You wake up in the morning and find out you are....

[everythingsxen]

(Demi)God-Emperor* of the world.

For the purposes of this little exercise, you have power (essentially divine power, or if you don't believe in God(s), you can get mutated by ubiquitous "Gamma Rays" or whatever or aliens power you up.. whatever) the power you have will make you essentially invincible and immortal for all practical purposes. Through whatever means you choose, you rule the world.

The caveat to your power is you CANNOT be omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent or pretty much anything else that is *that* powerful. You also can't have mind control powers. Part of the exercise is that people must be free to remain under their own direction. Essentially you would be on par with Superman or the like, but no weakness to kryptonite. Also add to the list of banned abilities any sort of time travel powers or pre-cognition that effects (affects?) anyone but you.

Now that you are in charge, what do you do with your power? What will be the hallmarks of your rulership? What will be the positive sides? The down sides? What will your flag be?

Those are the basics. If you want to expand (and I heartily encourage you to!) tell us what specific abilities you would have, how long would you choose to rule for and anything else interesting you can come up with.

It's all in your imaginary court......

* - I am not intending to be blasphemous here.. you do not have to be worshiped, though you can be if that's your bag. You could also use your semi-divinity to encourage further devotion to your patron deity.

[LeftyMom]

1. Can I teleport?

'Cause if I can, I'll save the world next week.

[everythingsxen]

2. Sure teleportation is in..

As long as people still have free will, thus you will still have to organize society in such a way to ensure stability... granted you can teleport in and bust stuff up....

[everythingsxen]

3. My own answers...

I would basically just be invulnerable and have a kind Akira like power to blast out some telekinetic energy. I would rule for 10,000 years. I would, over time, eliminate all organized religions as they exist now and turn them all into a kind of generic deism. The hallmarks of my rule would be fairness and justice, though I would rule with an iron fist and would crush dissent. However, there would be plenty of freedoms and there would be little to rebel against. Most people would be upset with me though, as I would insist on building massive "Mega-Cities" which would cram as many people into as little space as possible. That way there would be as much of the world left to be green as possible. Cars would be outlawed. Public transport would be clean, efficient and always work and be on time. My flag would be something akin to a star of chaos, but wrapping around the earth, kind of viewed from a 45 degree angle. The star would be silver, the earth, well earthy, on a starry background. My soldiers would wear black uniforms designed by someone who can create truly awe (and fear) inspiring outfits.

I would ensure that every citizen under my rule always had food and shelter. We would be a communist or socialist world. No more poor people. No more rich people. People could vote on some issues. The little stuff. The big things - abortion (legal), suicide (legal), drugs (legal) I would maintain control over. People are happier though when they can vote, no need to take away the illusion of freedom. Essentially you would be free to do anything you want, so long as you do not hurt others. (at least hurt other without their consent...)

As rapidly as possible, I would order scientists worldwide to work on intergalactic transportation (either in the form of hyperspace/space fold/jump-gates etc. or Faster than Light technology) in the interim, I would work humanity toward rapid colonization of nearby planets.

At the end of my reign, I think people would look back on me as a brutal tyrant who oppressed everyone, then humanity would return to it's barbarous war-like ways, with all of the amazing technology invented during my golden age of rule......