Norman Borlaug Dead. Who Is Norman Borlaug? Well Worth Finding Out!

[BlooInBloo]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/13/norman-borlaug-dead_n_284886.html

"Norman E. Borlaug saved more lives than any man in human history," said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program. "His heart was as big as his brilliant mind, but it was his passion and compassion that moved the world."

He was known as the father of the "green revolution," which transformed agriculture through high-yield crop varieties and other innovations, helping to more than double world food production between 1960 and 1990. Many experts credit the green revolution with averting global famine during the second half of the 20th century and saving perhaps 1 billion lives.

"He has probably done more and is known by fewer people than anybody that has done that much," said Dr. Ed Runge, retired head of Texas A&M University's Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and a close friend who persuaded Borlaug teach at the school. "He made the world a better place – a much better place."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called Borlaug "simply one of the world's best. A determined, dedicated, but humble man who believed we had the collective duty and knowledge to eradicate hunger worldwide."

...

Borlaug often said wheat was only a vehicle for his real interest, which was to improve people's lives.

"We must recognize the fact that adequate food is only the first requisite for life," he said in his Nobel acceptance speech. "For a decent and humane life we must also provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable housing, good clothing and effective and compassionate medical care."

RIP. Glad to have learned a little bit about him

[Luminous Animal]

1. Darling of the reactionary Heritgate Foundation. Little a bit more.

[Teaser]

2. what

.

[izquierdista]

5. I don't hold that against him

The right wing is always trotting out the canard "teach a man to fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he can eat for a lifetime", so naturally they glommed onto Borlaug since he exemplified that. Where the right wing falls down on the job is that they don't want to spend any $$ to teach poor people how to fish, or how to plant crops, or how to do anything. They expect illiterate peasants to learn how to do things by the magic of the free market, as if ignorance creates a 'demand' for schooling (private, charter type schools, with vouchers, and using materials sold by Neil Bush).

Borlaug did his wheat experiments in Mexico and then exported the program wholesale to India, which the right wingers could never stomach, as it would require being close enough to breathe the same air as brown people. Sure, they liked him, but would they DO any of the things he did, or put their $$ on the line to support his ideas? Not on your life.

[Luminous Animal]

7. Borlaug = Monsanto.

Fuck them both.

[Odin2005]

9. What a pathetic, disgusting post.

[HamdenRice]

20. No, it isn't

He inspired the creation of international crop research institutes that collected land race seeds of all the major food crops, preserved them for posterity and made them available patent free -- like the International Rice Research Institute.

Only decades later did Monsanto begin trying to patent seed crops. Don't blame Monsanto on Borlaug.

[paulsby]

13. he's also won the admiration of Penn (of Penn and Teller fame)

i happen to like Penn, but many liberals do not.

i also happen to admire borlaug.

[MadHound]

3. Short term the Green Revolution was a miracle

Long term it has polluted our soil, water and air with massive quantities of chemicals, driven small farmers out of business, and created a soil crisis in our country.

[Oregone]

4. Funny how that works

Free trading seemed badass too at first

[AnOhioan]

6. +1 My thoughts exactly

[Hannah Bell]

17. primary benefit of green rev went to ag corps.

[Odin2005]

22. Right, and those folks in India just MAGICALLY stopped starving!

:eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

25. they weren't starving because there wasn't enough food.

[HamdenRice]

18. What an ignorant thing to say.

It lifted millions of small farmers out of poverty and hunger.

[Teaser]

23. Without it, many would have starved to death

but yes, it has caused problems. Every significant action does. I guarantee that a significant fraction of today's panaceas will, in retrospect, create massive problems in the future.

[Odin2005]

8. A scientific hero who saved million of lives.

Shame of the posters in this thread bashing him.

"We must recognize the fact that adequate food is only the first requisite for life," he said in his Nobel acceptance speech. "For a decent and humane life we must also provide an opportunity for good education, remunerative employment, comfortable housing, good clothing and effective and compassionate medical care."

Wow, what an evil man! :sarcasm:

[Zoeisright]

11. +1

[Odin2005]

12. Thank you.

There are certain people who shit on all technological advancement, no matter how good it is. They assume that all technology must have some sinister dark side if only they can find it. :eyes:

[Zoeisright]

24. Yup.

Dr. Borlaug saved more than 200,000,000 people. Not many can say that.

[HamdenRice]

19. The bashing is shockingly ignorant, mean spirited and counterfactual. Then you have the Malthusians

who are saying that by feeding millions of people he only made sure more people would starve in the future (of course, some undefined dystopian future that they have wet dreams about).

[bridgit]

10. ty, Bloo, for posting ~

:takingpalmfromface&wavingtoyouwithitwithwigglyfingers:

[BlooInBloo]

14. lol! Nice emoticon!

Just thought he sounded like a smart guy who tried his damnedest to make the world a better place, and I never heard of him, so I thought there might be others that hadn't. :)

[AusDem]

15. no, didn't know that he was the man behind it

my father talks about the green revolution in India (as that is my background). Basically there is a chance that he, and therefore I, wouldn't be alive today if this hadn't happened. So I think this guy's a-ok.

to those who blame him for overpopulation, its quite disturbing. So you would rather that millions (maybe billions) of people had died of starvation? You can't be a supporter FOR healthcare and then not care that this man was literally responsible for providing food security for so many people.

food scarcity is a horrific way to control populations. Contraception, education and the emancipation of women. Hit those three things and you're on your way. (Either that or the Chinese method).

Thanks for posting!

[BlooInBloo]

16. :)

[depakid]

21. He also inspired an original Star Trek episode

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