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Mandela wins BBC's 'global election'
BBC News ^ | 30 September 2005

Posted on 10/03/2005 3:24:29 AM PDT by LwinAungSoe

Mandela wins BBC's 'global election'

 

Nelson Mandela
Mandela was selected by more than half the players

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.

Entrepreneurs feature prominently in the selection. Microsoft head Bill Gates, Apple chief Steve Jobs, and Virgin boss Richard Branson all made the final 11, as did stock market billionaire and philanthropist George Soros.

Players also placed emphasis on the need for financial probity - US Federal Reserve boss Alan Greenspan made the list at number five.

And two religious leaders, both associated with challenges to dominant authority, found a place in the winning line-up - the Dalai Lama in third and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in eighth. Pope Benedict XVI came 28th.

Politicians miss out

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.

alt
FINAL SELECTION
Noam Chomsky
1 - Nelson Mandela
2 - Bill Clinton
3 - Dalai Lama
4 - Noam Chomsky (pictured)
5 - Alan Greenspan
6 - Bill Gates
7 - Steve Jobs
8 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
9 - Richard Branson
10 - George Soros
11 - Kofi Annan

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.

A range of sports and entertainment celebrities were on offer, but few ended up in the higher placings. U2 frontman Bono came in at 14th, while Pele was the highest scoring sportsman at 25th.

Footballer David Beckham limped in at number 72, with Kylie Minogue five places below him. Jennifer Lopez was almost at rock bottom in 92nd place.

The game - modelled on the hugely popular Fantasy Football - was run as part of the BBC's Who Runs Your World season, which explores where power lies in the 21st century.

More than half of votes came from users in the United States.

Users were required to pick at least one each from a select list of leaders, thinkers and economists, and had a free choice of any other eight, including the option of selecting "wild cards" from areas such as sport, politics, arts and design.



TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: annan; aungsansuukyi; bbc; branson; burma; chomsky; clinton; dalailama; gates; globalelection; globalism; greenspan; jobs; mandela; soros; tutu
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1 posted on 10/03/2005 3:24:30 AM PDT by LwinAungSoe
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To: LwinAungSoe

1 - Nelson Mandela
2 - Bill Clinton
3 - Dalai Lama
4 - Noam Chomsky (pictured)
5 - Alan Greenspan
6 - Bill Gates
7 - Steve Jobs
8 - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
9 - Richard Branson
10 - George Soros
11 - Kofi Annan


That whole list is a joke. Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton?


2 posted on 10/03/2005 3:30:57 AM PDT by JimDingle (Give Dingle a Jingle)
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To: LwinAungSoe

Thank God this is not a real election or a real world government.

Mandela, a nasty old socialist/communist, The Clintons, Chomsky? You've got to be kidding. These people are the end of the world.


3 posted on 10/03/2005 3:34:33 AM PDT by garyhope
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To: JimDingle

Lets see, they picked a terrorist murdering racist and the first black white man lying POS to lead them. Mandella led Africa into starvation and Clinton led the US into a moral trash heap. Great picks. BBC sucks big time.


4 posted on 10/03/2005 3:35:28 AM PDT by sgtbono2002
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To: JimDingle
Who were the respondents? I mean, Mandela, Clinton, Dalai Lama, are known. Chomsky? Come on, beside the leftists and linguists, who even think about Chomsky as a leader (or even heard his name)? Yet, he's # 4 !

How about Madonna? Or Michael Jackson?

5 posted on 10/03/2005 3:38:14 AM PDT by paudio (Four More Years..... Let's Use Them Wisely...)
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To: sgtbono2002
Other placings included Osama bin Laden, at 70th, and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who was 49th
Why would the BBC have Bin Laden in the running and how did he get 70th? At least Bush got 43rd.
6 posted on 10/03/2005 3:38:38 AM PDT by JimDingle (Give Dingle a Jingle)
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To: JimDingle
At least Bush got 43rd.

The american people selected him 43rd also - the 43rd president of the US. Not a perfect list, but a much better one...

7 posted on 10/03/2005 3:43:18 AM PDT by LearnsFromMistakes (We know the right things to do, why don't we just do them?)
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To: LearnsFromMistakes

Chomsky , Soros ? Proof of the total ignorance of the Brits and BBC


8 posted on 10/03/2005 3:49:55 AM PDT by hoboken109
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To: LwinAungSoe

To quote the late great Waylon Jennings "Stop the world and let me off"


9 posted on 10/03/2005 4:10:57 AM PDT by kb2614 ("Speaking Truth to Power" - What idiots say when they want to sound profound!!)
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To: LwinAungSoe

Lead them where?


10 posted on 10/03/2005 4:37:46 AM PDT by Tarpon
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To: LwinAungSoe

The BBC just loves the idea of having a small oligarchy running the world. Never mind who gets voted onto it - the concept of World Government is crazy.


11 posted on 10/03/2005 4:49:40 AM PDT by agere_contra
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To: LwinAungSoe
And these smug, cowardly elitists wonder why we don't listen to them?


12 posted on 10/03/2005 4:49:51 AM PDT by geedee (Most people don't really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility and courage.)
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To: hoboken109

Hmmm, who’s more ignorant? The people who put Noam Chomsky at number 4, or the person who thinks this list is in any way representative of UK public opinion?

It’s not just Brits involved in the creation of this list. Your rush to criticise made you miss that bit.

Lists like these are always ridiculous because genuine contenders end up competing for the same votes (i.e. the ones that aren’t given by sheep). Anyone who takes a list like this seriously needs, to quote a certain football manager, an IQ test.


13 posted on 10/03/2005 4:52:48 AM PDT by FostersExport
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To: LwinAungSoe

"...Nelson Mandela has topped a BBC poll to find the person most people would like to lead a fantasy world government."

Then your country too, can be an unstable, chaotic, poverty-sticken s%$t hole! Great idea!!!


14 posted on 10/03/2005 5:05:58 AM PDT by SMARTY ("Stay together, pay the soldiers and forget everything else." Lucius Septimus Severus)
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To: LwinAungSoe
Lefties not only lie/cheat/steal for freebies but play for free prizes as well. . .

. . .no mention of Osama; wondering who else was in the field of candidates offered. . .

15 posted on 10/03/2005 5:07:30 AM PDT by cricket (No Freedom. . .No Peace. . .)
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To: LwinAungSoe

You too, could be the next World Idol!


16 posted on 10/03/2005 5:11:13 AM PDT by wolfcreek
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To: JimDingle

Perfect example of why the UN must be destroyed. Except for Gates, Jobs, Branson, and the Dalai Lama, the rest are all hardcore socialists and/or outright Marxists.

And the Dalai Lama is a disgrace whose cowardice spelled death for countless numbers of the people he claims to represent.


17 posted on 10/03/2005 6:04:47 AM PDT by thoughtomator (Aren't the "reality-based community" folks the same ones who insist there is no objective reality?)
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To: FostersExport

Sorry to offend you . BBC has gone mad as of late. Perhaps the Brits are not all anti US but it seems their sentiments are moving in that direction quickly as it is also moving towards a UN world govet. /socialist semtiment.. My dad taught me at an early age that England is one of the few allies the US will EVER have. It just angers me so to see such insanity come from there. Your point is well taken though .


18 posted on 10/03/2005 12:12:58 PM PDT by hoboken109
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To: LwinAungSoe
The Doctor?


19 posted on 10/03/2005 12:30:42 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: hoboken109

"BBC has gone mad of late"? This is a public poll in which, if you read the article, half the respondants are from the US. How can you blame the BBC for the outcome of a public poll?

Whether you like it or not Chomsky is a hero around the world - In another public poll this year BBC listeners voted Marx the worlds greatest philosopher.

Shocked? You shouldn't be - how can you be shocked by writers you have never read for yourself?

marx' Capital is the definitive book on capitalism, and capitalists dont disagree with the analysis, but disagree on conclusions drawn.

Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival and Manufacturing Consent stand up to the toughest of critical analysis. He is a thorough and hardworking academic, who makes great effort to read government documents and stand up for the constitution. US should be proud to have such a rigorous academic mind devoting himself to their own national issues.

Critical self-analysis is the sign of a mature nation.

-As for the poster who called Mandella a terrorist, you will be interested to know that a statue of Nelson is going up next to Nelson's Coloumn in London's Trafalgar Square - he truly is a British hero - and the people of Britain led the call for the end of apartheid right there in Trafalgar Square with regular demonstrations throughout the 1980's.


20 posted on 10/11/2005 5:18:04 PM PDT by donatello
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