Take a leaf from peacemakers' book
THIS WEEK is Nobel Prize week and for the next couple of days we will hear of great individuals who have exceeded expectations and given much to humanity.
The categories for the Nobel Prize are varied and diverse. The story about the origins of the Nobel Prize is fascinating. It is understood that when Alfred Nobel's brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper mistakenly ran an obituary for Alfred and called him the "merchant of death".
A chemist by profession, he earned this reputation by inventing a product considered deadly, but which he swore was a harbinger of peace and would end all wars - dynamite.
Obviously, the premature obituary in the newspapers must have stung and the famous inventor was determined to clear his name and secure his place in the league of the good guys.
It is understood that Nobel had written several wills during his lifetime, but the last one was dated a little over a year before a cerebral haemorrhage claimed his life.
Nobel's last will left approximately 94percent of his worth to the establishment of five prizes - physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace - to "those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind".
Well, exactly seven years ago two South Africans, Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk, won this award in the peace category.
How appropriate that on that same day another laureate, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, celebrated his birthday.
Though South Africa has had eight Nobel laureates in various fields, it is the four recipients of the peace category whose values and foresight we are most in need of today. The moral decay in our society presents us with untold challenges but if we reflect and remind ourselves of the kind of leaders we are capable of producing, then we too can take a leaf out of their books and confer "the greatest benefit on mankind".
From the first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Chief Albert Luthuli, we can learn not to compromise on our commitment to human rights. Though he received the prize in the peace category, it was the first time the prize was awarded purely for the advancement of human rights.
Luthuli said: "Laws and conditions that tend to debase human personality, be they brought by the state or individuals, must be relentlessly opposed."
From the Arch there is a lesson for our leaders in business and politics.
He asked: "What is black empowerment when it seems to benefit not the vast majority but an elite that tends to be recycled?" The rest of us can heed his call when he said: "Do your little bit of good where you are; its those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
Our landscape is polluted by the inflammatory language of those who hold different views. So De Klerk's words to Mandela are apt today. In his Nobel acceptance speech he turned to Mandela and said: "We are political opponents. We disagree strongly on key issues and we will fight a strenuous election campaign against one another. But we will do so, I believe, in the frame of mind and within the framework of peace which has already been established."
And then there is this citizen in whose glory we often bask, Nelson Mandela. The society he described in his acceptance lecture remains elusive but now is the time to commit to a society in which "the children play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse".
pirlo
Redi! this is a very beautiful article,love your perspective on issues........Report Abuse
oilthieves
if the poor are not smarter than the rich - the rich will deceive themyou are a good story teller thlabi, but we are not children, we check the facts
Alfred nobel was one of the world'sworst war criminals. he made weapons of mass destruction for the barbaric german regime in the early 1900s. it transformed into krupp to make arms for the nazis.
after ww2 it shared secrets with the usa, to get all it's assets back and no criminal charges. in fact the nazi companies iBM, AeG, Siemens, tuft prospered after the war.
But Nobel needed a trick to erase his nazi past and fool people into thinking his company had transformed into angels (like the afrikaaner regime). so he created the nobel prize.
but behind the facade, you will notice, the prize is decided by europeans always in the interests of european businesses, always to promote the lie of white supermacy and often to promote the myth of german superiority .e.g 20of the noble prizes have gone to scientists of the max plank institute.the MPI conducted genetic experiments on prisoners including injecting acid into women's fallopian tubes, injecting them with typhus, labatomys, and draining their blood until they became unconcious.
archbishop desmond tutu belongs to an organisation called the catholic church that has committed genocide in every continent of the world, that have enough money to wipe out the world's poverty 100x but instead sexually abuses poor children around the world and works for evil regimes to keep power.
and when the afrikaaner regime say peace, they mean economic slavery for blacks
if the devil setup a peace prize, and made sweet speeches, should we cheer?
we are not deceived,we want our shares now.
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bazooka
Redi ese ele Tlhabi tomorrow its divorce she is going to be Redi Tlhabi-Direko and then remarries again and get another surname.Report Abuse
LoveAfrica
@oilthieveswhat utter nonsence are you talking about? Alfred Nobel died in 1893, years before the first world war and not to talk about the second world war. How could he have been a Nazi?
And as far as I know is Archbishop Desmond Tutu from the Anglican Church. And to generalize about other groups is also dangerous. Please make sure of your facts before spreading this hate and noncense.
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oilthieves
when the poor r smarter than the rich, the rich have a tantrum.. like spoilt childrenalfred nobel was an arms maker trader, a war profiteer and merchant of death. he helped the evil imperialists to commit genocide in all continents of the world. a newspaper at the time, assuming he had died, wrote an obituary that said he would be remembered as a 'MERCHANT OF DEATH'. in the arms trade business, it's a gentleman's duty that those who make the most money from mass murder, invest their leftovers in a peace gesture e.g. Nobel, Andrew Carnegie, Charles Schwab, Du Pont etc. [taster: MERCHANTS OF DEATH By H.C. Engelbrecht]
Nobel's philosophy was put profit 1st, human life last.. until you are about to die. Nobel would have loved to have lived longer to share the profits of the companies he created around the world - that became the biggest profiteers of most wars since his death, inc world wars 1 & 2. if he were alive today, would love south africa, zuma, and tutu, and their rich 1st poor last, profit 1st human life last maxim
LOL. ying and yang. i attack evil. you defend evil. i hate evil. you love evil. can't have on without the other
LOL, yes desmond tutu is indeed, a paid puppet of the british establishment controlled anglican church. although the anglicans and catholics are different organisation. historically, they share an identical enthusiasm for the genocide and economic explotation of non europeans. like evil twins, it's hard to to tell the difference.
your tantrums are not working, we want our shares now
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Lebhujwerr
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