The Burden Of Hope

[This is the article thingy which got pasted front-page of the Xavier's newspaper Subject To Change. Some might say mentioning that it was front-page is extremely vain. They would be absolutely right]

Ever since the announcement of Obama and the Nobel, pessimists and cynics all over the world have taken up their pens, preparing their ‘I told you so!’ speeches for the future. Several depressing articles have already been published worldwide, sympathizing with or sneering at the newest Nobel laureate. ‘Why are such events afoot?’ you ask innocently. ‘Surely winning the Nobel Peace Prize is a good thing?’ Not always.

First of all, we have to begin by feeling sorry for Obama. Why? His life has just been made a whole lot harder. By the Nobel Prize? By that, and his over enthusiastic supporters. How?

It is common belief that the basic question asked of people who are nominated for the Peace Prize is: how have they contributed to peace? However, the Prize is not decided by common belief. It is decided by 5 Norwegians in Oslo on the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. Even so, the given question must have some importance, right? So what has President Barack Obama done for peace?

In the short 10 months of his presidency… nothing eventful has happened. Not in the economy, not in world peace. Nothing notable. No great change. Nothing to really fulfill the hope he inspired in people. This hope is the problem, ironically enough. This hope has led people to believe in Obama as some kind of miracle man who will, with a whoosh and a flourish, get rid of all the problems that have been mounting. Reality suggests something otherwise. Economic recession cannot be reversed immediately. Nor can the effects of climate change and years of hatred and bloodshed between people.

The main problem is that Obama has not done anything, or been around long enough to do anything, as he himself will readily acknowledge. The prevailing opinion, definitely among cartoonists (visit www.cartoonbox.slate.com and look under Nobel Peace Prize cartoons), is that Obama actually got the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts in not being George W. Bush. Another favourite topic is lambasting the “award for ‘future’ peace” theme of the Nobel committee.

This is what happens when fanboy-ism spreads from popular culture to unfortunately influential people. The application for the nomination had to be filed even before Obama became President, which makes you wonder… even before he was president, someone believed him worthy enough to win the Peace Prize. Despite my better judgment, I find myself wondering whether this is some conspiracy.

Let us get back to how bad it will be on Obama. The prize will weigh him down at every international peace meeting. Every little setback will be magnified into small failure, and every small failure into a big one, because he failed to broker peace even though he got the Peace Prize, didn’t he? This also only adds to the ridicule thrown at Obama; it has the unique position of uniting Fidel Castro, Osama Bin Laden and Rush Limbaugh behind a common opinion they all agree on: he don’t deserve it.

On the positive side, maybe Obama will go from strength to strength, and thus justify the award. But if, and there is a high possibility of this, he fails, his fall will be all the more resounding because of the derision earned by the prize. Such is the burden of hope.