5 ms·

Mutiny erupts among WEF staff over role of ‘Mr Davos’

42 points by r721 4y ago

bulgur 4y ago
[dead]
RcouF1uZ4gsC 4y ago
I don’t really see any evidence of mutiny. Some people who work there are anonymously airing their complaints to a newspaper. I suspect it would take a lot more than that to see any changes. Actually, if Davos and the WEF did not survive after the founder, I don’t think it would be a bad thing.
- mikl 4y ago
  Davos is really a nice town the rest of the year when Schwab and his elitist circus is not there. Shame its name has become a metonym for WEF.
badcppdev 4y ago
The World Economic Forum is just a company with a specific tax efficient corporate structure that has built a great deal of wealth for the bloke who owns it. Pretending it's something amazingly different to Cannes Film Festival or the Golden Globes would be a mistake. It's just networks + publicity rolled up as a VIP access event. (N.B. Didn't check if Cannes, GG, etc are privately held. Doesn't change my point)
- _fat_santa 4y ago
  That's not really where i see the problem, the problem for the WEF is optics, a bunch of world leaders talking about radical changes in our society is going to look bad, regardless of whether they are serious or not and regardless of what the actual details of the conversation are. The prime example of this is when the WEF published the infamous "you will own nothing and you will be happy line". Now if you actually read the article its a little pie in the sky but not overly dystopian. But the thing that gets me every time is how in the hell did they publish that and not think there was going to be some backlash, a bunch of elites and world leaders telling you that you will "own nothing and be happy", that's a bad look.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    They probably didn't expect backlash because whenever a giant megacorp ceo says "We are going to change the world (and make you pay for it)" people freaking cheer and their stock goes to the moon.
    - _fat_santa 4y ago
      I honestly think they are just out of touch. It's easy to convince yourself that something is a good idea when all your colleagues are agreeing with you. I think often times they might not fully realize they are on this global stage and their words will be torn apart.
- LinuxBender 4y ago
  Is it just a company? Or is it also a club similar to Bilderberg Group, Bohemian Club, Le Cercle and others that drawn in powerful elites that collude as a group to coordinate changes to corporate structures and policy that ultimately shape bits and pieces of society and laws of all the first world nations? Companies ultimately fund lobbyists and if most companies are on the same page then these groups of companies can coordinate to manipulate and fully control lawmakers. If I am just one company, maybe I can afford $20 million in lobbying. If I am in a similar 40% to 60% tank of similar thinking people from the fortune 500's that number potentially goes up quite a bit. I believe that is called plutocracy but there is probably a better word. Am I giving them too much credit?
  - itsyaboi 4y ago
    -100 social credit
    - LinuxBender 4y ago
      Points taken! Well, they can not take away points I do not have.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
    The sets intersect, partially at least. Would make for an interesting Venn diagram. Edit: https://wikispooks.com/wiki/WEF https://wikispooks.com/wiki/WEF
gyulai 4y ago
Wow, this is increadibly weak stuff. A left-leaning newspaper reports on the liberal-leaning WEF, airing the complains of an anonymous group of employees, some of them not even current employees. > Klaus has been at the helm of the WEF for 52 years. Wouldn't that make him qualified to continue doing what he has been doing for 52 years? > When he was born [in 1938] 122 of the 195 states in the world right now did not even exist. God only knows what they're implying here. > He is completely unaccountable to anyone inside and outside the organisation,” the group said. Which is supported by what evidence? ...not to be found in the article. Also unclear who he is supposed to be accountable to. Apparently some trustees or something. ...now that would have been interesting for the article to go into detail about.
- uoaei 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - gyulai 4y ago
    > It might, if economics was a settled science. But a lot has changed in the last 50 years, and half-century old intuitions are actually less than useful by this point and have the real possibility of leading us down paths of ruin. Also, cognitive abilities decline with age. Wow, that's very ageist. > What "evidence" would appease you that's not written in the WEF bylaws? Precisely that. The article could have given a little context by saying something about the WEF bylaws. If the WEF is just this man's private enterprise with no other purpose than to be an alter-ego for him that makes money for him, then sure, why not. If it's a listed corporation, there are shareholders to consider. If it is a tax-exempt foundation, there is the question of tax fraud to consider. I simply don't know what the WEF is, and it would be useful for a reader of this article to know that, before they get to be outraged, which outrage, presumably, is what the article is driving at.
    - uoaei 4y ago
      [flagged]
harvey9 4y ago
"We are a group of current and former employees of the WEF. We want to play our role in fostering debate about the role this organisation plays in the world." Why now? Who gets to take part in the debate? Why does a private club get to play a role in the world in the first place?
ThalesX 4y ago
I was just talking to a friend about the WEF so I have these links at hand, gonna drop them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEGfhaX4PQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEGfhaX4PQ (37 second clip of John Kerry almost calling the rich extraterrestrial) https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-bag-nearly-twice-much-wealth-rest-world-put-together-over-past-two-years https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-bag-nearly... (Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years)

42 points by r721 4y ago

[dead]

I don’t really see any evidence of mutiny. Some people who work there are anonymously airing their complaints to a newspaper. I suspect it would take a lot more than that to see any changes. Actually, if Davos and the WEF did not survive after the founder, I don’t think it would be a bad thing.

mikl 4y ago
Davos is really a nice town the rest of the year when Schwab and his elitist circus is not there. Shame its name has become a metonym for WEF.

badcppdev 4y ago

The World Economic Forum is just a company with a specific tax efficient corporate structure that has built a great deal of wealth for the bloke who owns it. Pretending it's something amazingly different to Cannes Film Festival or the Golden Globes would be a mistake. It's just networks + publicity rolled up as a VIP access event. (N.B. Didn't check if Cannes, GG, etc are privately held. Doesn't change my point)

_fat_santa 4y ago
That's not really where i see the problem, the problem for the WEF is optics, a bunch of world leaders talking about radical changes in our society is going to look bad, regardless of whether they are serious or not and regardless of what the actual details of the conversation are. The prime example of this is when the WEF published the infamous "you will own nothing and you will be happy line". Now if you actually read the article its a little pie in the sky but not overly dystopian. But the thing that gets me every time is how in the hell did they publish that and not think there was going to be some backlash, a bunch of elites and world leaders telling you that you will "own nothing and be happy", that's a bad look.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  They probably didn't expect backlash because whenever a giant megacorp ceo says "We are going to change the world (and make you pay for it)" people freaking cheer and their stock goes to the moon.
  - _fat_santa 4y ago
    I honestly think they are just out of touch. It's easy to convince yourself that something is a good idea when all your colleagues are agreeing with you. I think often times they might not fully realize they are on this global stage and their words will be torn apart.
LinuxBender 4y ago
Is it just a company? Or is it also a club similar to Bilderberg Group, Bohemian Club, Le Cercle and others that drawn in powerful elites that collude as a group to coordinate changes to corporate structures and policy that ultimately shape bits and pieces of society and laws of all the first world nations? Companies ultimately fund lobbyists and if most companies are on the same page then these groups of companies can coordinate to manipulate and fully control lawmakers. If I am just one company, maybe I can afford $20 million in lobbying. If I am in a similar 40% to 60% tank of similar thinking people from the fortune 500's that number potentially goes up quite a bit. I believe that is called plutocracy but there is probably a better word. Am I giving them too much credit?
- itsyaboi 4y ago
  -100 social credit
  - LinuxBender 4y ago
    Points taken! Well, they can not take away points I do not have.
- LargoLasskhyfv 4y ago
  The sets intersect, partially at least. Would make for an interesting Venn diagram. Edit: https://wikispooks.com/wiki/WEF https://wikispooks.com/wiki/WEF

gyulai 4y ago

Wow, this is increadibly weak stuff. A left-leaning newspaper reports on the liberal-leaning WEF, airing the complains of an anonymous group of employees, some of them not even current employees. > Klaus has been at the helm of the WEF for 52 years. Wouldn't that make him qualified to continue doing what he has been doing for 52 years? > When he was born [in 1938] 122 of the 195 states in the world right now did not even exist. God only knows what they're implying here. > He is completely unaccountable to anyone inside and outside the organisation,” the group said. Which is supported by what evidence? ...not to be found in the article. Also unclear who he is supposed to be accountable to. Apparently some trustees or something. ...now that would have been interesting for the article to go into detail about.

uoaei 4y ago
[flagged]
- gyulai 4y ago
  > It might, if economics was a settled science. But a lot has changed in the last 50 years, and half-century old intuitions are actually less than useful by this point and have the real possibility of leading us down paths of ruin. Also, cognitive abilities decline with age. Wow, that's very ageist. > What "evidence" would appease you that's not written in the WEF bylaws? Precisely that. The article could have given a little context by saying something about the WEF bylaws. If the WEF is just this man's private enterprise with no other purpose than to be an alter-ego for him that makes money for him, then sure, why not. If it's a listed corporation, there are shareholders to consider. If it is a tax-exempt foundation, there is the question of tax fraud to consider. I simply don't know what the WEF is, and it would be useful for a reader of this article to know that, before they get to be outraged, which outrage, presumably, is what the article is driving at.
  - uoaei 4y ago
    [flagged]

harvey9 4y ago

"We are a group of current and former employees of the WEF. We want to play our role in fostering debate about the role this organisation plays in the world." Why now? Who gets to take part in the debate? Why does a private club get to play a role in the world in the first place?

ThalesX 4y ago

I was just talking to a friend about the WEF so I have these links at hand, gonna drop them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEGfhaX4PQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsEGfhaX4PQ (37 second clip of John Kerry almost calling the rich extraterrestrial) https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-bag-nearly-twice-much-wealth-rest-world-put-together-over-past-two-years https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/richest-1-bag-nearly... (Richest 1% bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years)