Entry 06: Nobel Peace Prize -Attack the causes of poverty and you remove the roots of conflict?

I was reading the news recently and an article caught my eyes. “Nobel prize links poverty reduction to peace”

The report pointed that instead of using “conflict resolution” as the awarding criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel committee “is increasingly taking the fight to the fundamental reasons for which war is waged”.

"Peace is not just the absence of war but also the absence of reasons for having a war. The committee has been good at updating its concept of peace," Lodgaard said.

I would agree on that the Nobel Prize should go to the person who made the most influential effort on eradicating the reasons for having war. However, I am surprised by what the head of the Nobel committee said later,
"Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.” head of the Nobel Committee, Ole Danbolt Mjoes, said.

Although it is a negative statement on lasting peace, I think that Mr. Mjoes has over simplified the “reasons for having war”. War, in my opinion, is a large scaled, “politically-justified” act of robbery. I do not agree that poverty is the “root-reason” for having war. Fundamentally, I think it is greed, hatred and lack of 抱容that drives all war. Poverty can be one of reasons that drive greed and hatred into people but it is definitely not the “root-reason” of having war.

If the focus of the committee is shifting towards the core fundamental driving force of war, then I think that the Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to educators working in third world countries whom instill positive moral values into the people living in poverty. I would agree that such educational work may not be as influential as the work of Mr. Muhammad Yunus’s micro-credit scheme which benefits millions in Bangladeshi. However, I believe that such educational work has a longer lasting effect and its influence is subtle but fundamental to the upholding of peace. To “cure” the world from war, I believe the best method is to teach people how to face loses and view reality positively. It is difficult and almost impossible to change the environment as there are simply too many factors affecting it that are out of your control. The best way, I believe, is to equip yourself with a positive attitude. For example, if you cannot swim, one way of preventing you from drowning is to put you on land. But as unpredictable as life always is, sometimes in your life you are forced to get on a boat or go out at sea and you may drown. Hence, the best way to prevent you from drowning is to teach you to swim! So in order to prevent people from being driven by their greed and hatred, the best way is to teach them to see reality positively and be accommodating to others; upholding your right but at the same not to invade into other people’s right.

Of course, instilling these positive attitudes into others is not as easy as teaching them how to swim. As such, in order to not let the war-zone-educator’s efforts go unnoticed and undermined, I dedicated my time to write this and although I cannot give you wonderful people a Nobel Price, I would prey for you.

To all the educators out there: You guys and gals are GREAT!