no one, but might hurt everyone. Third leader worth of mentioning is Gandhi, for obvious reasons I guess.


The last but not the least is John Stuart Mill. My favourite philosopher of modern times. He laid the foundation for what is, or at least should be, the core of the real liberalism.

[Chogy]

This is a difficult question. It is easy to focus on historically important figures, and they are always a safe choice. After all, they became historically significant generally because they did something noteworthy or praiseworthy.

It's hard to ignore military figures, because war brings out the best and worst in people. I reserve most of my admiration for the common citizen soldier. Every nation has them. They rise to the challenge, perform brilliantly at great risk to self, then fade back (happily) into their otherwise normal lives. The men who stood by General G. Washington in the dark days of the American Revolution, the winter at Valley Forge, stand out. As do the men who volunteered and fought through U.S. Civil War campaigns, the World Wars, on up to the present day conflicts.

I also greatly admire men of science, too numerous to name them all, who have opened up the universe to humanity.

Oddly (or maybe not) enough, I couldn't give a hoot in hell for any athletes, pop artists, or anyone else whose motivation is fame, fortune, and a "look at me!" attitude in life. Also, I have no admiration for business titans, even those who reshaped a nation (like Rockefeller and his ilk) because their motivations were less than pure.

[USSWisconsin]

Here is one who you might not have thought of: Irving Langmuir, he helped inagurate the modern electronics era we now rely so heavy upon.
Irving Langmuir - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In a similar vein: Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, Albert Einstein, and Robert Oppenheimer are all people who I admire.

We have lots of great people among us today, particularly here at the WAB, OOE (The Colonel) comes to mind, a great man, IMO, he has dedicated his life to our security and more recently to educating us in the intracaices of the endeavor to defend the West. And he is one of many here - hard to list them all but I think you get my point...

Frank Zappa was another kind of hero, a great composer and a polical activist who stood against unnecessary censorship in music, while entertaining us with brilliant music. RIP.


We live in interesting times, populated by great men and women. Closer to home: my own young daughter inspires me everyday, she has a wonderful mind and a good and generous heart. I am very grateful to know (or know of) so many great people.

[Tanker]

Well, not generally in this order but the Founding Fathers, Anne Hutchinson, Edward Hutchinson (Wheelers Suprise), Teddy Roosevelt, and My great and grandfathers that served in the military in one form or another.

How the hell did I forget my dad? MY DAD!!

[Gramps]

Honestly it would be my father who taught me to respect everyone and always try and do the right thing. I watched this man work manual labor his whole life till he was 69 years old, retire and pass 6 months later. I never saw him and my mother EVER have a cross word and he NEVER spoke ill of anyone.

[bigross86]

I'm the exact opposite. I have no admiration for my father. He taught me about hard work, keeping one's word and punctuality, but those are pretty much the only good things I got from him. He also tried (and failed) to teach me how to blame others for my mistakes, run when things get hard, and be a little bitch in general.

I do admire my mother. Single mom raised 4 kids, all of 'em to be pretty damn decent human beings, and she never lost her patience with us even though me and my older sister especially were pains in the ass at times. Despite all that she never lost it with us and supported us in whatever it is we did, even when I joined a combat unit in the IDF or worked and traveled around the world for a year and a half. 2 of her kids have already started families, one (me) is at Uni and the fourth is doing national service teaching elementary and high school students.

I've commented to her before that my grandmother has plenty descendants but is not a matriarch. My mother, on the other hand, is definitely The Matriarch and the head of her family and her clan, and you best not be forgetting that

[YellowFever]

My mom, who was fragile and was the least strongest of our family members physically but mentally was stroger than all of us combined.

[mustavaris]

Good stuff, I will answer a bit later, but have to add that I intentionally left "privare spheres" out of this.

[Aussiegunner]

Mr Howard, our former Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007, is one of the people I most admire and respect. Never a particularily charismatic man and often subject to ridicule for his small stature and odd looks, he got to the top on pure hard work and professionalism. It wasn't an easy road either, he lost an election along the way, made some bad mistakes such as suggesting a discriminatory immigration against Asians, which he in later years admitted was an error of judgement and had to deal with an ongoing rivalry over Liberal Party leadership with Andrew Peacock. He ultimately got into parliament after a 23 year slog in parliament and was Australias second longest serving PM, staying in power eleven and a half years.

He was also a true "commitment politician" who as PM was willing to take the unpopular course on economic matters like budget discipline, tax reform and industrial relations because he thought it was good for the country. Australia has ridden through the GFC in much better shape than have many nations, principally because of the reform efforts of the Howard government and to be fair the previous Hawke/Keating Labor governments, but also because we had money in the bank due to fiscal prudence.

On social policy he promoted a message to Australians that it was all right to be be proud of who we are, at a time when our public discourse was dominated by revolting little left wing ideologues promoting a message of self hatred. His legacy in this respect is such that any Centre Left Labor leader, such as Julia Gillard who we have in power now has to think very hard about ensuring that progressive causes such as gay marriage and illegal immigration are promoted in a way that is respectful of the right of the Australian community to disagree. Shouting people down as rednecks is no longer an option for these people, which I think is better for all of us and an major part of Howard's legacy.

Howard was also a strong leader on national security and on Australia's role in our region and in the World, in particular being instrumental in securing UN endorsement, Indonesian agreement and committing the bulk of the forces for the Australian led mission to enforce peace during the East Timor independence referendum. He also authorised the Australian led mission into the Solomon Islands and was strongly supportive of the US in the GWOT.

On a more personal note, it was always reported that he was cordial to everybody who he dealt with. I knew a wife of an Federal Police officer who had guarded 5 Australian PM's. Labors Gough Whitlam was apparently a gentleman, Liberal Malcom Fraser was a pig to deal, with as was Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. In contrast when a new security detail arrived, John Howard would greet all of them individually and throughout the assignment would prioritise letting them know his movements for the day ... remembering their names individually. He was also utterly dignified at all times, in defeat in 2007 he couldn't have been more gracious and post his Prime Ministership has generally refrained from sniping from the sidelines at his successors, something a couple of other ex-PM's could learn from.

That is a man I look up to.

[Chogy]

Mr Howard, our former Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007, is one of the people I most admire and respect.

He sounds like a Reagan for Australia. Despite his foibles, Reagan led a renaissance that pretty much put the angst of Vietnam aside for good, at least among the military. It was OK and cool to be proud of who we were once again.

[Chunder]

I'd humbly submit my Father, His Brothers, & His parents.

There are so many reasons my head goes somewhat Numb. I suppose like all family issues the post would be so complex it would be beyond comprehension.

Although I'd have to say my Grandfather inspires me through logetivity & accomplishments, my Father for his incredible work ethic and temperament to see just about anything through, his Brother for being the anecdote to that, and the other Brother for exhibiting extremely impressive qualities as the 'removed diplomat'.

And of course, there is a mate, I don't need many, just one. He's the bloke.

My Grandmother for being my Mother - and huge impact of my better temperament.

On the lighter side of things, If you could apply it to WAB, There are plenty in no particular order

Sniper, OoE, S2, Jad, Astralis, Chogy, Stitch, BF, Dale, HS, Lukins, DE + a lot more. I never take my comment too seriously, but the mental stimulation that is given, often divergent from views I have or hold, are challenged considerably to take the input and reconsider my own held thoughts on various matters. Of course, my ability to articulate my thoughts is encouraged to meet higher standards because of the standards these hold when posting theirs.

Anyrate, Family is a big deal for me

[667medic]

My Mother and my Maternal Grandfather have always inspired me. My father however is a total asshole and I can't wait for him to die soon enough.

My Grandfather sailed to Singapore at the height of tension during WWII when the Japanese invaded Singapore. He once told me that he would leave for work ever day knowing that it might be his last day alive. He worked as a dishwasher and waiter at a restaurant and one of his first chores for the day would be to pull dead bodies lying on the road near the restaurant and hide them in the back alleys. He literally worked his ass off and helped other family members find work in Singapore. Thanks to him our extended family with more than 200 members is living in Singapore.

My Mother is physically fragile and not well educated but her mental strength is as good as my Grandfather's.