With the opportunism that characterizes it, the World Economic Forum (WEF), famous for its January meetings at its Davos venue, jumped on the viral pandemic to find a new raison d’être. At last, ideology can openly prevail over the usual sober economic considerations influencing world politics. After fifty years and an overdue retirement not yet taken, Klaus Schwab may finally achieve a cultural revolution against the same establishment he served submissively.
During the lockdown time under the heading The Great Reset, the WEF organized a round of contributions by the most prominent mercenary commanders of the world economy. They all concur with the pre-determined conclusion that the World needs a fundamental restart. All of this was triggered by a disease that, so far, caused elderlies’ life expectancy to be shortened on average by three to five weeks at the cost of major psychic, social, and economic disorders for all society. A performance in itself!
We might expect such restart to consist in strengthening up the minds to resist adversity and to raise our tolerance to risks instead of locking down ourselves in a vainly sterilized environment. Don’t even think about it! What all these “best of class” repeat is a new twist of the catechism of a chaotic World to be put under the benevolent control of better-knowing and self-righteous leaders. Of course, not all what they tell is wrong, but the underlying tone is creepy. With the wrong diagnosis of an ill-fated planet they support therapies that will be worse than the ailments they pretend fighting. In search of a great vision, they have fallen to the ecologist ideology. The remarks given to the WEF by Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), can serve as representative of this mainstream.
She notes that 170 countries will end this year with a smaller economy than at its beginning – her organization counts 189 members, are there some who will end the year being richer? This is indeed a significant risk. She calls for the Great Reset through which, in the aftermaths of the viral crisis, the “growth should lead to a greener, smarter, fairer world in the future”. Not that it shouldn’t have before, but the time for a revolution would have come now. To me this is rather one more opportunity to confirm the Brandolini law telling that it takes orders of magnitude more energy to refute bullshit than to produce it. Let’s keep it short, though.
Green: is she knowing what she speaks about? It is as if “green” would be a value in itself; and she focuses maniacally to a low-carbon and climate-resilient growth. How many misplaced investments and wrong development policies are being undertaken under such umbrella? Even if this would have the slightest chance to create growth rather than precipitate recession, it cannot be the way for a fast and strong recovery.
Smarter growth: here is another individual who claims that smartness is on her side; and therefore infers that up to now and since civilization exists, development and growth have been stupid. Obviously, she cannot envision that normal people are anyway quite smart without her guidance. What an arrogance!
Fairer growth: nobody would object to this. Nevertheless, to push greenness by all means will result in even less fair development. Growth in affluent societies has already been oriented towards the satisfaction of less essential needs, idealized or even futile, a situation made possible by the previous stupid growth. However, and this is her job, she should better know the wants of societies that still struggle against poverty, lack of education, lack of energy, and bad health. It would be extremely fairer, especially for the IMF, to focus on these needs rather than mumbling politically correct nonsense.
Once again, a World-famous institution sings the jingle of the eco-disaster and the green salvation, and no one will object to it. Is it for fear of being pilloried? Apart of the opportunity to seize glory and substantial benefits, it is still difficult to understand the Promethean impetus of these elites promising a bright future for the planet. Why is it creepy? Because such unanimity cannot be healthy; all the more so since it is founded on false premises.
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Exactly right in my opinion. It amuses me how Schwab and his corporate cohorts have engaged in securing as many global resources as possible whilst impoverishing the average person through offshoring jobs and championing governmental regulations and barriers to entry. Crony capitalism will become crony communism or technocracy. Nobody wants a dirty planet, polluted and with wildlife species diminishing, but if we have a look we will see Schwabs members are largely responsible for the environmental degradation we see. It is we plebs who they wish to penalise for it!