Bob Schwartz

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and philanthropist. His invention of dynamite and other weapons led to his being known as “the merchant of death.” To counter that reputation, he established a set of prizes in many fields, include a Peace Prize.

Trump covets the Nobel Peace Prize, which has gone to many Americans he hates. He was not very aware of the man behind the prize. When he learned about Nobel’s fortune and success as a businessman, Trump was ecstatic. This is his kind of guy, one he could work with to capture the prize.

Trump asked that Nobel be invited to the White House for a meeting in the Oval Office. Those who work for Trump were confounded. They did not want to tell him that Nobel had been dead for 130 years. Instead, they pretended that it was impossible to reach him, because he was on a secret mission involving the most important weapon of his career.

At first Trump was annoyed, suggesting he might triple the current tariff on Swedish goods from 15% to 45%. Then he forgot about it for a while. Whenever he asked again, he was given new details about the Nobel mission.

The next time his pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize came up, he announced that he had already talked with Alfred Nobel about it, that Nobel was coming to the White House, and that Nobel enthusiastically supported his receiving it.

I found the following in my notebook, dated December 8, 2020. It was the early days of the pandemic. A lot has happened since.

As it says, I could see a couple of possibilities. One is that there would be an almost obsessive drive to get back to “normal” and to the way things were or imagined to be. The other is that the situation could be taken as an opportunity to do things, see things, think things differently—better.

The way things were. The way things could be. Extreme situations can be opportunities, if we take them. I constantly quote Tennyson in Ulysses: “’T is not too late to seek a newer world.”

America AC

New world. New age. New nation.

The tragedy of the pandemic in America can’t be overstated. Comparison to past national disasters —the Civil War, the Great Depression —seems appropriate but painful.

Looking at tragedy as opportunity seems a cliche, even if constructive and forward looking.

The natural first response to the pandemic was finding the shortest path back to the way things were before. Then it became clear that certain adaptations might have to be made, at least temporarily. Then it became clear that changes were being forced that might not go away even when the pandemic did.

The years leading up to the pandemic already revealed problems in America. Not necessarily new problems. More likely ones that had been minimized or not given enough attention.

So as we emerge slowly, we have an opportunity that hasn’t presented itself in a long time, maybe ever in our history.

Bob Schwartz, December 8, 2020