Dear Neil,
It must be something to be a hero. I wish I were one. Everyone thinks they are the protagonist of their life's story. Little kids want to be the line leader. As you get older, your ambition becomes bigger not better. Until the real world comes along and you're a normal person and in sinks disillusionment. You think, "If I'm the good guy, why aren't I winning?" Hitler lived out the ultimate revenge fantasy. He doesn't get into art school since he isn't modern, his homeland suffers a humiliating defeat, and he stands up and says, "No more!" Instead of telling of his boss like in Office Space or American Beauty, he grabs power with the help of some other angry people and kills everyone he ever hated. People look at him through the fish eye lens of history and think, "What a monster! How could such an evil man exist?" Hitler had a girlfriend. She loved him. They had sex. They looked into each other's eyes, their faces drew close, a strange feeling over took them, and they kissed. How could such evil exist? I'm that evil. I may not hate a whole race of people, but I'm that evil. Lots of other people are too. It's normal. The trick is to not get what you want. In psychology that's called being self-actualized.