Heroism isn't a perfect solution though

That's part of my definition. Heroism is never perfect. In fact, by my definition, heroism is an insane effort to compensate for a systemic failure. The fact that someone had to be a hero, is the problem. If the system worked, you don't need heroes at all.

However, the greater evil is we live in a world where there is actual consequence worth hesitating over. That is the true horror.

Agreed, authoritarianism has a nasty habit of promoting the opposite behavior to what would be good.