I know this post comes a week too late (was it only a week ago? Anyway…) but I just had to comment on this.
Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. What do you think about this?
To be clear, I am a big Obama supporter. Not because of his plans, or policies, or political affiliation. I am apolitical like you have rarely seen someone be. I just don’t care about politics, because when I do decide to care for a little, and start following the news, I realize how the people who lead us oftentimes care so little that it breaks my heart. Literally, my heart aches. So I have to forget about it, and focus on other things.
The reason I like and support Obama is because he is a man of color. It is shallow, and it may be wrong, but I do believe this country, of all places, needed a man of color to lead it. Do I believe that this will solve all its problems? NO – not by any means. But it is a good start, because it gives people hope. And hope was the last thing left in Pandora’s box, it must mean something. I have seen the reactions at Dartmouth when he got elected – granted, a lot of people at Dartmouth are liberal – hundreds went out in the middle of campus, screaming, laughing and just being generally happy. It was great! It was hopeful! This is why I support Obama. Because he is a *black* ray of hope.
However, I was very disappointed to find out that he got the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the most important and consequential prizes in the world – arguably, the MOST. And usually people who get it have *already* spent a large part of their lives serving others, making sure that the world is a better place – more peaceful, quieter, calmer, fairer. What did Obama do to fit into that category? He got elected TWO weeks before the nomination deadline, and he didn’t practically implement any of his peace plans, hopes and ideas. He failed at the Israeli-Palestinian talks (hopefully only in a first phase, I am not up to date on next steps), he is still leading two wars and deploying troops… He hasn’t done anything to deserve to take a place at the side of personalities like Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela, the 14th Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, Elie Wiesel, Martin Luther King Jr., and other names that ignorance forbids me from enumerating.
Hopefully this is an important enough signal that the world expects a lot from him, and Obama will rise to the challenge. I am afraid, however, that this is only another heavy burden to carry for a man who hasn’t yet developed the muscles to support it.
May I be wrong!
Diana Goes to America 