• ShotDonkey@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    8 hours ago

    Thank god the global South has so many white saviours.

    Borlaug quite litterally paved the way for industrialized agriculture in countries like India with all the devastating social and environmental effects that come with it.

    But sure there were severe famines before Borlaug came, all their own fault.

    • mechoman444@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      4 hours ago

      This is a textbook example of arguing in bad faith.

      I said Norman Borlaug’s work helped alleviate starvation for billions of people. Somehow you turned that into “white savior,” industrial agriculture, and the absurd claim that I think pre-Green Revolution famines were “all their own fault.” I didn’t say any of those things. You invented an argument because you couldn’t address the one I actually made.

      Borlaug’s contribution stands on its own. His research dramatically increased crop yields and helped prevent catastrophic famine. That isn’t a matter of opinion, it’s one of the most well-documented humanitarian achievements of the 20th century.

      You’re also trying to pin every downstream consequence of industrial agriculture on one scientist, as though he personally designed decades of government policy, farming practices, and corporate incentives. That’s a ridiculous standard. By that logic, every inventor is responsible for every misuse or unintended consequence of their invention forever.

      If you want to discuss the environmental tradeoffs of the Green Revolution, that’s a legitimate conversation. But that’s not what you did. Instead, you injected race into a discussion where it wasn’t relevant, built a straw man out of things I never said, and then congratulated yourself for knocking it down.

      If your argument requires inventing my position before you can refute it, maybe your argument isn’t as strong as you think it is.

      • ShotDonkey@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        16 minutes ago

        That’s a whole mouthful from somebody who (checks notes) started off with some messianic comparisons.