Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gopher]

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[Pluto]

Adam Smith was one of the most brilliant men of the Scottish Enlightenment. His treatise, An Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations, was far before his time. He was the first ones to come up with the concepts of free market capitalism that we know today. He even coined the term, the invisible hand of the free market. Much of what is understood about modern economics today, stems from his works.

An interesting tidbit from Wiki:

[bucheon bum]

This morning I was actually thinking of posting a similar question: what current political leader do you admire?

Personally I admire Alvaro Uribe of Colombia. I think he's done a very impressive job since he became President. Sadly, that is all that comes to my mind right now. If Sarkozy actually carries out some of his ideas and does a lot of what he says he wants to do, I might have some admiration for him.

[kotakji]

The one that pops into my head would be Otto von Bismarck. Another consummate politician and realist, though a series of wars with Austria, France, and Denmark he overcame domestic splits along religious and social grounds and unified the scattered HRE into Germany. Yet after unifying Germany he turned his efforts to maintaining peace on the continent- eventually this position forced the end of his career as the Kaiser fell under the influence of militarists. One could certainly speculate that had he managed to stay in power longer and lived a little longer the first world war could have been avoided. He managed to keep Germany (mostly) out of the colonization mess the rest of Western Europe endured.

[soviet_man]

Vladimir Lenin
A towering figure of the 20th century. For the development of a revolutionary stategy, the heading of the Soviet state and for creating a non-capitalist structure.

Genghis Khan
Uniter of nomadic tribes. Developer of a Eurasian empire.

Imam Khomeini
The first supreme leader of Iran. Leader of the Islamic revolution. For his ideas, courage and the development of a modern Iranian identity.

[mnhnhyouh]

Peter the Great.

The first to implement the scorched ground policy and retreat east leaving Charles XII's army nothing. This was later used against Napolean and Hitler.

He made huge strides (both literally and figuratively) taking Russia from being a very backward country to a much more modern one.

Sure, he was brutal, but so was his upbringing. He would have been killed had he not been brutal.

I also liked that he tried to hide (he was 6'9" or something) in Europe as a shipbuilder for a while

He worked standing up, and had a desk made for this. It was so high that others could not read what was on there


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[nicholas_chiasson]

[Justin Hale]

John McCain and Ron Paul at the moment (the former on environment and energy policy and Paul on personal liberty). Two very refreshing Republicans.

Historically, certainly Henry VIII for kicking the Catholic Church out of England, but more recently former Israeli foreign minister, Abba Eban. The latter always stressed how easily soluble the Arab-Israeli conflict is. It becomes immediately apparent, thanks to Eban, how utterly rancorous the religious faiths in question are.

[Beej]

Chester Nimitz: Admiral of the US Navy During WWII in the Pacific. Unfortunatley for the japanese this guy was on our side. He completely ratphucked the Japanese Navy.

[KirbyMagnus]

Guiseppe Garibaldi

To quote A.J.P Taylor: "Garibaldi is the only wholly admirable figure in modern history."

The guy was a genuine revolutionary, he united a nation, defied a pope, served as a member of parliament, was offered the role as a general in the American civil war, he even spent a month dossing around in Newcastle. All this while wearing a sombrero.

[Temporary]

Jan II Sobieski
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna
Yeah I am Polish but if it wasn't for the two of them. We all be speaking turkish and we would all be backward muslims.

[djsmnc]

I like

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Itō Hirobumi

Gongsun Du

Hong Taiji

and

John Rodgers

[wannago]

Martin Luther (the German, not the American): At great personal danger he deliberately and directly took on the most powerful institution in his world at the time. He stood by his convictions and changed our world for the better.


George Washington - though not for his presidency or his military leadership. He refused the offer of being made a monarch of the newly independent country, thereby putting the needs of the country ahead of his own. This man truly cared for the new nation even when he could have personally gained very much by doing otherwise.


Dietrich Bonhoeffer - I think this man's writings have touched me more than any other. A guy that gave up his life to stand up against Hitler and the absolute insanity that was the Nazi Party. Reading his works through university probably did more to mature my faith than any other.

[stillnotking]

George Washington. For not becoming king when he easily could have, and for his principled insistence on treating POWs well even when the other side was not. He had a commitment to the rule of law that is rarely seen among leaders of nations.

I will second the vote for Gandhi, though I cannot say I agreed with everything he wrote. Some of his writings about the Holocaust and the Nazis were insupportable IMO. In fairness, he did say that, as a pacifist, he had no standing to comment on war, and that if there were any such thing as a "just war", WWII would have been it.

[blaseblasphemener]

Edison. He changed the world as we know it.