The Nobel Prize

Nobel Prizes were in the news last week.

The biggest headline was for the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Maria Corina Machado of Venezuela.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/nobel-peace-prize-oslo-41b6bff88e2d57af0917bcf778e132ad

However, most of the headlines in the mainstream media celebrated the fact that Donald Trump DID NOT WIN the Peace Prize.

Last month I was in both Oslo, Norway where the Peace Prize is given out, as well as Stockholm, Sweden where the other prizes are awarded.

Here is a photo of me in front of the Nobel Peace Prize Center in Oslo.

Mr. BeeLine displaying the peace symbol at the Nobel Prize Peace Center in Oslo

I did not expect Trump to win the Peace Prize this year for two reasons.

1. Nominations have to be made by January 31 for the year of the prize. That was only 11 days into Trump's term.

2. The Peace Prize is chosen by a committee of five individuals (the Norwegian Nobel Committee) selected by the Norwegian Parliament.

You can be sure that the Norwegian Nobel Committee is a little to the left of Donald Trump.

When I learned all of that while in Oslo I gave Trump 0% chance to win the Peace Prize this year.

Of course, that January 31 nomination deadline did not stop that same Committee from awarding Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

The official motivation explaining the award by the Committee was the following.

Source: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2009/obama/facts/

I am still wondering exactly what "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" Obama did in less than two weeks as President to be worthy of a nomination let alone winning the prize?

This tells you all you need to know about how political the Nobel Peace Prize has become.

It will be interesting to see if Trump will be considered to be worthy for the Prize in 2026 if the peace negotiation in the Middle East holds.

The Nobel Prizes were first awarded in 1901 when Albert Nobel, a chemist and engineer who invented dynamite and other explosives and armaments, left the bulk of his estate ($300 million in today's dollars) for the establishment of awards for work that has provided the greatest benefit to mankind in five fields---Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace.

An award for Economics was established in 1968 by the Swedish central bank to honor Albert Nobel's legacy.

Nobel never officially stated why he was motivated to establish these prizes.

However, a popular story is that Nobel read a premature unflattering obituary that branded him a "merchant of death".  It is argued that after seeing that obit Nobel was determined that he did not want to be remembered that way as his legacy.

Source: https://www.history.com/articles/did-a-premature-obituary-inspire-the-nobel-prize

What persuaded the “dynamite king” to devote his fortune to charity? Nobel never spoke publicly about the motivations behind the pledge, but many believe it was inspired by an earlier case of mistaken identity. In 1888, Nobel’s brother Ludvig had died in France from a heart attack. Thanks to poor reporting, at least one French newspaper believed that it was Alfred who had perished, and it proceeded to write a scathing obituary that branded him a “merchant of death” who had grown rich by developing new ways to “mutilate and kill.” The error was later corrected, but not before Alfred had the unpleasant experience of reading his own death notice. The incident may have brought on a crisis of conscience and led him to reevaluate his career. According to biographer Kenne Fant, Nobel “became so obsessed with the posthumous reputation that he rewrote his last will, bequeathing most of his fortune to a cause upon which no future obituary writer would be able to cast aspersions.”

This year's Nobel Prize winners will be honored at a dinner in Stockholm after the awards other than the Peace Prize are conferred in that city on December 10---the anniversary of Albert Nobel's death

The dinner is held at Stockholm's City Hall and from the looks of past events it is an evening you would not want to miss if you received an invitation.

Credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDZlWimtC_X/?img_index=1

Nine of this year's 14 Nobel Prize winners are from the United States.

Source: Grok

Since the Nobel Prizes have been in existence, the United States has been the home of more Nobel laureates than any other country. Almost half of the individuals (425/860) who have received the Nobel Prize have been from the United States.

Source: Wikipedia-List of Nobel Laureates by Country
The notes refer to individuals who won the Nobel more than once
( e.g. Three American have received two Nobel Prizes each)

Keep this in mind as you hear those on the Left claim that the United States is not great, nor has it ever been in the past.

The list of Nobel Prize laureates is objective evidence of American Exceptionalism. 

Note as well the other countries at the top of the list.

The three other countries that have been the cornerstones of Western civilization over the years---the UK, Germany and France---have had 338 other individuals receive Nobel Prizes.

On a per capita basis, the number of awards by these countries is in the same league as the U.S.

The United States and these three other countries have amassed almost 90% of all the Nobel Prizes ever conferred.

The world would be much, much worse off but for the contributions these countries have made to humanity.

However, there is no end to the complaints we hear about how the United States and Western Civilization  have been nothing but oppressive, white-dominated societies for time immemorial that have harmed the world.

For example, consider this X post from last year by the late Charlie Kirk where he showed Kamala Harris speaking in 2021 at the National Congress of American Indians which is aligned with her long-standing advocacy of replacing Columbus Day with "Indigenous Peoples Day".

Link: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1845847986397680073

Take a minute and consider how different the world would have been on Monday if Kamala Harris would have won last November.

Harris would have given a speech about Indigenous Peoples' Day and then retired for the day for a glass of wine or two.

By contrast, this is President Trump's schedule as he travelled to the Middle East to participate in the signing of the Middle East Peace Agreement on Monday.

It is doubtful Donald Trump will win the Nobel Peace Prize even if he ends the Russia-Ukraine War next.

He doesn't have the style, grace and demeanor that a diplomat or leader is supposed to have.

All he has is the resolve to get results and an indefatigable spirit that does not allow him to quit short of his goals.

Less than two years ago the Democrats did everything in their power to bankrupt Trump and put him in prison for life.

How many people in history have earned the redemption that Donald Trump has over the last year?

Without question, Trump has won that prize.