If there’s any consensus about Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace prize last week, it’s that the award was given somewhat prematurely, perhaps in an effort to strengthen the presidents resolve on the tough road ahead. Whatever the case may be, many in the media are outraged, including the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol who said somewhat disdainfully, “I mean, President Obama and I have done about the same amount to bring about world peace.”

Obama receives another award

So what do you call it when an award is given before a person has done anything to deserve it? I call it skipping the middle-man. In some respects, awards have a very practical function – acknowledging success is a way to ensure more success is generated. And in an era where the legitimacy of even the most accomplished among us is thrown into question by everything from a gender test to a drunk Kanye West swiping your microphone, maybe it’s time we rethink how we look at awards. If Obama doesn’t deserve the prize he was given, then in some ways we were all in the running. I say we should accept this as a fact and move ahead. We might miss out on gaining a hero to look up to, but if we all strive a bit harder to make the cut next time the Nobel Peace Prize is handed out, there might be a lot more actual peace in the world.