OG Shaka Zulu
Member
Merkel, runner up Obama. The latter can still go anywhere he wants and act like president since the world is laughing at our current one.
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Who's currently the Leader of the Free World?
- Thread starter RustyNails
- Start date
Machine Messiah
Member
It's Angela Merkel for sure -- she's done wonders for Germany and started a beautiful cultural revolution in Europe
Bitch Pudding
Member
Because Trump sure as hell cant be one.
My vote
Who?.gif
Also, lol @ all those who think it's Trump, someone who isn't even capable of leading the White House.
NoblesseOblige
Banned
My vote is for Merkel.
Leader of the free world is a largely American centric construct . For example we in India look at America and other western countries on many equal footings we realize us is the largest economy and military but no one really looks to America like some beacon of free world leadership . Obama helped take it that way big time internationally but then trump so ... I'll leave it at that
umop_3pisdn
Member
R10Neymarfan
Member
It's a facade once you go up against the higher levels and try to check the system like you're suppose to, those freedoms all of the sudden disappear.
Hell they might not even be granted to you if you don't happen to be white or passing. Obviously that's how America society wants to say
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
It's Trump.
He was elected to that position.
He was elected to that position.
Xi Jinping.
For all the shit China gets on gaf I doubt very many people talking shit have spent any amount of time there.
Given the US criminal justice system and continuously starting unnecessary wars, and human rights issues being fairly miniscule in China if you look at just how many people live there, I don't know why the US has even held that mantle since 2003 (Iraq war).
For all the shit China gets on gaf I doubt very many people talking shit have spent any amount of time there.
Given the US criminal justice system and continuously starting unnecessary wars, and human rights issues being fairly miniscule in China if you look at just how many people live there, I don't know why the US has even held that mantle since 2003 (Iraq war).
Bruce Springsteen
Member
The leader is the one with power, not what social media wants
God Dayumm
Banned
What about Richard Stallman?
Brawly Likes to Brawl
Member
"of the free world" is the operating part of the term. What free world are you leading if you consistently show contempt for civil liberties and express admiration for authoritarian regimes?
NoblesseOblige
Banned
Bruce is a little dense. Pay him no mind.
Imperfected
Member
Even if your argument is that Trump is the leader of the free world because he has "the power", what power does he have?
He can't get jack shit done even with Republican majorities in Congress. He's ineffectual at everything but eroding the authority of his own position through sheer incompetence.
He can't get jack shit done even with Republican majorities in Congress. He's ineffectual at everything but eroding the authority of his own position through sheer incompetence.
It just a loose trivial phrase/colloquial that been around for quite a while ago. Not suppose to take it literally.
Fast Forward
Member
As usual, first reply gets it right on NeoGaf.
Believe me, I REALLY hate to say it, BC I think the Dude is a obvious con man, and his supporters are "marks" as Carneys would say.
Even so, BC this baby happens to the president of America, yes, he's the leader of the "free world" like it or not, and believe me, I sure in the fuck do NOT like it.
But *sights* he is.
CharminUltra
Member
The orange toad.
Bruce Springsteen
Member
Obama as the president of the United States was the leader of the free world, now suddenly trump isn't with all the same power?
He got his SC nomination through who will be there another 40 years and Obamacare is going to be repealed. Tax reform could be next, republicans are going to want it do so before the 2018 elections
Imperfected
Member
He doesn't have "all the same power". The actual, granted powers of the position are surprisingly limited, with the only truly impressive one being the extreme level of insulation it has against legal reprisal. The vast majority of the "power" vested in the position is based on the enormous amount of respect people had for it.
Trump squandered the respect due the office before he even hit the Oval Office, and has been doing a bang-up job of pissing away any political capital he may have had left on the international stage with his behavior since. No one respects him, no one does what he says, no one takes his promises or threats seriously, and worst of all, not one trusts him, not even our closest allies.
As a result, he has virtually none of the power normally associated with the position. He has the (by no means unlimited) ability to issue executive orders, certain wartime privileges as commander in chief, and the ability to waste massive amounts of taxpayer money on diplomatic boondoggles. That's about it. Without the respect of other world leaders (or even local leaders...) it really is a ceremonial figurehead position.
funkystudent
Member
Two things.
Leader of the free world doesn't exists. Maybe it meant something in the Cold War but not now. Been a empty self pat on the back ever since.
No one really gives a fuuuuck about Canada. They are the international version of nice quiet people who live up the street. It's just nice they are there but can say they carry much infuance.
Leader of the free world doesn't exists. Maybe it meant something in the Cold War but not now. Been a empty self pat on the back ever since.
No one really gives a fuuuuck about Canada. They are the international version of nice quiet people who live up the street. It's just nice they are there but can say they carry much infuance.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Massive Duck. C.M.
Banned
I regret to inform you that Putin and Bannon make your boy Trump beep by pushing his prostate. Power comes from knowing why you do what you do
perfectchaos007
Member
It's whomever is the current sitting PotUS, whether you like him or not.
2016 Rank Country GDP
(millions of US$)
1 United States 18,569,100
— European Union 16,408,364
2 China 11,218,281
3 Japan 4,938,644
4 Germany 3,466,639
5 United Kingdom 2,629,188
2016 Rank Country GDP
(millions of US$)
1 United States 18,569,100
— European Union 16,408,364
2 China 11,218,281
3 Japan 4,938,644
4 Germany 3,466,639
5 United Kingdom 2,629,188
veryslowhand
Banned
Lol, no
Spaced Harrier
Member
There's no such fucking thing it's just American jingoism you got sold years ago and now confuses you because you have a selfish simpleton billionaire as your leader and the world no longer makes sense to you.
What does America have that any other developed country in Western Europe doesn't have? The freedom from having affordable healthcare? Or the freedom to have to declare bankruptcy due to monumental medical bills?
perfectchaos007
Member
Until the US slips down the ladder economically, yes he/she is. GAFers lately have been pretending that the US is an irrelevant joke that no other country takes seriously now with Trump in power, but thats just not based in reality. The US has a higher GDP than the European Union and every other country in the world. Until that changes, yeah the PotUS is the leader of the free world and really the entire world, since money rules.
Alx
Member
I'm pretty sure "leader of the free world" is a purely US concept, made by Americans for Americans. I've never heard anybody in Europe (individuals, media, politicians,...) making any mention of "the free world", or even suggesting there's a "good guys vs axis of evil" division.
In that case I suppose the "leader of the free world" is meant to be the US president always, whatever your situation may be.
In that case I suppose the "leader of the free world" is meant to be the US president always, whatever your situation may be.
Europe's military defense responsibilities, for one.
Imperfected
Member
You've really been fucking up lately, fam. I hope you've got a hell of an explanation.
Memento_Mori15
Member
Have you ever been out of the United States?
Pretty much, lots of people seem to be following her lead and she's at the top of the top of the EU. The other players are too new to lead just yet.
Unless you show you're a leader early on in your presidency, you will never earn that title and it will go to someone else.
Bonen no Max'd
Banned
I mean, since the Cold War is over what exactly qualifies as the Free World here? Just any country that was in the First World before the Cold War? Any country that ranks as a liberal democracy under Freedom House or a similar organization? Just North America and Western and Northern Europe?
Trump is obviously the leader of the first world because US is still number one baby, we still have the biggest stick in NATO and the biggest economy. The second definition can't really have a leader, since both Tunisia and Taiwan qualify but both are going to be influenced by their geographic realities moreso than any particular leader. In the third you could make a case for Merkel but it's still Trump probably.
Of course, if people just mean "most popular prominent leader from a Western liberal democracy" it's Merkel, who is both apparently loved enough in Germany to keep getting reelected and beloved by liberals abroad. Trump is still far more influential than her abroad though, if that's what people mean by leader.
On a side note, American liberals deep love for Merkel remains confusing unless the people who do love her really are closet conservatives. At least Macron was running against a Nazi and Trudeau is at least kind of a left-liberal, but Merkel is just a conservative but libs here love her. I don't get it.
Trump is obviously the leader of the first world because US is still number one baby, we still have the biggest stick in NATO and the biggest economy. The second definition can't really have a leader, since both Tunisia and Taiwan qualify but both are going to be influenced by their geographic realities moreso than any particular leader. In the third you could make a case for Merkel but it's still Trump probably.
Of course, if people just mean "most popular prominent leader from a Western liberal democracy" it's Merkel, who is both apparently loved enough in Germany to keep getting reelected and beloved by liberals abroad. Trump is still far more influential than her abroad though, if that's what people mean by leader.
On a side note, American liberals deep love for Merkel remains confusing unless the people who do love her really are closet conservatives. At least Macron was running against a Nazi and Trudeau is at least kind of a left-liberal, but Merkel is just a conservative but libs here love her. I don't get it.
You don't lead with money, though. It's not whoever earns most who wins anything. Also not whoever spends most on military.
Trump is not a leader. And he decided to step down from that position by yelling "America first" and he is already acting on that reversion by going back on the Paris climate agreement. Even as a CEO he's a failure and you can tell that his administration is poorly led. The best people won't work for him, because they know what leadership is.
He will never get a landmark global deal passed, because noone trusts him. And for good reason.
Imperfected
Member
Listen, we'd be absolutely ecstatic with conservatives who are just socially squeamish and a bit overly-wary rather than avowed racists, robber-barons, and the Nazi-adjacent, at this point.
No, he isn't, he doesn't want to. His official policy is "America first, fuck the rest!". Where is he leading the (free) world to? Is he pressuring for a new accord to replace Paris were everyone uses more coal? As a Mexican, what is he asking us to do other than pay him for the stupid wall?
The only international movements he machinated and supported so far is the Qatar blockade and China "tried" something with North Korea, but those doesn't count, as all the main participants are authoritarian regimes. He seems far more comfortable dealing with authoritarians than the actual free world, that often openly challenge him, and even mock him.
Merkel is conservative in a lot of issues, but very left/liberal-leaning with regards to human rights. If I were to follow the conservative agenda, it would be under her. What's the alternative to that? Putin? Trump? Orban? Erdogan? Whatever the fuck the GOP is in the US, ready to kill millions of people by throwing them off healthcare?
Those guys are "just conservatives". Merkel is a bit more than that.
Bonen no Max'd
Banned
Obviously Merkel is superior to Trump, but it's still baffling to me to see liberals looooove an anti same-sex marriage politician that uses ethnic stereotypes to justify brutal austerity. Ostensibly they're opposed to that!