Heroism, Hype, and Danger

According to this site, these are the 10 most dangerous jobs in the US:

1. Timber cutters
2. Airplane pilots
3. Construction laborers
4. Truck drivers
5. Farm occupations
6. Groundskeepers
7. Laborers
8. Police and detectives
9. Carpenters
10. Sales occupations

If you'll notice, police work is not even in the top 5. Considering all the adulation cops received following 9/11 for risking their lives to do their job, one might wonder why we don't heap praise on those workers who take an even greater risk, and likely with much less pay: farmers, timber workers, truck drivers, etc.

Tim Wise wrote an interesting article on this last January: "Heroism and Hype: Selling the Police in America."