Top 20 List: The Most Influencial People in the World

We read an excellent story in "The New Republic" (Dec. 9, 2013 issue) about who actually were the most influential people of all time. The story was an extended review of a new book entitled "Who's Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really Rank?"...........We will publish the list on our sister blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," but here we are going to compile our own slightly subjective list.

We will put parentheses around where the individuals stand on the "TNR" list in parentheses; we will also mark if the individual has a Little Hinkers doll in their image, as is the case with Charlie Chaplin, pictured bottom, with a star (*):


1.* Jesus Christ (pictured) (1)

2. Mohammed (the reason for the image of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey) (3)

3.* William Shakespeare (4)

4. *Gandhi

5. Aristotle (8)

6. Thomas Jefferson (10)

7. *Karl Marx (14)

8. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

9. * Albert Einstein (19)

10. *Socates

11. Martin Luther King, Jr.

12. *Abe Lincoln (5)

13. George Washington

14. Charles Darwin (12)

15. *Leonardo Da Vinci

16. *Sigmund Freud

17. *Eleanor Roosevelt

18. *Florence Nightingale

19. *Charlie Chaplin (pictured bottom)

20. *Mozart


http://www.newrepublic.com

http://www.philosophersguild.com

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/

http://www.visitistanbul.org

Quote of the Day- Karl Marx

Since there were "Jeopardy" categories pertaining to both Karl Marx and John Lennon (a play on the term Marx and Lenin), we thought we'd quip the German philosopher Marx (1818-1883) who known for being the first to develop the political philosophies of socialism, at least in the modern era.

Marx is also one of the subjects made into a plush doll from the Unemployed Philosophers Guild.

Due to his controversial views, Marx lived much of his later life in exile, including stints in Paris and London, where he died. His most famous works are "The Communist Manifesto" (1848) and "Das Capital" (1867-1894).

Marx was born in Trier in southwestern Germany. His theories revolved around class struggle and conflicts between ownership and the working class.

There are historians who believe that the Soviet Union and red China which were established in theory according to Marxism were actually against Marx's thinking because he was opposed to totalitarianism.

Here is his quote:

"Capital is dead labor, which vampire-like, lives only by sucking labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks."

Quote of the Week- Karl Marx

A special good morning to all our friends in Corvallis, Oregon (actually, I only one person in that state, and he lives in Portland) who are just waking up, and a special salute to the graduates of the school there, which is Oregon State. Their arch rival Oregon University is in Eugene. It's easy to get the two towns mixed up.

Let's get to our Quote of the Week, and I should add that while I think the German philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a remarkable historical figure, I don't consider myself a Marxist, as Cuba has proven the short-comings of what happens in communist countries. But, of course, in Provo, Utah, which is home to Brigham Young University and is perhaps America's most conservative zip code, I would probably be classified as one there!

This quip is part of this blog's month-long quips from radical, left-wing figures.

Here is the quip, which should go over well with "True Blood" fans:

"Capital is dead labor, which, vampire-like, lives only by sucking living labor, and lives the more, the more labor it sucks."

We are planning to have quotes from many people past and present from Germany (with the exception being the Nazi-era) in October.

SIDEBAR: Yesterday, as we typing our blog post on English soccer, there was actually a game being played there. I wonder if they call it "Monday Night Futbol." Hmmm....you may have to be an American born before Ronald Reagan was president to get that joke. Liverpool beating the living daylights out of Fulham by a 5-2 score in that game with Argentinian star Maxi Rodriguez scoring three goals for the winning Liverpool side.