[AnotherUnixGeek]

if you had to identify the biggest killer of all it was probably Norman Borlaug, one of the architects of the Green Revolution, which unleashed displacement, malnutrition and death across the Third World.

OK, can someone explain what the hell this is supposed to mean? It's always been my understanding that Norman Borlaug is one of the greatest heroes of the 20th century. His agricultural research and his tireless efforts for better crop yields ended famine in most of the Third World and turned nations like India into grain exporters. I have no idea how anyone can dispute the great work this man has done for the rest of humanity - in a century notable for mass murderers like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot, Borlaug saved millions of lives and improved millions more.

[JLS]

My guess is his green revolution led to economies of scale in agriculture in other parts of the world causing subsistance farmer to be force off their plots? I looked in wikipedia and the main controversy they mentioned was fertilizing and genetic engineering.

Remember the Ludites of the left are generally against us living better lives. In that respect algore is in a long leftist tradition and Hitchens is out of step.

[sphinx]

Some of the deep ecologists are perfectly happy with mass starvation, as it is one of nature’s ways of keeping human numbers in check. The green revolution has saved scores of millions from starvation. That makes Norman Borlaug and his bioscience compatriots villains in some green eyes.

[saganite]

He probably means that the increased food production allowed more people to live and have more children thereby spreading misery (his opinion not mine) in the third world. Just a guess on my part