The Nobel committee has cheapened the peace prize
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In 1895 Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament giving most of his fortune to give a collection of prizes in areas he thought were special. One of them the Peace Prize, was to be awarded to " The person who shall have done the most, or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding or promotion of peace." The award over the years had been a big honor to most of the people and groups who have received it. Most of the recipients actually did something that was deserving of the prize.
They have made some choices that were surprising to say the least. In 1994 they awarded the prize to Yasser Arafat, the leader of most of the terrorist activities that were taking place while he was in office. His saying many times that he wanted to destroy Israel just doesn't sound like something that would be considered promoting peace. And when Israel was giving in, on many of their so called demands for peace, and he wouldn't accept the offer, was proof that he never really wanted peace. It is similar to Jesse Jackson doesn't want there to be no racial tension, he would be out of a job, or whatever it is he does.
One of Arafats Peace Speaches
Then in 2002 they gave it to Jimmy Carter. He tried but failed. I guess good intentions are just as good as actually achieving peace. Now Carter is working to keep a division between the races in the United States, from his quote a couple of weeks ago, saying that "the majority of people that disagree with Obama on health care reform, disagree because he is black." He must have gotten a talking too, because the next day he said he never said what he said. Watch the video below to see if he was taken out of context.
Here is the Carter Speach
Two of the past three peace prizes have been awarded to Al Gore in 2007 for his Lies and promotion of a theory that the earth is warming because man is putting a tiny amount of CO2 into the air, causing the destruction of the earth. He wants everyone to have to buy carbon credits if they want to put CO2 into the air. Guess who owns the 2 largest companies that sell the carbon credits, Al Gore. He also has not stopped doing any of the things he wants the rest of us to do. In 2007 he used more than 20 times the national average of electricity for his house in Nashville. He also travels in a caravan of black suburbans and town cars to give his speeches on how we shouldn't use fossil fuels. That is well deserving of a peace award.
This year they outdid themselves by giving the prize to President Obama. Even he was shocked and doesn't think he deserves it. He hasn't done anything that has helped yet with peace. Now they are awarding the prize on what they hope will happen in the future. Maybe they are giving it on the basis that he is trying to weaken America so that we are are not any stronger than anyone else in the world, and that way we will have peace. I don't think there is a single example from history where weakness has brought about peace. No one has ever settled any issue because they were weaker than the the opposing side.
If they are using that thought process, Obama may win another Nobel prize. On Oct. 12, they choose the winner of the Nobel Prize for economics.
It seems to me that by doing this, they cheapen the Peace prize, and and lessen the importance of the accomplishments of the people and groups who really did something deserving of the award, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, The Red Cross, Rene Cassin, and many others.
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Comments
I find it sad that the Republicans are making such a big thing of this. Did he deserve it? Maybe not - but none of his political supporters had any sway on the voting - nor did he. It's picked by a committee of Norwegians!
Give President Obama a break! I note that I'm an Englishman in the US who cannot vote- but is tired of the old Republican v Democrat farse I see!
As you can see in the story, I said, He didn't even expect to get it." I did not say he did anything wrong by getting it. My whole point was the committee has lessened the honor and value of the prize to all those that did do something to deserve it.
Sorry - I wasn't critisizing your hub - you made very valid points. Hindsight is a wonderful thing - in a year or so we may be saying 'Wow those Norwegians really know about world peace' or ' Wow, I see the Nobel Peace prize has been disbanded'.
The point I am making is that the Republicans could have said just what you said 'the honor of the prize is diminished due to this premature award' rather than using it as a political tool (I know the Democrats would have done exactly the same though and that is the real shame!).
I agree, not everything should be political. Some things just happen.
Lori J Mitchell says:
3 months ago
I think you summed up what the majority of Americans if the not world are thinking. The Nobel Peace Prize has been laughable several times in the past. I'm thinking the only way to give this award any credibility would be if the next few chosen turn it down. Otherwise it is just going to continue being a total joke. It's sad what this has come to when its original intention was so, well, "nobel".