I needed a place to store Klaus Schwab's
The Great Reset manifesto. I have attached it to this post. Also, here is a copy and post of the
Conclusion of the manifesto. A bit wordy however, we know that Fascists' like to hear themselves talk.
CONCLUSION
In June 2020, barely six months since the pandemic started, the world is in a different place. Within
this short time frame, COVID-19 has both triggered momentous changes and magnified the fault lines that
already beset our economies and societies. Rising inequalities, a widespread sense of unfairness,
deepening geopolitical divides, political polarization, rising public deficits and high levels of debt,
ineffective or non-existent global governance, excessive financialization, environmental degradation: these
are some of the major challenges that existed before the pandemic. The corona crisis has exacerbated them
all. Could the COVID-19 debacle be the lightning before the thunder? Could it have the force to ignite a
series of profound changes? We cannot know what the world will be like in 10 months? time, even less
what it will resemble in 10 years from now, but what we do know is that unless we do something to reset
today?s world, tomorrow?s will be profoundly stricken. In Gabriel Garcia Marquez?s Chronicle of a
Death Foretold, an entire village foresees a looming catastrophe, and yet none of the villagers seem able
or willing to act to prevent it, until it?s too late. We do not want to be that village. To avoid such a fate,
without delay we need to set in motion the Great Reset. This is not a ?nice-to-have? but an absolute
necessity. Failing to address and fix the deep-rooted ills of our societies and economies could heighten the
risk that, as throughout history, ultimately a reset will be imposed by violent shocks like conflicts and even
revolutions. It is incumbent upon us to take the bull by the horns. The pandemic gives us this chance: it
?represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine and reset our world?.
[165]
The deep crisis provoked by the pandemic has given us plenty of opportunities to reflect on how our
economies and societies work and the ways in which they don?t. The verdict seems clear: we need to
change; we should change. But can we? Will we learn from the mistakes we made in the past? Will the
pandemic open the door to a better future? Will we get our global house in order? Simply put, will we put
into motion the Great Reset? Resetting is an ambitious task, perhaps too ambitious, but we have no choice
but to try our utmost to achieve it. It?s about making the world less divisive, less polluting, less
destructive, more inclusive, more equitable and fairer than we left it in the pre-pandemic era. Doing
nothing, or too little, is to sleepwalk towards ever-more social inequality, economic imbalances, injustice
and environmental degradation. Failing to act would equate to letting our world become meaner, more
divided, more dangerous, more selfish and simply unbearable for large segments of the globe?s population.
To do nothing is not a viable option.
That said, the Great Reset is far from a done deal. Some may resist the necessity to engage in it, fearful
of the magnitude of the task and hopeful that the sense of urgency will subside and the situation will soon
get back to ?normal?. The argument for passivity goes like this: we have been through similar shocks ?
pandemics, harsh recessions, geopolitical divides and social tensions ? before and we will get through
them again. As always, societies will rebuild, and so will our economies. Life goes on! The rationale for
not resetting is also predicated on the conviction that the state of the world is not that bad and that we just
need to fix a few things around the edges to make it better. It is true that the state of the world today is on
average considerably better than in the past. We must acknowledge that, as human beings, we never had it
so good. Almost all the key indicators that measure our collective welfare (like the number of people
living in poverty or dying in conflicts, the GDP per capita, life expectancy or literacy rates, and even the
number of deaths caused by pandemics) have been continuously improving over pas centuries,
impressively so in the last few decades. But they have been improving ?on average? ? a statistical reality
that is meaningless for those who feel (and so often are) excluded. Therefore, the conviction that today?s
world is better than it has ever been, while correct, cannot serve as an excuse for taking comfort in the
status quo and failing to fix the many ills that continue to afflict it.
The tragic death of George Floyd (an African American killed by a police officer in May 2020)
vividly illustrates this point. It was the first domino or the last straw that marked a momentous tipping
point at which an accumulated and profound sentiment of unfairness felt by the US African-American
community finally exploded into massive protests. Would pointing out to them that on ?average? their lot is
better today than in the past have appeased their anger? Of course not! What matters to African Americans
is their situation today, not how much their condition has ?improved? compared to 150 years ago when
many of their ancestors lived in slavery (it was abolished in the US in 1865), or even 50 years ago when
marrying a white American was illegal (interracial marriage only became legal in all states in 1967). Two
points are pertinent to the Great Reset in this: 1) our human actions and reactions are not rooted in
statistical data but are determined instead by emotions and sentiments ? narratives drive our behaviour;
and 2) as our human condition improves, our standards of living increase and so do our expectations for a
better and fairer life.
In that sense, the widespread social protests that took place in June 2020 reflect the urgent necessity to
embark on the Great Reset. By connecting an epidemiological risk (COVID-19) with a societal risk
(protests), they made it clear that, in today?s world, it is the systemic connectivity between risks, issues,
challenges and also opportunities that matters and determines the future. In the first months of the
pandemic, public attention has understandably been focused on the epidemiological and health effects of
COVID-19. But, moving forward, the most consequential problems lie in the concatenation of the
economic, geopolitical, societal, environmental and technological risks that will ensue from the pandemic,
and their ongoing impact on companies and individuals.
There is no denying that the COVID-19 virus has more often than not been a personal catastrophe for
the millions infected by it, and for their families and communities. However, at a global level, if viewed in
terms of the percentage of the global population effected, the corona crisis is (so far) one of the least
deadly pandemics the world has experience over the last 2000 years. In all likelihood, unless the
pandemic evolves in an unforeseen way, the consequences of COVID-19 in terms of health and mortality
will be mild compared to previous pandemics. At the end of June 2020 (at a time when the outbreak is still
raging in Latin America, South Asia and much of the US), COVID-19 has killed less than 0.006% of the
world population. To put this low figure into context in terms of lethality, the Spanish flu killed 2.7% of
the world?s population and HIV/AIDS 0.6% (from 1981 to today). The Plague of Justinian from its onset
in 541 until it finally disappeared in 750 killed almost one-third of the population of Byzantium according
to various estimates, and the Black Death (1347-1351) is considered to have killed between 30% and
40% of the world population at the time. The corona pandemic is different. It does not constitute an
existential threat, or a shock that will leave its imprint on the world?s population for decades. However, it
does entail worrisome perspectives for all the reasons already mentioned; in today?s interdependent
world, risks conflate with each other, amplifying their reciprocal effects and magnifying their
consequences. Much of what?s coming is unknown, but we can be sure of the following: in the postpandemic world, questions of fairness will come to the fore, ranging from stagnating real incomes for a
vast majority to the redefinition of our social contracts. Similarly, deep concerns about the environment or
questions about how technology can be deployed and governed for the benefit of society will force their
way onto the political agenda. All these issues predated the pandemic, but COVID-19 has both laid them
bare for all to see and amplified them. The direction of the trends hasn?t changed but, in the wake of
COVID-19, it got a lot faster.
The absolute prerequisite for a proper reset is greater collaboration and cooperation within and
between countries. Cooperation ? a ?supremely human cognitive ability? that put our species on its unique
and extraordinary trajectory ? can be summed up as ?shared intentionality? to act together towards a
common goal.
[166] We simply cannot progress without it. Will the post-pandemic era be characterized by
more or less cooperation? A very real risk exists that tomorrow the world will be even more divided,
nationalistic and prone to conflicts than it is today. Many of the trends reviewed in the macro section
suggest that, moving into the future, our world will be less open and less cooperative than before the
pandemic. But an alternative scenario is possible, one in which collective action within communities and
greater collaboration between nations enable a more rapid and peaceful exit from the corona crisis. As
economies restart, there is an opportunity to embed greater societal equality and sustainability into the
recovery, accelerating rather than delaying progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and
unleashing a new era of prosperity.
[167] What could make this possible and raise the probability odds in
favour of such an outcome?
Seeing the failures and fault lines in the cruel light of day cast by the corona crisis may compel us to
act faster by replacing failed ideas, institutions, processes and rules with new ones better suited to current
and future needs. This is the essence of the Great Reset. Could the globally shared experience of the
pandemic help alleviate some of the problems we faced as the crisis started? Can a better society emerge
from the lockdowns? Amartya Sen, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economics, thinks so, believing that:
?The need to act together can certainly generate an appreciation of the constructive role of public
action,?
[168] citing as proof some examples like World War II having made people realize the importance
of international cooperation, and convincing countries like the UK of the benefit of better-shared food and
healthcare (and the eventual creation of the welfare state). Jared Diamond, the author ofUpheaval: How
Nations Cope with Crisis and Change, is of a similar opinion, hoping that the corona crisis will compel
us to address four existential risks that we collectively face: 1) nuclear threats; 2) climate change; 3) the
unsustainable use of essential resources like forests, seafood, topsoil and fresh water; and 4) the
consequences of the enormous differences in standards of living between the world?s peoples: ?Strange as
it may seem, the successful resolution of the pandemic crisis may motivate us to deal with those bigger
issues that we have until now balked at confronting. If the pandemic does at last prepare us to deal with
those existential threats, there may be a silver lining to the virus?s black cloud. Among the virus?s
consequences, it could prove to be the biggest, the most lasting ? and our great cause for hope?.
[169]
These expressions of individual hope are supported by a multitude of surveys concluding that we
collectively desire change. They range from a poll in the UK showing that a majority of people want to
fundamentally alter the economy as it recovers, in contrast to one-fourth wanting it to return to how it
was, [170] to international surveys finding that a large majority of citizens around the world want the
economic recovery from the corona crisis to prioritize climate change [171] and to support a green recovery. [172] Worldwide, movements demanding a ?better future? and calling for a shift to an economic system that prioritizes our collective well-being over mere GDP growth are proliferating.
*****
We are now at a crossroads. One path will take us to a better world: more inclusive, more equitable
and more respectful of Mother Nature. The other will take us to a world that resembles the one we just left
behind ? but worse and constantly dogged by nasty surprises. We must therefore get it right. The looming
challenges could be more consequential than we have until now chosen to imagine, but our capacity to
reset could also be greater than we had previously dared to hope.[/i]
