• Jesse
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    22 years ago

    Too many people who have received it ended up being awful people. That being said, much more people who have received it changed out world for the better.

    • CHEF-KOCH
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      -32 years ago

      You cannot look into someone and you cannot predict what he will do next. Humans are not perfect.

      The Nobel Prize is not given for your entire life or existence, it is given for specific work you did which had an bigger impact in the world. You cannot give everyone a price otherwise it would be useless, it is there as an appreciation and thank you.

      • @MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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        12 years ago

        Humans aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t preclude us from being able to predict what a person will do. Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 diminished the award considerably in the eyes of many, as it was generally understood that he would do what most US presidents do-- prologue needless war abroad, all under the shallow guise of "protecting Americans", while wealthy shareholders in the various corporations involved in conflict get even wealthier.

        For me, the Nobel Peace Prize is the award equivalent of the Davos forum-- just more symbolic nonsense for wealthy people to pat each other’s backs while the rest of us suffer.

        • CHEF-KOCH
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          -32 years ago

          You will always find exceptions in everything. Meaning wrong decisions can be made, from those who decide who actually gets such a prize. Because Obama seems to be an negative example here, I also would have given it to someone else at that time but that does not mean we should abandon it entirely.

          I would agree that the prize itself is more a symbolic thing which gives you an entry into history for your work or something you did. Personally I think we could address the criticism of the Nobel Prize if we make the vote more transparent and public. People like you and me should get a chance and a voice on who gets something and then democratically vote for or against it.

          However, I do understand the criticism of such a price but the problem I see is that if we disallow such things or abandon it, we need to abandon other principles and awards too, some which I consider more useless such as the golden globe and other awards.

          • @MerchantsOfMisery@lemmy.ml
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            02 years ago

            You seem to be moving the goalposts. First you said

            You cannot look into someone and you cannot predict what he will do next. Humans are not perfect.

            Then when I pointed out that humans being imperfect doesn’t preclude us from predicting what humans will do, you’ve now changed your argument to

            You will always find exceptions in everything. Because Obama seems to be an negative example here, I also would have given it to someone else at that time but that does not mean we should abandon it entirely.

            I think you’re being far too charitable to the Nobel Committee and I’m trying to figure out why one would defend such people whose work is so largely symbolic. Nobel prizes are like most awards-- utterly meaningless, largely symbolic, and hardly useful in making actual progress. Leftists and working class people in general should not put any weight into pompous awards like Nobel prizes.

  • Free Palestine
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    2 years ago

    Pretty much all of the peace prize laureates are of white western origin, serve white western goals, or appease white western audiences. There are some outliers to that, of course, and especially in recent years, but all in all the prize mostly serves as a means of legitimizing western geopolitical goals. Hell, they gave Gorbachev one when he dissolved the USSR, an event that caused millions of deaths, multiple civil wars, famine, economic collapse, and generally the opposite of peace. They gave Obama one, pretty much just for being the first black president. The next year they gave one to an anti-communist activist no one in the west had heard of, who also never in his career achieved anything of note.

    I’m in full support of the Nobel prizes for sciences and literature, but the peace prize is just a propagandist joke.

      • Free Palestine
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        12 years ago

        Yeah, i’m talking about Liu Xiaobo, I looked at the wiki to make sure my information was (as far as wikipedia is concerned) correct. he essentially got the prize for being arrested by Chinese officials, after being loudly anti-CCP. But his career as an activist has amounted to practically nothing, aside from being a mouthpiece for the west.

    • CHEF-KOCH
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      2 years ago

      Misinformation you spread

      … white western origin, serve white western goals, or appease white western audiences. … prize mostly serves as a means of legitimizing western geopolitical goals.

      Baseless claim without any evidence. Nobel Prize is a symbol and nothing more. This leads to an entry into history, that is all + you get some cash.

      Gorbachev one when he dissolved the USSR, an event that caused millions of deaths, multiple civil wars, famine, economic collapse, and generally the opposite of peace.

      He got the price for “for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations.” He helped ending the cold war.

      They gave Obama one, pretty much just for being the first black president.

      Barack H. Obama got his prize for “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”. He did not got the price because he was black.

      anti-communist activist no one in the west had heard of, who also never in his career achieved anything of note.

      Generalization, just because you never heard of him, does not mean others never did. Alfred Nobel, who initialized it is not even american. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Most people in the Committee are not even american or not born in the USA.

      Please do not spread your nazi propaganda on Lemmy, thanks.