Can a Peace prize Jump the Shark?
I shall endeavor not to get political here. I just have to ask, does it make sense to award the peace prize to a person and an organization spreading the word on things that might be happening and might or might not cause other things to happen? (I should point out that the topic these people are espousing is theoretical and the predicted outcome is in no way approaching a certain outcome.) Are you telling me there is no one in the world actively working towards Peace? There is no one who is clearly and in a substantive way causing real world change for the better of mankind? There isn’t even someone out there trying and failing?
It’s just I’m finding these awards a little hard to believe.
I’ll bite. It’s undeniably a political choice. It always is. In many ways, the prize is often awarded to start a dialogue. AND YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THEIR HANDS.
Lemme ax you: how did you feel about Carter?
…and that’s amazing that you know that, for someone who doesn’t follow the news…
Comment by Dave Kopperman | October 18, 2007
That’s an excellent point. I guess I should start by saying that I must be idealistic, because I thought it was exactly for what it said. As for Carter I thought the timing was suspect, but he did do a lot towards peace between nations which is what the prize was designed for. I was honest when i said I wasn’t trying to be political. I DID PLAY RIGHT INTO THEIR HANDS!
Anyhow, if the award was to start a dialogue (usually peace related, and I think from my blog entry you can see that I think they are stretching that aspect) they picked a topic for which the recipients are not very open to debate and thus apparently so aren’t the awarders.
Comment by Karl | October 18, 2007
I’m not sure that I ever really appreciated the significance of the Nobel Peace Prize. The most interesting thing about it is that it is not an internationl award. It is, in fact, an award granted by the government of Sweden recognizing whom they and their panel feel deserves it. Much like how the Pulitzer is granted by a small panel of literati to a small collection of their friends and acquaintances. As for Nobel, its prestige is of course immeasurable, if not now totally invalidated by having awarded it to contrived and politically motivated pseudo-science that proves to be nothing more than sensationalized dribble without shape or direction. Remember the ozone hole? He used to have so many friends, but now no one likes him any more because they got tired of his act. I’m glad though, that SCIENCE managed to save the planet from the ozone hole when I was a kid so I could grow up in a world that might have no glaciers, but is safe from Melanoma. As for Carter, does it rather remind you of Scorsese winning the Oscar for “The Departed”…
Comment by Kriegesboot | October 24, 2007
Speaking of lacking shape or direction, KBot – To words: short! pithy! You start off okay, but it gets a little confused there by the end…
Ooh. Flamewar on Karl’s site!
Comment by Dave Kopperman | October 25, 2007