My world-wearied and cynical response to the reality that Al Gore will get a Nobel Prize was: so what.
Yasser Arafat and Jimmy Carter have received Noble Peace prizes, it’s not like Al Gore can disgrace the tradition anymore.
For those that don’t know, Yasser Arafat received the honorary award because he promised to stop killing people in Israel; Jimmy Carter’s award was slightly less dubious, he paid off people like Yasser Arafat to stop attacking our allies (of coarse, he supported evil regimes to do so.)
What has Al Gore done to truly receive this award; the answer is, not much. He made a documentary about something that will likely be forgotten in twenty years (when its replaced with the next environmental catastrophe.) His actions as the vice-president weren’t spectacular; neither are his actions on any front; in fact, he seems downright hypocritical in many aspects of his life.
This reveals a fundamental flaw in the current Nobel system: even if Al Gore is right about everything, and has lived consistently with his own beliefs; the Nobel prize is supposed to celebrate what people have done, not what they will or might accomplish, the award is not supposed to honer intentions.
It’s a shame that the Nobel Prize is handed out so lightly, and all to support blatantly political ends. These actions demean all those who truly deserve the prize; those who, through their actions, have done real good in the world.
Though it should come to no surprise, politics corrupts everything. The Nobel prize, in any field, is supposed to celebrate the greatest and the truly exceptional. I suppose even this goal couldn’t help but be tainted by the grey weight of today’s political climate.
Yasser Arafat and Jimmy Carter have received Noble Peace prizes, it’s not like Al Gore can disgrace the tradition anymore.
For those that don’t know, Yasser Arafat received the honorary award because he promised to stop killing people in Israel; Jimmy Carter’s award was slightly less dubious, he paid off people like Yasser Arafat to stop attacking our allies (of coarse, he supported evil regimes to do so.)
What has Al Gore done to truly receive this award; the answer is, not much. He made a documentary about something that will likely be forgotten in twenty years (when its replaced with the next environmental catastrophe.) His actions as the vice-president weren’t spectacular; neither are his actions on any front; in fact, he seems downright hypocritical in many aspects of his life.
This reveals a fundamental flaw in the current Nobel system: even if Al Gore is right about everything, and has lived consistently with his own beliefs; the Nobel prize is supposed to celebrate what people have done, not what they will or might accomplish, the award is not supposed to honer intentions.
It’s a shame that the Nobel Prize is handed out so lightly, and all to support blatantly political ends. These actions demean all those who truly deserve the prize; those who, through their actions, have done real good in the world.
Though it should come to no surprise, politics corrupts everything. The Nobel prize, in any field, is supposed to celebrate the greatest and the truly exceptional. I suppose even this goal couldn’t help but be tainted by the grey weight of today’s political climate.
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