Friday, October 9, 2009

Hell of a Carrot

Yes, as I mentioned when I began this blog, I try to avoid political discussions. We are all entitled to our opinions about who is running, who won, who should have won etc.. But occasionally something happens that has me breaking my "no politics" rule.

I woke up to find some truly startling news: Barak Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I thought I must not be awake yet when I read that. What was he awarded the Prize for?! The nominations closed on February 9, a scant few weeks after the President took office. Was I drugged or in some other universe with no communication to this one? Did something happen during those few weeks to advance the cause of world peace? Correct me if I'm wrong but Obama is still Commander in Chief of the US armed forces, and we are still fighting a war in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Yup, a war is truly an act of peace--fight two wars and you'll get the "top" peace prize.

Yes, Obama has said that he hopes to see world peace. So he got the Prize because he has publicly stated that peace would be a good thing? Or are the Nobel Committee members offering him a carrot as a "bribe" for going forward with peace (whatever that is)?

Were there truly no people this year who advanced the cause of peace worldwide? If so, why was the prize given out altogether? You don't award an Olympic Medal to an athlete who has announced that he intends to win that medal; you give out that medal only when it has been earned through action, not words.

I've always said that someday I'm going to write a Nobel winning novel. I guess I don't have to write that novel anymore--all I have to say is that I'm going to do it someday, and keep on saying it. And then I can start writing my acceptance speech for that Nobel in Literature.

Just what kind of example does this set? Do we really want to teach our younger generations that all they have to do is hope that they will accomplish something and we'll reward them as if they actually DID accomplish something? Awarding the Peace Prize to Obama is bad chinuch.

11 comments:

Leahle said...

Thought this was Purim Torah really early but the news sites confirm it. Please, just tell me what he did to earn this prize? Just one thing? Even half a thing?!

Aaron said...

Can't wait to hear his acceptance speech in which he mentions all the things he's done for peace--NOT! Good intentions don't count.

Dave said...

There apparently is a precedent for this; according to the Nobel Committee they wanted to support his efforts just as they supported Gorbachev in 1990.

That being said, I found it rather surprising.

G6 said...

What we are teaching our children today is that these prizes are meaningless.....
What a pity.
An award is only as meaningful as the company it keeps.

JJ said...

I think chinuch was a good choice of words to use. What will people learn from this? To do good? To promote peace? Or to mouth words without having to back them up with action?

commentsgirl said...

G6- I think this prize lost meaning when they awarded it to Arafat.

I also had to pinch myself this morning- Obama hasn't done anything more towards peace than the average Miss America contestant. Not to mention, his ideas for achieving peace have a serious chance of backfiring and causing MORE war, so methinks it's a bit premature to be rewarding him.

KandaBer said...

The Nobel committee, imitato dei, is rewarding machshava k'meiseh.

E. Fink said...

I love your take on this so I linked it in my post about the Nobel Peace Prize...

http://bit.ly/3lu5cE

E. Fink said...

(Working Link)

Dave said...

Anyone discovering that the Nobel Peace Prize is political, and oftimes farcical, just hasn't been paying attention.

Seriously, it's been almost 40 years since they gave it to Kissinger.

Lion of Zion said...

DAVE:

"There apparently is a precedent for this; according to the Nobel Committee they wanted to support his efforts just as they supported Gorbachev in 1990."

gorbachev was certainly no saint, but--as opposed to obama--he had already made a number of accomplishments that made him worthy of a peace prize prior to being nominated for the nobel. most importantly, he renounced the brezhnev doctrine, and let events unfold naturally with all that this implied.