Nobel Obama, Noble Gandhi ... and These Ignoble Times

It may be true that President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for promise rather than achievement, but let us not forget that there is at least one point on which he has already proven himself -- and this is a point that Mahatma Gandhi, that greatest of Peace advocates, would have approved of. It is civility.

Civility may seem as frivolous a criterion for such an honor as "potential." But it is indeed a quality that we have started to notice frequently in its growing absence in political and even public culture. In the past few months, we have seen examples of the loss of civility in so many contexts that it may just seem like rancor, ugliness, and bad behavior are all simply here to stay. A President was called a liar by a member of an august institution, to his face. The same President has been called a thousand nasty -- and here's what's equally important -- immensely false names, not just by ordinary people, but by people in positions of accountable privilege, power, and visibility.

Yet, in spite of it all, Obama has remained the same person so many of us celebrated last November. He has stood with dignity and remained true to whatever ideals of civil conduct he believes in. He may not have delivered on many of his electoral promises, yet, but despite the disappointments the fact is that Obama has stayed true, in at least one Gandhian sense. He has not lowered himself one bit. He has remained peaceful, intelligent, inspiring, and inclusive (annoyingly, even on occasions when he really shouldn't have). He is still the Obama of "Hope." When millions of American voters bought that message last November, why should we even be surprised that the Peace prize committee did so too?

In all the commentary that is going around now about Obama there is something about him that I feel has been easily forgotten. It is being said that he is a man of "words" and not "actions." That distinction, I feel, is overrated. I admit to my own biases in saying that, but the fact is that words are powerful too, and can stand for something. Obama's words so far have stood for something, in him, and in us. That "something" may be different for all of us, but it is powerful, it is precious. I do not know exactly what it is, but I know its opposite. It's an orgy of verbal and visual ugliness hurling itself into our ears and eyes and minds and hearts on a million channels of mass, niche, and faction-mediated "communication," an insanity passing itself of as political debate, and most of all, an ignoble and almost irretrievably endless act of violence to Truth.

It was not without reason that Mahatma Gandhi said "There is no God greater than Truth." Truth, for Gandhi, was paramount, and in some ways no different from non-violence. Its absence, conversely, meant not only falsehood, but violence too. No wonder our public discourse reeks of anger. It is not just violence that has clouded our internet and TV channels, but it is equally falsehood too. Obama's impeccable manner, by contrast, speaks of a man with faith in his Truth, even if the practical and political expressions of that Truth so many of us are counting on from him are proving to be difficult and elusive. So it may be true that Obama's Nobel came sooner than anyone would have expected, and for no laudable peace treaties or troop withdrawals one could celebrate. But the fact is that it came for something more than just good intentions. In an age when neither political office nor Ph.D.s nor media pulpits are guarantees of basic human decency -- such as the ability to speak with courtesy, to refrain from delusion and ugliness in criticism, to respect the word and the airwave (or digital bit-byte as the case may be) -- to be led by a President who stands tall as a decent, intelligent human being is a worthy thing in itself. I do not think Obama was missing one bit of the truth when he said he viewed his Nobel as a recognition not just for him but for his people. True. In President Barack Obama, the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 represents America, and represents the world. It represents us.

 

 

Comments

[rsprags]

I'm happy President Obama won this honor because he brought a different dialog to the world stage; He impacted the World with his message of hope. President Obama will continue to impact the world with his message of hope beyond the next 8 years of the Presidency!
Thank to all President Obama supporters for continuing to give our great President much love and support. President Obama will be able to impact many things on his agenda (our agenda that we voted for on November 04, 2009); HOWEVER, he needs all of our support.
Please connect to OFA to push the President's agenda forward in your state if you really want to make an impact on the "Call to Action" the world has given us with our PRESIDENT's winning of the Nobel Peace prize!

[Cynthia Boaz - Huffpost Blogger]

Beautifully written, Vamsee. Thank you. I've Tweeted and FB'd it far and wide.

I'm so happy to see you on the HuffPost! I have a piece featured on the World page now too, about my recent meeting with Shirin Ebadi.

I'm back in the Bay Area. Hope we cross paths soon. Keep up the important work!

Metta.
Cynthia

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks, Cynthia, and welcome back to the Bay Area. You have a great community around your work on HuffPost (I liked your religion piece from a while ago very much). Looking forward to catching up.

[kejia]

Well put. Thank you for writing this.

I was looking at your biography and saw you have a forthcoming novel. Will it be published in the U.S.?

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, and for asking about my novel! I am still working on getting a US edition and hope to have something lined up by next year. I will certainly post about when it gets closer, and I hope some of the themes that inspired it (like Gandhi's ideals of Truth) will come through.

[wattnot]

The philosopher of long ago who observed that turning the other cheek is better than being cheeky was a wise wise person. Mr Obama knows how to do this and even his most trenchant opponents and enemies have absolutely no answer to his statesmanship and civility.

We have watched loathsome creeps like Beck assert that Mr Obama is a racist. Mr Obama would not only never suggest that Beck is a loathsome creep- He would instead try to find help for him so that he could live his life without delusions.

America has never had a president of this calibre before, and it is not going to far to say that maybe no country has ever had a leader of this calibre. He is up there with Ghandi, and for my money, there isn't another world leader in the last thousand years who holds a candle to Ghandi.

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Indeed. Gandhi valued civility, and not just in a superficial sense. I found an excellent discussion of civility in Western political thought, ancient Indian thought, and in Gandhi, in the chapter on "Satya and Ahimsa: The relation between Truth and Nonviolence" in Raghavan Iyer's The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi. Here's a quote (from the Mahatma): "Civility does not here mean the mere outward gentleness of speech cultivated for the occasion, but an inborn gentleness and desire to do the opponent good." I don't think Obama could be faulted on that count!

[rsprags]

Thank you sir for your beautiful article and observation. You have brought a voice of reason and clarity to a lot of noise and none sense!

[erikhiga]

One of the great things about American Society is that the people who live here are allowed to express their thoughts and opinions publicly. When somebody takes advantage of this right and uses their freedom of speech to publicly slam another human being we think they are smart and call them funny. Even the most ignorant and bigoted of men are free to think and act however the see fit. If Michael Steele really cares about this country then I think he should be commending the president and trying to find ways to work towards something positive. It is clear to me that the man is trying to push his own political agenda. There are far more important things to be focusing on at the moment than raising money for the GOP.

[bluebird47]

WOW~~What a great read! I really needed to read this at this time. When you are overwhelmed by all the angry rhetoric going on whether on TV, the internet, or in real life one tends to forget that there are people, especially Obama, that have remained civil amidst the anger. I know that I would have really had to go to anger management if I was dealing with all the stuff that has been hurled at him. Thanks!

[DorianBrandon]

A very well presented and convincing argument.

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, Dorian.

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you, SageFire.

[toppergem]

Thank you for such a well written piece that was based on sound observations of President Obama.
Civility has been in short supply in the last few months, but our president has maintained a posture that has been extremely supportive of all people and all countries.

[myk-os]

You hit the nail in the head, sir.
It is sad that there are people who are so full of hate and of themselves that they have lost the ability to see these things.Pre­sident Obama is an excellent role model for the world. This is an ongoing accomplishment that cannot and should not be diminished by anyone. The Nobel Peace Price is just a testament to how his example is making an impact in the world. Those who choose to be blind to this fact are on the losing end. I pity these miserable people who have nothing better to do than twist what is good into ridiculous, distorted lies.

[Vamsee Juluri - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you. Your observation makes me think that we should retire the phrase "love is blind" and replace it with the more current one: "Hate is Blinder"! Nothing else can explain the rise of lies against something good.

[SageFire]

Beautifully said. Thank you.