Norman Borlaug: The Man Who Saved More Human Lives Than Any Other Has Died

Reason.com ^ | September 13, 2009 | Ronald Bailey

[Leisler]

Norman Borlaug, the man who saved more human lives than anyone else in history, has died at age 95. Borlaug was the Father of the Green Revolution, the dramatic improvement in agricultural productivity that swept the globe in the 1960s. For spearheading this achievement, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. One of the great privileges of my life was meeting and talking with Borlaug many times over the past few years. In remembrance, I cite the introduction to Reason's 2000 interview with Borlaug below:

[Leisler]

Obama isn't fit to suck the dirt off this man's shoes.

A real man, doing real work, improving in reality real lives.

Not just another lawyer, Yale, Harvard....( fill in ) BS artist that pose in front of the ignorant American mob as something as important.

[Kansas58]

Malthusians don’t like this guy.

Malthusians WANT us to starve!

(We are BAD for the planet, after all!)

[Kansas58]

Malthusians don’t like this guy.

Malthusians WANT us to starve!

(We are BAD for the planet, after all!)

[kenavi]

BHO and his ilk have no idea of human resourcefulness. They are the real racists.

[null and void]

I would have thought that would be Paul Hermann Müller.

[nmh]

A funny though hit me.

I'm not familiar with this man ... but if he was a good man it is a loss.

What's even more tragic is Christ. He died for all - even His enemies and evil people don't want to recognize how many He died for. It is Christ for died for the most people.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Saved more lives than any other?

Did he end communism? Communists murdered 100 million people last century.

[nmh]

Norman Borlaug:
The Man Who Saved More Human Lives Than Any Other Has Died

I suppose it was the title that caught my attention.
Christ should have the headline but for an earthly mortal, let's recognize him too but put it in perspective.

[ari-freedom]

the *real* Green Jobs Czar

[investigateworld]

ping

[JohnBovenmyer]

He may even have saved more lives than Rachel Carson killed. He was her antithesis.

[litehaus]

"than Rachel Carson killed"...

And I'll take a bet that 99% of HS Grads today cannot tell you what you mean ! Darn it !

[Mase]

Now tell us again how GM foods serve to kill people rather than save them. Thank goodness real men like Borlaug control the debate. If not, Malthusians and other illiterates might be taken seriously. You could stand to learn a great deal from this great man.

[Fishtalk]

I note that this article has snippets from the lying, conniving Paul Ehrlich who I hate with a passion.

Why...you ask?

In 1968 when Ehrlich wrote his lying book, I was a young, sweet, very pretty liberal lass. I carried candles in the rain, I bled in others’ wound, I sat on my haunches in sociology class. I was so cool that I was the very definition of cool.

Comes the time to begin my foray into reproduction, as we all must do, once again I was cooler than cool. For I knew that Zero Population Growth, or ZPG as my cool liberal friends called it, was the way to go.

And I, the coolest, wisest, most liberal of them all, had only ONE child then husband had vasectomy. I would NOT, you understand, add more children to the planet that was doomed to starvation why goodness, the wonderful and wise Ehrlich done told us so.

Today I am bitter. I have one daughter, thank God for her, but wish I had more. SHE has only one child for whatever reason and intends to only have one. Her choice is not based on any liberal lies however. It is her decision and hey, it’s not unheard of.

So I have this one child and one grandchild and wish every damn day that I had more. I wish I had, I dunno, maybe TWO kids, maybe three even. I do love my one child but I am so bitter that I fell for that propaganda.

Which is why, ladies and gems, that I despise liberals today and intend to teach my one and only grandchild to find out the facts before believing what they say.

[Mase]

RIP a great American -- one of just three American Nobel Peace prize winners. Most of us know of Elie Wiesel and Henry Kissinger. How such an important man could remain relatively unknown in his own country is unfortunate. He didn't want fame or fortune; he just wanted to teach starving people to feed themselves. To Borlaug, science was there to save us. He exposed the idiocy of idiots like Paul Ehrlich. He detested the modern environmental movement that has sacrificed millions of lives in support a twisted ideology.

His passing is sad but his life should be celebrated. The MSM will probably ignore his passing along with his life's work. Very sad.

[yarddog]

I would bet that Alexander Fleming, Louis Pasteur and Jonas Salk saved far more lives.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Norman Borlaug, the man who saved more human lives than anyone else in history, has died at age 95.

It's amazing to me that I only learned about Norman Borlaug as an adult. The details of this great man's contributions to agricultural science and to all of humanity should be required reading for all children. He has realistically been credited with saving the lives of over a billion people.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Saved more lives than any other?

Did he end communism? Communists murdered 100 million people last century.

By ending the possibility of famine in South Asia and Africa (the latter despite opposition by environmental and leftist groups), it's been estimated that Borlaug has saved the lives of over a billion people. The greatest human being that people have never heard of.

[irishtenor]

I thought Algore won a prize...

[Pining_4_TX]

May he rest in peace. What a wonderful, dedicated man he was. He saved millions of lives, people who start successful businesses lift millions out of poverty, and every day people take care of their families and neighbors. This is what really matters. Politicians make empty promises, take our wealth, and start wars. There is no comparison.