Alfred Nobel established five categories for the Nobel Prizes which were first awarded in 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel's death. The five original categories were Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace. The prize for Economics was added in 1968.
Nobel, who made a significant fortune largely based on weapons and munitions - the most remembered being dynamite - seems to have turned the other cheek late in life by endowing the now world-renowned prizes to be conveyed to individuals who contributed the "greatest benefit to mankind" in those specific fields.
The awards in physics, chemistry, medicine and literature are duly noted by the media. Especially when recipients are themselves media figures, as when Bob Dylan won the Prize for Literature in 2016 "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." Despite being a Dylan fan I shook my head at that selection until I read his acceptance lecture which ended thus:
"Our songs are alive in the land of the living. But songs are unlike literature. They're meant to be sung, not read. The words in Shakespeare's plays were meant to be acted on the stage. Just as lyrics in songs are meant to be sung, not read on a page. And I hope some of you get the chance to listen to these lyrics the way they were intended to be heard: in concert or on record or however people are listening to songs these days. I return once again to Homer, who says, 'Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story." Hmm. Hope the "songwriters" of today are listening. We can always use well sung stories.
But the Dylan prize is only one of several that might make us stop and think. For example:
The 1918 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Fritz Haber. A bit strange, not because it was awarded for his work in the mass production of ammonia, but because Haber had overseen Germany's chemical weapons program during World War I.
And then in 1949: Antonio Egas Moniz, a Portuguese neurologist and brain surgeon was awarded the prize in medicine for devising the lobotomy, a practice that is, well, no longer in practice.
Still, what can we really expect from a series of prizes awarded by a committee, any committee!
However, it is the Peace prize that generates the most coverage and controversy. And there have been many controversial winners among those individuals and organizations receiving the award in the 124 years of its existence. And, realistically, one would be hard pressed to find a singular example of an individual or organization who have contributed the "greatest benefit to mankind" by making the world a more peaceful place. There are undoubtedly many worthy individuals and organizations laboring unseen "to benefit mankind" in the trenches and byways of this troubled world trying to bring peace. Few will win the Nobel Prize for Peace, and perhaps that is because they do not "campaign" for it. Instead they focus on their task as peacemakers.
The same cannot be said of Donald Trump, who has claimed in a New York Times article regarding the Nobel Peace Prize: "I deserve it, but they will never give it to me." Well, I hope this is one statement by President Trump that actually proves true - well, not the deserving part, which is a reflection of the fact that he really does not understand what it takes to deserve the prize.
Much of Trump's claim for the prize rests on his claim to "have ended eight wars!" Most prominent at the moment is his claim to have ended the war between Israel and Hamas. That claim seems to be very much up in the air as claims and counterclaims continue among the participants. One can certainly be thankful for the lives repatriated on both sides, but I'm going to wait a few months before checking this one off the list of Trump Victories.
More germane perhaps is the war that Trump declared he would end on his first day in office - the war between Ukraine and Russia. Well, as of today Trump announce 100% tariffs on Russian oil because his one time "good friend" Putin won't follow Trump's playbook. Just another example of a frightening litany of reversals of policy and alliances that have marked his brief tenure in office.
A review of the claims of ending the other six "war ending interventions" seem to reveal Trump lending some impetus to ongoing negotiations where others did the major heavy lifting; sometimes successful, other times not. Not a stunning argument for being the one person in all the world who providing "the greatest benefit to mankind." And then of course his claim to "have never started a war!" Let's keep our eye on Venezuela, or maybe Columbia.
But most damning in my mind is the farce this would be Nobel prize winner is perpetrating on his own country. Using his party's shut down of the government to throw thousands out of work, or to force a reduction in health benefits for millions. Attempting to force universities to kowtow to his ideas of who should be admitted and what should be taught. Using the Department of Justice to attack anyone who might ever have attempted to contradict his beliefs. Loosing ICE agents into cities to arrest anyone whose accent or skin color or former country of residence he finds offensive. And sending armed National Guard troops into "blue cities," aka cities with democratic mayors or voting histories.
This man who covets the Nobel Prize for Peace seems quite content to tear his own country to pieces.
But that is not what frightens me most. These grievous acts against our country are not, in my mind, the acts of an evil person. They are instead the acts of a man in a fairly advanced state of dementia. His inability to construct meaningful sentences. His forgetting of his own previous statements. The implementation of projects he has previously disowned, like the destruction of portions of the White House. His dizzying 'on again - off again' relationships with other countries and world leaders. These are all examples of behavior that, if we observed them in parents or friends of his age [79 - 80 in June], we would be concerned.
"Sure, Dad. Sure, Aunt Martha. Sure, cousin Jo. Sure, dear. You deserve the Nobel Peace Prize."
No comments:
Post a Comment