The Great Reset is capitalism’s midlife crisis – a radical plan to overhaul the global economy, unveiled by the World Economic Forum, that promises to make the world more inclusive, sustainable and digital. It’s the kind of big idea you come up with after three espressos and a binge of TED Talks.
In a nutshell, the Great Reset is a plan to rebuild the global economy after the pandemic. Think of it as capitalism’s attempt to go green by rethinking everything from how we work to what we value. Cars? disappeared. Material goods? All praised; owned nothing. Green energy on every block? You bet.
“You will own nothing and be happy” is the controversial rallying cry of these guys.
For years, the WEF has supported the Great Reset, but WEF founder Klaus Schwab is now turning to a new plan called “The Grand Narrative.” The book is divided into four solutions: 1) economic, 2) environmental, 3) social and 4) technological. This is what they want.
The Economic Manifesto
“A time of unprecedented change, with major economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological challenges coinciding and amplifying each other, requires unprecedented action. » – Klaus Schwab
Many of the economic solutions presented in “The Big Story” sound like communism. The government owns everything; you own nothing. If that doesn’t satisfy you, there is the Ministry of Love to show you the right path.
The book addresses several ugly economic truths:
- Post-COVID-19, we see a V-shaped recovery in most global powers, but no recovery in emerging markets – in Mexico and Brazil, for example.
- Economic growth is slowing everywhere.
- Rampant inflation.
- National currencies compete with cryptocurrencies.
The “Great Reset” aimed to eliminate private property by moving to a rent-centered economy, like the giant Airbnb. “The Big Story” consists of promoting multipolarity instead of unipolarity. Multipolarity means ending the current hegemony of the United States, which gives way to new players like China, India, developing African countries and the EU.
“What we face is a deep, systemic, structural restructuring of our world,” Schwab says.
Environment: the biggest problem?
“Will ESG criteria “remain a fiction”? Until an effective global carbon tax is imposed, consistent ESG standards are implemented and a set of large-scale regulations penalize bad behavior. — The big story
Much of the “Grand Narrative” focuses on the environment. Schwab says we are failing to meet our collective commitment to reduce our carbon footprint. The solutions of the “Grand Narrative” are as follows:
- Force all companies to adopt environmental social governance (ESG) standards through top-down authority.
- Normalize ESG so people don’t work for or buy from a company that doesn’t promote it unless they’re ESG compliant.
- Moving from a consumption economy to a sharing economy.
As I read the book, I asked myself, “Don’t environmental goals conflict with economic goals?” This could harm both. Something to consider.
Society: the biggest challenge is inequality
“The Big Story” sees many problems in society, such as historically low trust in public institutions and a disconnect between the value of a job and the salary.
It’s hard to disagree with all of this. Movements like “quietly quit” and “anti-work” came to a head last year. Something broke in us after the pandemic, like Christian Bale in American Psycho.
The solutions of the “Grand Narrative” are: “broader, if not universal, provision of quality social assistance, social insurance, health care and basic services… furthermore, an essential aspect of a new social contract relating to freedoms and liberty, at least in democratic countries.
Universal basic income. Uh. What do you think?
Tech: civil liberties will disappear “to save society”
“Sometimes the same technological change can be viewed optimistically by some and pessimistically by others. » — Great story
There are 700 million video surveillance cameras in China. Smile at the government.
“The Great Narrative” praises technological innovations such as AI, automation, the Internet of Things, bioinformatics and blockchain, but also argues that these could destroy privacy and civil liberties, and that’s what they want.
At least they’re honest.
Final Thought
“The Great Narrative” is astonishing because it draws heavily on interviews with 50 international thinkers, most from institutions based in the United States and the United Kingdom. This bias towards the Western world led to a one-sided perspective and a clear left-wing political ideology in the book.
That said…I think many of the issues described in the book need to be addressed.
Yet the narrative that “we face multiple existential crises and need top-down control faster than ever” is a quick path to fascism. Although “The Big Story” is thought-provoking, it should be taken with a pinch of salt, like everything the WEF does.
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