Well, I think George Orwell perfectly fits our loose criteria of a "hero".  He made a conscious choice to take action in a cause he believed in, instead of being conscripted.
Homage to Catalonia' is a great book btw.
Orwell is also one of my favourite authors, not so much for his prose but for his passion, idealism and clarity of thought.
A visionary but with heart and soul.
I don't know why but I have always found his short essay 'Shooting an Elephant' to be particularly poignant.
I re-read 1984 not long ago and was struck but how unerringly prescient he was.
Not about the material conditions of the future but about newspeak, controlling thought, controlling information, shifting military alliances, perpetual warfare.....
Look at the internet and social media and what it has done by stripping language - our capacity to form complex ideas - to its basics. Look at how the past is digitalized and easily prone to manipulation. Heck most youngster think wikepedia is the bible (and it's about as reliable and factual). Look at how we are under surveillance 24/7.
And so it goes.

Heck, are we indeed getting away with a semblance of a reasonable discussion touching on politics without the axe coming down.
Must be because no-one is interested except us. But me suspects BB is watching.