So, Barak Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
When I look at the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Chemistry, or Medicine, they celebrate (as they always have) accomplishments that are recognized by the scientific community as outstanding accomplishments that have revolutionized their resepective fields.
Typically, they recognize accomplishments that have occurred decades in the past and have proven, by the test of time, that they are genuine. Certainly there have been some controversies in these prizes, but almost without exception, they are of the form “someone was overlooked who’s accomplishment was even more spectacular”. Although it is a shame that some individuals’ work have not been recognized, it does not mean that those people who have been awarded the prize did not merit the award.
The award for Literature is harder to guage since the criteria for defining great literature is not something you can define with any level of accuracy. But within it’s limitations, the award has been given to people who are recognized as making contributions to world literature, and the awards are typically given after decades of writing, so it’s generally accepted that the recipient merits recognition.
Then we come to the Peace Prize. It’s absurd to award the Nobel Peace prize to a president less than a year into office. Regardless of whether or not I agree with Obama’s policies, he simply has not been in office long enough for any of his policies to yield significant results.
It’s true that his policies are “perceived” as being significant… but a certain amount of time is necessary to see what will actually happen.
The Peace Prize should be awarded to “the person who shall have done the most or best work for fraternity amoung nations”. That is NOT Obama at this point. He should not have even been nominated at this point (the deadline for nominations was mere weeks after he entered the office).
Frankly, Obama was given the award for one reason… he’s not Bush… and that’s a poor reason to get a primary school award, let alone a Nobel prize.
