I can't speak for other people, but when I say stuff like "Clark could rule the world if he wanted to" I'm not forgetting about Diana, Barry, Bruce, Lex, Darkseid, and all the other gods and aliens and super humans out there. I just figure that, if he really, really wanted to? Clark would walk all over them.
When he's just running around in his trunks and cape he's considered one of the greatest, strongest, most capable and competent heroes on earth. And he doesn't even bother using most of the resources at his disposal.
If Clark walked out of the Fortress using all the technology he's collected from across the multiverse, most of which is so crazy advanced it might as well be magic, and used his fleet of Superman robots, and let loose all the various animals and creatures he's got in his zoo......what's the plan for dealing with that? And that's just the stuff he can walk around with. He's got planet-sized Phantom Zone projectors, multiversal tuning forks, access to creatures from across space and time who would happily drop what they're doing to help him out, no questions asked. There's a cosmic sword out there and I don't care what the narrative says, Clark probably kept an eye on that thing just to make sure no one else got it. Hell, he could call up Maxima, make a political alliance, and have a galactic empire descend on the planet before anyone knew what hit it.
I'm not saying it'd be easy, but I honestly don't think the entire planet aligned against him could actually stop Superman. Not if he pulled out all the stops. He's got too much going on, too many counters to the other powerhouses, and if he ever bothered doing anything about his own weaknesses he'd be unstoppable.
I consider Superman a badass, but not because of all of that. He's a badass because he's got the inner strength to do what he thinks is right and doesn't give a damn if anyone agrees. If the whole world tells him something wrong is something right and tells him to move......well, ya'll know the rest of that quote.
Anyone who stands up for what is right and stands for those who can't stand for themselves, is a badass in my opinion. All those other dudes with their kevlar and guns and growls and cigars? They're posers trying way too hard to convince the world they're the tough guys.
I mean, that's just me of course. And yeah, I'm probably giving Clark way, way too much credit. But let me fangirl a little.