Who is the most powerful person in the world right now?

[DrDeth]

@Bouncer

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

He has the ability to affect the worlds economy faster and with more impact than anyone else on earth. He’s also in charge of the two holiest sites for more than a billion people.

Who do you think is more powerful, the President of the United States, or the man who can make the President of the United States defend his country?

The man who, with a wave of his arm could send in the worlds most powerful armed force, take his crown, his oilfields and his holy places in less than two weeks.

[shijinn]

except he can’t.
the name is Hu Jintao. he’s Chinese not Japanese.

[Indian]

Michelle Obama for obvious reasons.

[Trinopus]

@Troutsqueezer

Me.

I have full control over my mind and body. Nobody…I mean nobody can force me to do something if I don’t want to do it.

Um… Five or six strong guys could force you to do all sorts of things.

I sort of see your point. If you define “do” as “volitionally act,” then, yeah, no one can compel an act of volition from you against your volition. Tautological. Even then, though: what about under the influence of drugs, or hypnosis, or the “Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under strESS.” Again, you might argue that, at that point, it isn’t really “you” any longer, but a mind so very altered as to be someone else’s. But again, the only way for that to fly is to change the definition from what is commonly accepted, in order to pronounce a tautology.

[DrDeth]

@shijinn

except he can’t.
the name is Hu Jintao. he’s Chinese not Japanese.

Who are you replying to?

[shijinn]

oh i was replying to you, DrDeth. then i noticed the spelling mistake and had to nitpick it.

@Thudlow_Boink

It’s at least plausible to me that the President of the United States (whoever he happens to be at the moment) is both (a) the most powerful person in the world, and (b) not nearly as powerful as people think he is.

[Bouncer]

I answered the question the way I did because while the POTUS has the most power available to him militarily, he does not have the most economic power, nor does he have the most personal power.

1. The POTUS cannot order the public execution of one of his citizens, or their entire family at whim, and have it be law. The King of Saudi Arabia can.

2. The POTUS cannot change the economy of the entire planet simply by refusing to sell anyone a single product of his country. The King of Saudi Arabia can.

3. The POTUS can be removed from office and in fact, is always removed from office every four or eight years. The King of Saudi Arabia cannot be removed from office except by civil war, death, or abdication.

4. The power of the POTUS is constrained in many ways, both politically and legally. The King of Saudi Arabia has no such restrictions, which is the point.

Officially he is the 3rd richest Royal in the world, but in practical terms, his wealth is the entirety of the wealth of Saudi Arabia. There is simply no comparison with the POTUS or anyone else.

Regards,
-Bouncer-

[Nancarrow]

I am.

Every time I close my eyes, the whole world goes dark. And when I go to sleep, President Obama has to come and invigilate the final exam for the degree I didn’t even realise I was studying for until I walked into the room.

[Sailboat]

A lion. They can totally beat tigers.