There is a lot of recent chatter about the Nobel Peace Prize. It strikes me as something that makes no sense for anyone to pursue. Especially anyone who is not distinctly liberal or leftist. Let me explain why.
First you need to understand more about the prize itself.
The Peace Prize, established in 1901, is a separate category from the other prizes. Alfred Nobel’s will states it should be awarded by a committee of five people selected by the Norwegian Parliament. The other Nobel prizes were designated to be handed out by committees in Sweden.
There is a museum to honor the recipients. Like most museums, one wonders whether it is actually to honor the cause or serve as a tourist attraction. The Nobel Peace Center, a museum dedicated to honor the Nobel Peace Prize and its winners, was opened in Oslo in 2005. During the 125 years of the peace prize, it has been awarded 106 times. There were 112 individuals and 31 organizations that were awarded. The museum has a chronological display of each one of the winners.
On a recent trip to Oslo, we were familiarizing ourselves with the city center when we spotted the museum of which we were previously not aware. We decided to devote some time to tour the facility. The Nobel Foundation doesn’t cover the cost of the museum as the tickets cost roughly $17 USD.
The first 30 years the award was principally given to European men with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt receiving one in 1906. His award was for negotiating an end to the Japanese-Russian war. Woodrow Wilson received one also for establishing the League of Nations. Not until 1936 did someone from elsewhere (Argentina) win the award. In 1950, Ralph Bunche was the first person to win for negotiating peace between the Israelis and the Arabs, something that became an ongoing rationale for an award despite constant failure.
You see great names like George Marshall, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Henry Kissinger, Mother Teresa, Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Elie Weisel, and Nelson Mandela. Early on you see various awards related to the United Nations that the Committee should take back because the U.N. and its arms have devolved into dysfunctional and anti-Semitic organizations.
The awards have plummeted in the last 25 years. It started in 1994 when Yasser Arafat, a terrorist and perpetrator of war, received the award. Then matters rolled straight downhill in the new century. Jimmy Carter won in 2002. They completely forgot he did his best to destroy the American/world economy while U.S. President and gave him the award for helping to build houses for disadvantaged people. In 2007, the man who help create one of the great hoaxes in history and made a movie about it that turned out to be wrong on virtually all counts, Al Gore, got the award. That was followed up two years later when Barack Obama received the award for doing nothing other than being black and getting elected U.S. President.
The European Union won in 2012 for two reasons. First, creating a situation where people did not have to exchange currency every time they crossed a border in Europe. Second, creating a centralized socialist government that virtually every member country hates.
And then there is the World Food Programme, another one of those arms of the UN which won in 2020. It completely failed in delivery of food in Gaza with a large percentage of the supplies ending up in Hamas’ hands. Cindy McCain, the program head, then lied to the press and blamed the Gazan people.
After we finished viewing the various Prize winners’ tributes, we saw a display on current events. I spotted a commentary about something on President Trump. The display referred to him as a “Strongman.” That is a highly derogatory term. As stated in Wikipedia:
“Political scientists Brian Lai and Dan Slater identified strongmen as ruling in an autocratic way which exercises power through the military; typically, strongmen do not share power collectively and do not rely on a political party to exert power. Strongmen are more likely to initiate international conflicts than democracies, military juntas, and partisan dictatorships.”
When walking back to the entry area, I engaged the staff and asked to speak to the Director of the Museum. Someone came out to speak to me, and we had a rather heated discussion. I reminded her that Trump was a duly elected president and now twice. This was before Trump had resolved the multiple conflicts around the globe in his current term. I spoke to the Museum’s pronounced ignorance of his actions. This was after his first term, and I doubt she had any awareness that as president he had eliminated more federal regulations during his first term than all of his predecessors had combined. I asked her directly if she was aware of that and whether that sounds like someone who was trying to centralize control in their own hands. She, of course, did not respond to that. That is when I told her that her museum was a disgrace.
I have no idea why anyone would want to have anything to do with this operation. They just honored a woman who was right of center politically which was a stunning act in itself due to their blatant Leftist politics. Mr. Nobel would be embarrassed by what this operation has become. This prize has the same value as a Grammy for best Rap song.
