Put Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill and Norman Borlaug on the Dime
Cross posted from 200-Proof Liberals
If I asked you how many names you recognize from the list of the first 7 United States presidents, what would that number be?
George Washington
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
James Monroe
John Quincy Adams
Andrew Jackson
I'd guess that you recognize all 7.
Now, how many names do you recognize from this list?
Fritz Haber
Carl Bosch
Karl Landsteiner
Richard Lewisohn
Linn Enslow
Abel Wolman
Norman Borlaug
You might know Borlaug, but I’d bet that’s it. Yet each one is responsible for saving millions of lives, and in some cases, billions.
That we know everyone on the first list and few, if any, names on the second list speaks to just how central politics is to our culture. Who is on our money and represented in our monuments? Typically, politicians. But we would do well to reconsider our moral priorities and honor those who have actually done the most good.
And here’s a terrific lecture by Steve Davies that inspired this post:
People on US money should be Americans. And dead long enough to judge objectively.
Wright Brothers on the $500
Norman Borlaug on the $200
Ben Franklin on the $100
Harriet Tubman on the $20 (sure)
Mark Twain on the $10
Discontinue $1 and $5 bills, pennies, nickels, and dimes. (Face it - inflation.)
Frederick Douglass on the $5 coin
Albert Einstein on the $1 coin
Abraham Lincoln on the half-dollar.
George Washington on the quarter.
Yay.