Tag: norman borlaug

The deep-seated fear of Paul Ehrlich.

I’m not entirely certain why PowerLine and Ed Driscoll at Instapundit are surprised that professional doomsayer Paul Ehrlich is unavailable for comment about how it is that India is now capable of at least growing enough food* to sustain its population, despite the confidently nihilistic estimates of… Paul Ehrlich.  The answer’s simple: Ehlrich got his butt kicked so hard by Norman Borlaug – THE GREATEST IOWA FARMER WHO EVER LIVED – on this subject that Ehrlich is still hiding from the man to this day.

What’s that?  No.  Paul Ehrlich isn’t quite confident that reports of Borlaug’s death were accurate.  It could be a trap, to lure Ehrlich back into the open.  Which may sound ridiculous; but then, so was Ehrlich’s pathetically wrong, and teeth-jarringly racist, predictions.

Moe Lane

[UPDATE: Heh.  I spelled Ehrlich, I think, three different ways throughout.  Thanks to BG5 in comments for noticing.] Continue reading The deep-seated fear of Paul Ehrlich.

Norman Borlaug, 1914-2009.

Norman Borlaug, agronomist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has died.  A widower, he leaves behind five grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and 245,000,000 people who would have died of starvation without his work in the Green Revolution.

245,000,000 is, by the way, the conservative estimate. It’s been suggested that Dr. Borlaug may have saved up to 1,000,000,000 people with his work in practical agronomy; it’s certainly true that his work put a stake through the heart of the 1980s doomsday scenarios popularized by Paul R. Ehrlich and others.

Moe Lane

PS: Expect the above links to be about the extent of the public acclaim and respect shown to Dr. Borlaug, by the way.  As for accolades from the current administration… well, you tell me whether they’ll honor the man who made Paul Ehrlich look like a purblind fool.

Crossposted to RedState.