What About Him!
What is it about Obama that makes everything happen
too soon! He became President too soon, and now he
won the Nobel Peace Prize too soon. The whole world
seems to be in a hurry to honor this man ahead of
everyone else who seems far more deserving.
Why is he so popular?
I can’t think of anyone prior to him that received such reverence from the entire world even before he set to prove himself. Even Gandhi had to make statements through actions and put himself through hunger strikes and endure incredible resistance from his people and from the outside in his struggle for India's Independence. He not only “spoke” but “did” for peace and nonviolence; for self-reliance and the moral regeneration of his country, through unimaginable personal sacrifices. And after all that the Nobel Peace Prize eluded Gandhi, despite his being nominated five times for a whole decade until he passed away. There are many such Gandhis both alive and dead who deserved the Nobel Prize and did not get it!
What about Obama are we blinded by?
Even the criticism about Obama seems to be less about what he has done or is doing (since it is too early to say), and more about us unrealistically pinning our hopes on him alone to set the whole world right. Take his acceptance speech for instance. He is the only person to have accepted a Peace award as a “call to action” (!) . He called on nations to address global challenges such as peace in the Middle East, the threat from nuclear weapons, global warming and the battles against poverty, disease and injustice.
Are we looking for only one man to potentially change the world we live in? If there is such a man, would it be him? And if it is him, should he not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize just for earning our unswerving faith in his abilities? or has someone upped his game and promised to deliver more… and more convincingly?
Millions of people including influential leaders from all over the world have thrown their weights and stood behind him just to anchor his words and carry his message. I can’t imagine why! What about him makes us a generation of sheep, eager to follow blindly?
What is this Nobel Prize for and what does it do?
Just like when he was elected President, this award seems to speak less about him and more about where we are as a people. We have somehow made him a symbol for a transformation we want to go through in our lives! We are looking to be guided towards a point where our world is at peace with itself. And we keep strengthening his commitment as a leader and egging him on as he eggs us on to get us there in an interesting helicoidal fashion. Clearly now, there is no running away from working towards peace for him or for us. We all need to be committed to it whether we like it or not.
We have heard why the Nobel Committee awarded Obama this Peace Prize. In their speed read, they speak of the Time for Hope. We've also heard Obama's remarks on winning the Prize.
The significance of what he has achieved becomes more apparent and humbling as you start looking at who else won the Peace Prize before him and why, and who else was nominated this year. The reactions of nations, of leaders around the world and the media over Obama's Nowegian (:P) victory have been both amusing and compelling. There is a lot of discussion on who should have won both this year as well as over the years, who deserved to win and did, and a lot of postmortem scrutiny and "symptomatic" analysis of Obama and the Nobel Committee. This seems to be such a mountainous burden for one person to carry alone. How is he going to be the leader we want him to be anymore than he already is! What does he have to do now? Where should he have been less than a year since he was elected that he is not in already!
My brother wrote an email, parts of which are pasted below
I have always wondered who might win a “world democratic election”, if there was such a thing that is. But again, if the world was really one, and there were no international conflicts to resolve, but just conflicts of interests, what kind of dialogue would we see between nations and who would make that possible?
Why is he so popular?
I can’t think of anyone prior to him that received such reverence from the entire world even before he set to prove himself. Even Gandhi had to make statements through actions and put himself through hunger strikes and endure incredible resistance from his people and from the outside in his struggle for India's Independence. He not only “spoke” but “did” for peace and nonviolence; for self-reliance and the moral regeneration of his country, through unimaginable personal sacrifices. And after all that the Nobel Peace Prize eluded Gandhi, despite his being nominated five times for a whole decade until he passed away. There are many such Gandhis both alive and dead who deserved the Nobel Prize and did not get it!
What about Obama are we blinded by?
Even the criticism about Obama seems to be less about what he has done or is doing (since it is too early to say), and more about us unrealistically pinning our hopes on him alone to set the whole world right. Take his acceptance speech for instance. He is the only person to have accepted a Peace award as a “call to action” (!) . He called on nations to address global challenges such as peace in the Middle East, the threat from nuclear weapons, global warming and the battles against poverty, disease and injustice.
Are we looking for only one man to potentially change the world we live in? If there is such a man, would it be him? And if it is him, should he not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize just for earning our unswerving faith in his abilities? or has someone upped his game and promised to deliver more… and more convincingly?
Millions of people including influential leaders from all over the world have thrown their weights and stood behind him just to anchor his words and carry his message. I can’t imagine why! What about him makes us a generation of sheep, eager to follow blindly?
What is this Nobel Prize for and what does it do?
Just like when he was elected President, this award seems to speak less about him and more about where we are as a people. We have somehow made him a symbol for a transformation we want to go through in our lives! We are looking to be guided towards a point where our world is at peace with itself. And we keep strengthening his commitment as a leader and egging him on as he eggs us on to get us there in an interesting helicoidal fashion. Clearly now, there is no running away from working towards peace for him or for us. We all need to be committed to it whether we like it or not.
We have heard why the Nobel Committee awarded Obama this Peace Prize. In their speed read, they speak of the Time for Hope. We've also heard Obama's remarks on winning the Prize.
The significance of what he has achieved becomes more apparent and humbling as you start looking at who else won the Peace Prize before him and why, and who else was nominated this year. The reactions of nations, of leaders around the world and the media over Obama's Nowegian (:P) victory have been both amusing and compelling. There is a lot of discussion on who should have won both this year as well as over the years, who deserved to win and did, and a lot of postmortem scrutiny and "symptomatic" analysis of Obama and the Nobel Committee. This seems to be such a mountainous burden for one person to carry alone. How is he going to be the leader we want him to be anymore than he already is! What does he have to do now? Where should he have been less than a year since he was elected that he is not in already!
My brother wrote an email, parts of which are pasted below
“The Nobel Prize isn't about recognizing people that do things in their own little way. It is about recognizing achievements that can potentially change the world we live in. It is the same basis used for every other Nobel Prize, including those in science (scientists don't get prizes for making actual applications of their discoveries). Obama has done enough, in my mind, to change the way the world leaders are discussing and acting on issues related to war, climate and the human condition. This comes in the wake of one of the most turbulent times in the world order caused by one of the worst leaders in modern history.
The Non-proliferation Treaty isn't a joke given that we are only decades removed from the Cold War; it still is the most effective deterrent to a potential nuclear war. Obama hasn't just appointed people... he has followed up on everything he said he would do (to a practical point). To expect policies to bear fruit the next day would be fanciful and unrealistic -- but he has set the wheels in motion and put highly capable people to reinstate a dialogue that was impossible in the Bush era.
Bush did not act in the interest of his country... he nearly brought the country to its knees with his absurd international policies (not to speak of his general ignorance about every single issue) that even he apologized for. His mistakes are countless, from the invasion of fundamental rights to the violation of international treaties. To bring US back into the global fold of acceptance is a world changing effort and President Obama has incredibly done that in one year.
I have always wondered who might win a “world democratic election”, if there was such a thing that is. But again, if the world was really one, and there were no international conflicts to resolve, but just conflicts of interests, what kind of dialogue would we see between nations and who would make that possible?
