Most Influential Person Alive

[SteveO]

Who do you think is the most influential person on the planet alive today and why?

If your choice is not on the list, please say who it is and why.

I have voted for my Mum. This is because I feel that we are influenced more in our life before the age of seven than at any other time and this is who I spent the most time with at this age.

 

[Jennyontheblock]

Easily George Bush because of the resources and money he has available to him - my opinion anyway.

 

[Cyn]

Yes, I think George has a huge amount of power to change the nature of people's lives for good or bad.

 

[Gnar_ki11]

The people who voted for george probably feels that way, but I know an awful lot of people who just totally ignore anything he says, so he has no influence over them. I vote for moms everywhere.

Remember the saying, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.".

 

[sugarmama]

well i think like it or not even if you did not vote for him he has the power, drive and resources to effect vast numbers of people both in and outside of his country.

 

[singer02]

Do you mean influences you or influences the world as a whole?

 

[cnwhab4]

I think Bush can accomplish a lot, but I don't think he'll sway anyone's opinion.
Pope is about the same. Really influecial over Catholics but not as much so with everyone else. I would say he's a little ways a head of Bush though.
Osama may inspire terrorist by the fact that he's not captured, but not much else.
Is your mum a joke answer? Do you mean moms all over the world or just my mother?

So I would say Pope if we're talking opinions, Bush for work to get done.


Which type of influence are we talking about?

 

[TedC]

Here's my reasoning behind including each of these:

Your Mum
I think I really meant "Everyone's mothers". I just wondered whether you think that people's lives are influenced more by the way they are brought up than by social and political factors in adult life. Do these outweigh the influence of later factors? The jesuits used to say "Show me a child when he's seven and I'll show you the man." Is this true?

George Bush
George Bush has a huge amount of influence on the way people live their lives, wherever they live. Like it or not, the decisions he makes will affect jobs, mortgages, the health and survival of many people in many countries, together with the political and economic stability of many others. What he decides with respect to environmental questions such as CO2 emissions will affect the whole world in the next few years, since the US produces close to 20% of the world's CO2 emissions.

Osama Bin Laden
Partly because of his influence on George Bush, and hence some of the direction that US politics has taken in the past three years. But also in the impact that his behaviour has had on relations between muslims and christians in many other countries. These are the two biggest religions on the planet, after all. What hope for world peace when people think their next door neighbour is a fundamentalist?

The Pope
Another religious one, obviously, but at the end of the day his word is law for the millions of Catholics round the world, particularly in Africa and South America where the number of churchgoers is huge. Some people blame the Catholic church's stance on the use of condoms for the Aids epidemic in Africa, which has been called "the greatest disaster of our times". According to the WHO, 15% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa are now HIV positive.

So, no, there are no joke answers. I'm just interested to know who you think has had the most influence on the most people?

 

[Donya]

Moms then. Everyone shapes many of their views based on how they were raised.

 

[clucky36]

Definatly mothers, since they influence your earlier life, and can have more of an influence without you realising it than the others do. Though of couse you could also include fathers here too, since they have just as much of an influence.

 

[WillH]

Anyone who says anything other than their mum should be spanked. (Unless your into that) Then you should be doused with ICE cold water......

 

[Liss]

My mother. I'm full of her wisdom and not afraid to use it.

 

[EdwardQ]

Nah, not many catholics in our part of the woods....

 

[DrakeDrunken2]

me mum why? because she taught me to hate

 

[Adelaide]

got to go with W

he rulz the free world

but not without the help of our brothers from the UK and Down under!