From BBC News:
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has topped a BBC poll to find the person most people would like to lead a fantasy world government.
More than 15,000 people worldwide took part in the interactive Power Play game, in which players were invited to choose a team of 11 to run the world from a list of around 100 of the most powerful leaders, thinkers and other high-profile people on the planet.
The second choice was former US President Bill Clinton.
The winning 11 were exclusively male, with Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi the highest-ranking woman at 13th. Hillary Clinton was the next most popular woman at 16th.
[…] Perhaps the biggest surprise was the success of the American linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky, who came fourth. Another outspoken American, Michael Moore, was 15th.
Other placings included Osama bin Laden, at 70th, and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who was 49th.
Serving politicians were generally absent from the winning list. British Prime Minister Tony Blair narrowly missed out, coming 12th.
US President George W Bush was placed 43, ranking below two of his fiercest adversaries on the world stage, Fidel Castro – 36th – and Hugo Chavez, 33rd.
And UN General-Secretary Kofi Annan just made the fantasy world elite in 11th place.
[my emphasis]
Here’s how the fantasy world government voted on by BBC readers breaks down: 1) Nelson Mandela 2) Bill Clinton 3) Dalai Lama 4) Noam Chomsky 5) Alan Greenspan 6) Bill Gates 7) Steve Jobs 8) Archbishop Desmond Tutu 9) Richard Branson 10) George Soros 11) Kofi Annan.
Fascinating.
Me, I give this world exactly two months before all that’s left are Gates, Soros, and an army of trained fire ants—all of them fighting over the last of the Clinton thigh meat.
Who wouldn’t want an unrepentant Marxist terrorist running the world?
Yeah, yeah, I know – racist!
Thing is, as far as I know, Gates and Soros haven’t found a way to breed when they’re flying solo, so if/when it comes down to them and the ants, this pretty much spells the end of humanity.
We had a pretty good run, I guess. But in the grand scheme of things, the dinosaurs lasted a hell of a lot longer.
Fucking dinosaurs.
Years ago I noticed that Chomsky puts quite a lot of effort into misrepresenting the world situation, a fact that implies an incredibly overblown ego. After all a liar has to very very popular before his lies can actually affect policy.
Now we find out that reality is catching up with Noam’s megalomania, at least in Britain.
This is depressing.
Ah hell, look on the bright side, Osama didn’t make the list.
Had Maggie Thatcher made the list the world would be safe and she’d be drinking tea out of the hollowed out skulls of Chomsky and Annan within a week.
Ah hell, look on the bright side, Osama didn’t make the list.
According to the Pew Trust pollsters, Osama makes the list when you ask similar questions in most middle eastern countries.
I wonder how high Osama would be if you polled in France.
Ossama? The cabbana boy? Why in the world would he make the list? He’s inside getting some more con carne for the man and his wife.
What’s the deal with this? Do I laugh or cry?
Both. Then arm yourself and stock up on canned food.
British people loved Clinton because he never bombed Iraq, never spoke of Saddam’s WMDs and was against sanctions, he passed the Kyoto protocol, he enacted government healthcare, and created the gay marriage rights act.
I would live in Richard Branson’s’ world. Except he’d probably name it Virgin World.
Well, I, for one, welcome our new ant overlords.
did the little guy bring back some friends from Texas?
Jobs isn’t going to take it up the ass from Gates a second time. He’ll lead the rebellion.
“More than half of votes came from users in the United States.”
When you get the canned food don’t forget bottled water. And guns, lots of guns.
How fast would the right wing grow with most anyone of these folks in power?
I’d say within 3-6 months the right wing would be up to 55-50% of the populace.
Remember, all it takes is some experience with bad management, increased taxes, and an attack or two and lot of “Clinton democrats” simply switch sides to the right.
Revealing of who is watching the Beeb.
In order to properly celebrate the Gnome’s election to our UniMindCollektiv Government, I’ve set the Way-Back Machineâ„¢ to 1969 where W.F. Buckley offers up Chompers some chicken delight….
Buckley : “As you know, it’s not only I, but people with whom I disagree with, like Arthur Schlessinger refers to your theological certitudes and your liberal application of them to every subject in which you touch, so the subject of your own intolerance of other people’s point of view is, I think, itself linguistically interesting.”
Chomsky: “First of all, I don’t accept that criticism…..
http://hoohila.stanford.edu/firingline/programList.php
#143 (you can view the clip with RealPlayer)
I take it only useful idiots voted?
I also welcome our new ant overlords. Damn, too slow! :(
They had readers pick 11 team members and used that to come up with leader rankings. Team membership and leadership require completely different attributes. A lefty that might be pretty damn nervous about the idea of Castro leading a one world government might be just fine with him working alongside Mandela and Clinton on a team.
I don’t know if asking the correct question would skew those answers left or right and I don’t want to know. This is depressing enough. At least they didn’t vote to hand the whole world over to Posh and Becks I guess.
I just barfed a little in my mouth.
What’s wrong with that? They already live in a fantasy world; why shouldn’t they have a leader?…
I drafted Bill Clinton for my fantasy world government and all he did was bomb some Serbs. Three lousy fantasy points! If I hadn’t picked up Mugabe as a sleeper in the fifth round I’d have finished last in the league. That’s the last time I use Joe Klein’s cheatsheet.
My Team:
1 – Vladimir Putin – One World Government requires none of the negotiating skills or democratic namby-pambiness that comes with a Western Tradition.
Plus, Western Tradition, as such, is out-numbered by about 8 to 3 when considered in light of a “World Government.” So go with someone who isn’t namby-pamby.
Putin would be more effective a manager of a world government than, say, Dubya or Blair.
2 – Li RongRong – Chinese Minister of State Economy and Trade. C’mon, it’s CHINA and we Gaia dwellers are all friends now.
3 – Lt-General Joginder Jaswant Singh – India Military Chief of Staff. Once you’ve got leadership and economics taken care of, basically, you’re left with logistics. That’s the specialty of the military (witness disaster relief efforts both with the tsunami and Katrina)So, having gone with China for the economy, go with India for the military, mostly for their logistical expertise.
Or just hire the management team from UPS and let Brown take care of it.
4 – 10 – “Military Leaders from each ‘sphere’ –
US (which subsumes Canada and Mexico), South America, Northern Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Middle East, Europe
11. “Thinker” – Noam Chomsky, just ‘cuz.
But if it were Hillary’s thigh, they’d be set for years.
They should’ve asked me. ‘Cause there’s only one right answer when asked who should lead a world government: ME.
That’s the verbatim answer. Anyone who says anything except that precise word (or its equivalent in his or her own language) is too stupid to live.
I for one welcome our new ant overlords
SPECIESIST!
The Queen shall hear of this!
SB: well
deep subject
Noting that Bill Clinton is #2 on the list, I’ve found the following exercise enlightening and enjoyable in dealing with the left. When they assert that, “Clinton was a great president” or some such, ask them to give you ONE example of something he accomplished during his 8 years.
You’ll typically get one of two answers: A list of personal traits showing how he differs from Bush (which doesn’t answer the question), or an example of something he couldn’t accomplish because of the Republican majority in Congress (which also doesn’t answer the question).
It’s the rare individual who can come up with anything that Clinton actually did during his two terms, yet he’s widely hailed as the paragon of compassionate leadership. Proving once again that impressions are everything and that with enough good PR (AKA ‘favorable media’
any idiot could rule the world.
The “reality-based” community seems to spend an inordinate amount of effort coming up with fantasy governments.
Turing word: hot, as in I’ve got a plan and its as hot as my pants!
Well, it was obvious from day one Bush wasn’t liked by the “world.” Remember how, before he even took the oath, how the EU was sending emissaries to work out the Korea conflict, explaining how they didn’t trust Bush? Didn’t trust him? He hadn’t done anything at that time to not trust…
My Fantasy 11: Captain Crunch, Frankenberry, Count Chocula, Trix Rabbit, Tony the Tiger, Sugar Bear, Frito Bandito, Aunt Jemima, Snap!, Crackle!, and Pop!
Some questions:
Will the world accept as a leader a currency speculator who rules from an orbiting spaceship and changed his name from “Blofeld” to avoid the stigma attached to megalomaniacal world-ruler-wannabes?
Isn’t that Richard Chamberlain, not Richard Branson?
Right-wingnuts may ridicule the prospect of William Jefferson Blythe Clinton as a world ruler but his track record of ruling his basest passions surely makes him a formidable candidate, don’t you think?
Could it be that Ken Livingstone’s pay-to-park plan is the only reason he didn’t make the top 11?
Was Nicolai Carpathia on the list? Handsome, exotic Eastern European accent, former UN Secretary-General, as potential world rulers go, he’s hot, hot, HOT…
But if it were Hillary’s
thighcankles, they’d be set foryearscenturies.Says a lot more about the reader and viewership of BBC, and the political mythology of those who are more likely to answer surveys about one world government, than it does any prevailing mainstream opinion
Hmmm..Wow. That BBC list sure got sum’ people all riled up.
How about we look at who has been running the show ‘round the world when they get the right kind of help. -Y’know, the ‘reality’ based list.
Suharto
Nikole Ceauseceau
Mobutu Sese Sako
Willem De Klerk
Augusto Pinochet
Joseph Savambi
Saddam Hussein
Castello Branco
Leopoldo Galtieri
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Francois Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
EfraÃÂn RÃÂos Montt
…and on…and on..
Okay then…
Here we go again!
How can Harriet Miers not be high on the list?!?
BLT, I’m not Clinton lover, but I can come up with at least one thing: He left Greenspan alone.
Joan: interestingly, that’s probably first on my list as well. It could be argued that Greenspan let the bubble go on a bit long before taking action, but conversely could also be argued that he did everything perfectly. Without an alternate universe in which to test pet theories, we’ll never know, I guess.
Dudackattack,
Hissein Habre and Ngo Dinh Diem don’t make your list? You’ve revealed yourself as a crony and/or dupe of Western imperial interests, interested only in manufacturing the consent necessary to advance American imperialist constructs under the guise of “capitalism”, “property rights” and “the rule of law”. Your crude diversionary tactics will not succeed in slowing the awakening of the social and economic consciousness of the indigenous people’s of the so-called “Third World”, which is a Western linguistic construct used to delegitimize the legitimate economic and social grievances of the indigenous populations of Africa and Asia, who through application of social and economic justice programs will push back Western imperialist interests and establish a global economic status quo whereby capitalist interests will finally be forced to acquire the resources necessary for the capitalist system’s survival at rates far in excess of marginal costs, perhaps turning the tables to impose monopoly rents on the aggressors. We see you for what you are, you gibbering slave of capital!!!
tongueboy-
Er, Yeah.
I should rephrase my last brief comment –
Are you suggesting by the list I post that I supported their actions? Could you clarify your comment?
“A fantasy world government” sounds like a pretty good description of the U.N. to me. Let the campaign for Secretary General begin.
BLT – Welfare reform was pretty cool.
Dudackattack, sigh, you’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination – Next stop, the Chomsky Zone. Enjoy your stay.
British people loved Clinton because he never bombed Iraq, never spoke of Saddam’s WMDs and was against sanctions, he passed the Kyoto protocol, he enacted government healthcare, and created the gay marriage rights act.
Just nitpicking here, MayBee, but Clinton didn’t pass the Kyoto protocol. He sent it to the senate where it was rejected 97-0 (just like he knew it would be.)
Uh, I think that was sarcasm on Maybee’s part, because Clinton didn’t do any of those other things either.
Thanks, Slartibartfast.
Yes, Kelly, I was being sarcastic. Sorry I wasn’t more clear.
Clinton is so beloved, he often gets a pass on things for which Bush is reviled, even when their policies have been similar.