Eye on the Prize

Second to agriculture, humbug is the biggest industry of our age

Alfred Nobel

Quoted in Saturday Review

Recently President Oback Barama was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. Stateside and in some parts of the world the news was met with much negativity and cynicism. Its par for the course for the first black U.S. President. Everything he does will be praised and scorned no matter how successful or pathetic because he is being judged by a different standard than Presidents past. My first reaction had nothing to do with if he deserved it or not. My first reaction was amazement that he received it at all. The last American to win it was Al Gore in 2007 for his work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Before Gore it was Jimmy Carter in 2002 for his cumulative work in finding peaceful resolutions to international conflict and championing economic and human rights. Before Carter it was Elie Wiesel in 1986 for heading the council that founded the Holocaust Museum. Before Wiesel it was Henry Kissinger in 1973 for ending the Vietnam War. Before Kissinger it was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the Civil Rights Movement. These are the 5 Americans that have won the Nobel Peace Prize in my lifetime. Were any of them deserving of the award? You can make an argument that none were deserving if you look at results based on fraternity among nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies which is what Alfred Nobel wished the Prize to be based on.

I have always seen the Nobel Peace Prize to be symbolic rather than a measure of actuality. Even Alfred Nobel realized this himself when he came up with the idea for the award. He said there would be laureates but war will continue just the same until the “forces of circumstances renders them impossible”. 113 years after his death the world is still at war. The arms industry (which Nobel was a part of) is more greater and powerful than ever securing contracts with every country in the world for guns, tanks, jet bombers, bombs, and missile systems with the attitude of more is better. The United States spends more money on military costs than the rest of the world combined. Everyday we hear the rhetoric of fear and how it is necessary to protect American lives from the evil terrorists and insurgents but how many of us actually believe that? I don’t. I never wake up in the morning and find myself fearful of insurgents or terrorists. Everyday I read about them in the news and how many of them were killed by our military in countries half way across the world like it’s a sporting event. They might as well put up some bleachers in Iraq and Afghanistan and charge admission and sell souveniers and garlic fries. In fractured Iraq and dirt poor Afghanistan I imagine that many people wake up everyday with the fear of being blown to bits or shot up by faceless flying drones or itchy fingered U.S. troops. What I worry about when I wake up is getting a job. I worry about what is in the food I buy from the local market. I worry about keeping my health insurance. I worry about being able to pay my mortgage the longer I go without a job. I worry about the future of America for my young nieces and nephews. I worry about my spiritual emptiness. I worry about the corruptness of the elected officials who make decisions that negatively affect the quality of my life. When I look at the root causes of my worries I don’t see the Taliban or insurgents I see men in suits, in boardrooms, deciding on my fate. When I read the papers from around the country I see much violence and conflict between Americans. Being part of a minority that has a legacy of being victimized it is truly disturbing to see the level by which we black folks kill and hurt each other. The Man doesn’t have to lift a finger anymore, He can just sit back and wait for us to do ourselves in and laugh at us from the Comments sections from His favorite website. That’s why I applaud President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize. It’s a call to action for Americans in general to demand a country that is accountable for its actions at home and abroad and support a reduction of our massive military and network of military bases that span the globe and enforce our empire which is unsustainable and will eventually lead to our final downfall. I just heard on the news today that the military has reached its recruitment goals for the first time since it became voluntary in 1973. This is of course due primarily to the frightful economic situation we find ourselves in today. The youth of America would rather face the dangers of fighting for oil in foreign lands rather than face the prospect of succeeding in our economic system.

The world still sees us as the country that can bring about great change in the world for good, even after 8 years of Bush. Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, and President Barack Obama have all won the Nobel Peace Prize in the last 7 years because they represent a possible different future for America and the world. America is myopic, we can’t help it given our insulation but the rest of the world lives in a small neighborhood with a history of conflict that predates us our sovereignty. They are weary and ready for change because they have suffered in ways we will never know (hopefully). Yes we are at war in Afghanistan and Iraq and we are threatening Iran but it’s a legacy inherited by President Obama not created by him. He can’t possibly just reverse it all in the first or even second year of his presidency. He is not Superman. But what he has done so far with his efforts to broker peace between Israel and Palestine, negotiating nuclear arms reductions with Russia, and a willingness to come to the international table when historically we have declared ourselves above and beyond international law has influenced opinions abroad. They see his crusade to establish universal healthcare in the U.S. as a signal of change. When was the last time an elected official of presidential magnitude made a stand for the people?

If not Obama for the award then who? What are the other world leaders doing to improve international relations? I don’t see Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy, Horst Kohler, Jose Zapatero, Vladmir Putin, Hugo Chavez, Hu Jintao, or any other heads of state doing much beyond their own borders and spheres of influences. It is undeniable that worldwide President Obama is the most popular leader. He has earned this prestige by making diplomatic visits to other nations and addressing their people at a pace that no other world leader can match. He’s visited Turkey and Egypt to offer a chance of a “new beginning“ for US/Muslim relations. He has visited the UK, Italy, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic to improve relations with the European Union. He has visited Russia and improved relations in Eastern Europe by abandoning the ballistic missile plan. Although he has not succeeded in Iran he has made overtures to the Iranian people and is willing to meet with Iranian leadership face to face without out any pre conditions. The world view of the United States has improved drastically since Obama’s election and much of that is due to his efforts to improve relations among nations around the globe.

Like many others I do not agree with escalating the occupation in Afghanistan. Are we there to destroy terrorists networks or to secure oil and natural gas pipelines? Whatever happens in Afghanistan from here on Obama should be held accountable for but up until now he has been continuing policies began in the Bush administration so as far as I am concerned the jury is still out. He is not a perfect president but when I weigh all that he has done so for the balance comes out in his favor and I feel he has earned the right to be a Nobel Prize Peace winner. Congratulations President Barack Obama.