The Nobel Follies

High Atlas Mountains, Morocco - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com



We were in Morocco when CNN announced Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. HE WHAT? Barely in his ninth month as President, even his most vociferous admirers were hard pressed to demonstrate specific accomplishments which warranted the award. In fact at that time the United States was involved in two wars with plans to increase troop strength in Afghanistan.

The news was greeted with enthusiasm in North Africa and Western Europe where Obama is wildly popular and has assumed a god-like status. Forgotten was the provision in Alfred Nobel's will which stipulated the winner must insure the “best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for holding and promotion of peace congresses.” The selection committee tepidly cited that Obama advocated “international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

Would a Nobel Prize be awarded in physics to a physicist who intended to conduct experiments with nuclear fusion or in medicine to a physician contemplating new ways to treat cancer? On the contrary these disciplines require an exacting process of peer review, and awards are presented often decades after the initial work to insure the theories stand the test of time. Conversely, the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded according to Alfred Nobel's instructions which placed the decision exclusively in the hands of five politicians from the Norwegian Storting or parliament. From their isolated redoubt in northern Europe this select group disproportionally influences world opinion. The “prize” is a political instrument used to further specific agendas promoted by an elitists who answer to no one.

The Obama prize is a thinly veiled attempt to bolster an American president with strong Eurocentric beliefs. These views frequently undermine our national sovereignty and transfer wealth and power to European countries who wistfully yearn for their colonies and a time when they were taken seriously. The old European cultures with their aging populations seek a weakened and less confident United States that is less apt to interfere with their retirement.

When visiting Europe one is struck by the beautiful cities, the rich cultural history, and the large number of old people. Much has been said about Europe's low fertility rate and its declining native populations: The European Union will lose 50 million people or 10% of its population by 2050. That same year one in seven Germans will be over eighty years of age. Countries with this demographic profile act in accordance with the values of their citizens – wealthy but cautious, sophisticated but exclusionary, and nostalgic but non visionary. With this senescent mentality and so few children to energize the culture, life revolves about the present while the future is theoretical.

The vision of America is radically different from that of Europe. Keep your subjective prizes and give them to true humanitarians – the Gandhi's and the Mother Teresa's. It is prudent not to tarnish the prestige of the Peace Prize by gifting it to another politician who promotes the selfish interests of a continent in decline.