The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo because Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist, was an anti-nationalist who decided that the Nobel institutions should be shared between Sweden and Norway. The words displayed in the Oslo center that celebrates the Nobel Peace Prize explain that Nobel was even accused of being a traitor by some of his compatriots.
For more than a hundred years, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to many individuals and institutions — among them Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and the European Union. Sometimes, there has been controversy about the merits of certain recipients, or about what some of them did after receiving the prize. But it has never been awarded to someone who openly campaigned for it — which is exactly what Donald Trump is now attempting to do (with the endorsement of Benjamin Netanyahu). His selfishness and childish narcissism stand in stark contrast to the values Alfred Nobel sought to promote.
Trump seems to believe he can buy the Nobel Prize. According to The Economist (which notes that Hitler was once a candidate for the Prize, and ironically suggests that European leaders could exploit Trump’s vanity by endorsing his candidacy), “A recent phone call to the Norwegian finance minister, in which the matter of the Nobel reportedly came up alongside threats of tariffs, is another clue.” If he succeeds, it will be yet another prestigious institution destroyed by Trumpism.
Trump’s Orwellian candidacy cannot hide everything that is wrong with “Trump 2.0”: the creation of a police state, relentless nativism and racism, back-room deals with Putin and Netanyahu, threats directed at Canada, Panama, and Greenland, the use of public institutions to attack political rivals, cuts to foreign aid, and the sabotage of international trade. His claim that he has solved “six wars in six months” reflects the same distortion of facts and statistics that is behind the attack on official data and scientific institutions.
The situation in the United States is deeply troubling. The world’s oldest democracy is under threat, and the repercussions reach Europe. This summer, European politicians in both government and opposition have shown sympathy for the anti-vaccine movement (in Italy, inspired by Trump’s health secretary), while racist leaders in England and Spain have targeted immigrants. The vanity of the most powerful elected politician in the world is placing democracy everywhere at risk.
No comments:
Post a Comment