As you’ve probably noticed from a recent entry of mine, I’ve been trying to dig through the deep, dark mire that is known as American politics. Like a responsible American, I realize that my vote is precious. Because of that realization, I want to cast my vote knowing I’ve done everything I can to read about the issues, find out where candidates stand, figure out what’s truth, what’s rumor, and what’s flat-out made-up lies. I want to know that the vote I’m casting isn’t based on what someone else tells me to do, which candidate had the most money, who had the slickest PR machine, or what’s popular at the time. I want to know that the vote I cast means something, that my vote goes to whoever I believe best represents me, as a citizen of this great country, and that they match as closely as possible my own beliefs, opinions, and perceptions about where this nation should be headed and how we’ll get to where it is we’re trying to go.
That sounds like a pretty pleasant process of discovery, right? It’s not. It sucks. It royally sucks. I hate politics. I loathe it. I despise what it has become. It’s so depressing to me how it’s turned into MTV-style slogan-based mob psychology as opposed to honest, civil discussions and the ability to maturely agree to disagree when two people don’t agree on everything. I hate the fact that both sides scream at each other constantly, that neither is willing to trust anything the other has to say even if they know that such statements are based in fact; it doesn’t matter, because the mouth those facts come out of belong to someone who doesn’t agree with you. That’s so wrong, so childish, so pig-headed. I hate it. I loathe it. It’s so stressful, so depressing, and so obnoxious that I just can’t stand it. It’s so disheartening to me that I have to dig through all that crap just to do something that I feel is the responsible thing to do: cast an educated vote.
I’m tired of that and I need something happy to think about instead. In fact, I think the whole world could do with something happy to think about. So it’s in that vein that I would like to introduce you to someone really remarkable that most of us have probably never heard of.
| Meet Norman Borlaug. He’s a really remarkable guy. Some would say he might just be one of the greatest people who have ever lived. Why? Because he has helped save the lives of billions of people on this planet. You’d think he’d be a household name by now, right? I mean, gee, it’s not like many people can say – or have had said about them – that they’ve saved over a billion people. That’s pretty dang cool. Even Superman probably can’t say that, and he’s made up! Norman’s not made up, and he’s way cooler than Superman. Plus, just look at how cute he is! Doesn’t he look like he’d be the best grandpa ever? I think I just might adopt him. Um, anyway… yeah, so how did he save the lives of a billion people? By feeding them. In 1942, he received his Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota. He took that knowledge and decided to do something for the world. Norman moved his family to Mexico, where he lived and worked with poor farmers. He got to know them, he got to know the problems they were having with their crops. That’s when he developed semi-dwarf high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties, so that more farmers could produce more crops to feed more people. |
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Most people probably would have been content just to say that they’d saved the lives of loads of people in Mexico, but not Norman. After Mexico, he went off to India, who were in the midst of a bloody conflict with Pakistan. He did the same thing there, developing new strains of crops, continuing to bolster the cycle of more farmers, more crops, more starving people fed. After saving lives in India and Pakistan, off he went to Africa, and again, more farmers, more crops, more full bellies. Now Norman, who is well into his nineties, is in China, continuing his work to provide sustainable resources for those who are in such desperate need. As he says, “You can’t build a peaceful world on empty stomachs and human misery.”
At a time when politics can make you feel like everything in this world is miserable, nothing is going the way it should, and corruption is all around us, Norman Borlaug is a breath of fresh air. Here’s a man who could be the most famous, most recognizable, wealthiest man in the world if he truly wanted to be, because based on his accomplishments, he would deserve it. But what does he do? He just keeps on working. He doesn’t toot his own horn, he just keeps on giving.
We need more Normans in this world. But until there are more people like Norman, at least Norman can serve as a nice reminder that maybe this world isn’t as dim, dark, and depressing as politics can sometimes make it appear to be. Maybe I’m too much of an optimist, but I like to think that so long as there are people in the world like Norman, there’s still hope. Norman isn’t just a vote in the Senate, Norman isn’t just a pleasant speech. Norman is a hard worker who has set his own interests aside, set aside his own ego, his own well-deserved glory, for the sake of those who have less than himself. Now that’s someone to celebrate.
Thanks, Norman. Thank you for making our world a better place.