Custom «2011 Times 100 Influential People» Essay Paper Sample

     The Times is an international magazine. It has an annual list that contains a total of 100 most influential people in the world. The people are specialized in various areas that include artists, activists, reformers, researchers, Heads of state, and captains of industry. These are people who have made impact and revolution through their ideas. They are known by all the nations of the world. Major institutions and firms have directly benefited from their efforts. Times often feature such individuals as a sign recognizing their effort in their different areas of expertise.

           Times 100 influential people for the year 2011 include Angela Merkel, Barrack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Tom Ford, Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Nicolas Sarkozy, Amy Poehler, Cheng Yen, Justin Bieber, Blake Lively, Esther Duflo and Hillary Clinton among others. This paper explores supporting reasons for ranking these influential personalities. It also considers the opposing ideas as well as their refutation.  

Supporting Reasons

             Early this year, Times 100 Magazine presented a list for the most influential people in the world. The list included familiar news makers as well as newcomers in the global press. This is indeed true. The 2011 Times 100 list has been widely supported.  There are various reasons that support this fact. It is important to note that these reasons vary from one person to the other depending on their area of impact. We explain using four personalities.

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          Oprah Winfrey is very influential in the world. This is because she determines the politics of the United States of America. She helped in the election of the first African American president during the last general election. Oprah is also a champion on the intimate confessional form of media communication. The method has helped many people across the globe to solve both family and social problems.

           The 2011 Times 100 list can also be supported because of the presence of Barack Obama. He is the current president of the United States of America. He is a familiar global news maker and has influence on the entire globe. President Obama is in the list by merit. This is because he is the first Black American president to be elected democratically.

           Barack Obama will always be remembered as the U.S president who led the execution of Osama Bin Laden. The latter was the mastermind of terrorism in the world. Obama has helped to improve global economy by giving of aids and grants to the poor nations. Under his leadership, the global health has greatly been improved. For instance, there has been increased campaign on malaria and HIV & AIDs which have been a threat to the world population. 

          The mention of Tom Ford is a strong support to the list. Tom is very eloquent in locomotives. He invented the brand of Ford which is globally acceptable. Most tractors, heavy commercial vehicles, agriculture and industrial machineries originated from his concept. The fact that Ford is one of the 100 influential people is confirmed by his new innovations each and every time.

           Hillary Clinton is very influential globally. She is the current secretary of State for the U.S.  Clinton has been recognized for promoting peace in a number of countries. The major peace effort is the Middle East peace talks between the Palatines and Israelites.

Opposing Views

          Even though the 2011 Times 100 list has received a worldwide support, many scholars and specialists in the globe have voiced their criticism on its composition.  A number of views have been put across to this effect. These views range from biasness to professionalism as explained below.

          Times Magazine has been criticized because it is seen as U.S centered. This is because most people who are in the list are from America. It is thus perceived that there was favoritism. The result is the choice of many Americans against other nationals which clearly communicates biasness.

          It has also been criticized due to the omission of a great rock musician called Elvis Presley. Entertainment specialists wondered why this particular artist was excluded from the list of 100 most influential people yet he had the best music in the world. According to their judgment, Elvis was supposed to be in the list as an artist.

          Inclusion of Lucky Lusiano in the list has been sharply criticized. Lusiano modernized crime through his art. This is because he committed murder in order to get his position in the list. Many scholars know him as an artist who authorized crime in the world. In this regard, he should not have been included as one of the most influential people in the world.

Refutation of the Opposing Views

          Opposing views have been refuted. This has been done by most Americans and the Times Magazine writers and editors. They have argued that the criticisms have no basis at all and the list should not be altered.  Facts have been given against every opposition put across. The three opposing views have been refuted as follows.

         The fact that the list is American centered has been refuted. According to Bruce Handy who is a Times magazine representative, 21^st century is the American century.  He added that

America has a special culture which has influenced all aspects of life in the world. As a result areas like arts, music, engineering, movies and politics are dominated by the U.S nationals.  The citizens are experts in a number of areas. Hence, their dominance in the 2011 list is justified.

         Omission of Elvis Presely from the list was justified. According to Bruce Handy, Elvis was not in the list because he did not write his own material. Innovation is significant in song writing and this was not the case with him.  Instead he used another material to produce his song. The American artists like Bob Dylon, Robert Johnson and The Beatles were in the list because they wrote their own original songs as required.

         The presence of Lucky Luciano was also justified. He had been opposed because he was seen as a promoter of evil. In view of Bill Saporito who is a Times business editor, Luciano is an influential person. This is because he is seen to be a kind of an evil genius. That is someone who has discovered a new secret in the globe that had never been revealed.

          From the discussion, there are enough reasons to justify the 2011 Times 100 influential people in the world. However, there are opposing voices concerning the same list. Those opposing have raised concerns that some names should be included while others should be excluded with supportive facts. Bruce and Bill have refuted all the claims. The opposing views have been refuted by provision of valid reasons against the raised concerns over the list. The Times Magazine is thus a valid document by these refutations.

          In conclusion, it is true that there are 100 influential people in the world according to the Times 2011.Though there are opposing voices, the refutations put across   are satisfactory.  Hence there remains a logical support that there are 100 Influential People according to the 2011 Times Magazine.