Fair enough. Thanks for that, good post. I'm seeing that I was thinking about the influence on captivating some people into rethinking what they think about the reactionary path, from whether they should reject it, to whether they should reject it in a different way, and what progress and dreams were seen as acceptable to lose in what turned out not to be temporary, let alone necessary.
And I'm used to and don't know how to talk about spirituality, which obviously isn't as important as material analysis, and sometimes overcorrect both the world's and personal feelings of despair.
Influential at an intangible spiritual feeling of not giving up. You're right, it's not material, it's not measurable, and maybe even not that relevant. It could be me overcorrecting on western despair that isn't going to change or become easier.
Someone like Xi led the country, along with their government and their party, but unless I'm ignorant on that as well, others inspired the people to change with it and make it work. In the same way that its not reasonable to measure it in members or population numbers when insiders dislike and outsiders appreciate, especially with the former pope.
But, again, I'm probably miss-evaluating a few things, including personal despair.