It’s Worse Than Socialism—It’s Schwabism

WEF founder Klaus Schwab delivers a speech during the "Crystal Award" ceremony at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, on Jan. 16, 2023. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Commentary

It’s now 50 years since Klaus Martin Schwab, a mechanical engineer and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), launched the first-ever Davos Manifesto, a call to leaders to imagine a better world, one where all humans, the rich and the poor, lived in complete and utter harmony. However, as many readers are all too aware, all utopias are, in fact, dystopias. Fast forward five decades, and Schwab, now a multimillionaire, is intent on making his dystopian vision a global reality.

Although Schwab has benefited greatly from capitalism, his organization, the WEF, appears to abhor the economic and political system. Capitalism is intimately associated with equal opportunity. But, for Schwab and his colleagues, equality of opportunity simply isn’t good enough. A more just society, insist the elites in Davos, must be built around equality of outcome. For this to occur, capitalism must be “reimagined,” and individual freedoms cast aside. Our freedom, of course. Not theirs.

Enter stakeholder capitalism. According to Schwab, now 85, the only way to fix the “broken” global economic system is by lifting the downtrodden up. This sounds great until you realize one rather brutal fact: To lift others up, broader society must be pulled down. The WEF insists that society needs a complete change of mindset—a Great Reset, if you will. We, the people, must move “from short-term to long-term thinking,” from “shareholder capitalism to stakeholder responsibility.” To do this, environmental, social, and “good governance” must become “a measured part of corporate and governmental accountability.” Don’t be fooled by the vague jargon; sinister motives exist.

This approach, some suggest, is socialism, pure and simple. It’s not. It’s Schwabism, or socialism with Schwab-like characteristics. Unlike socialism, which is steeped in 18th and 19th-century philosophies, Schwabism is steeped in 21st-century philosophies. Socialism was formulated around the idea of the panopticon. In this post-panoptic world, Schwabism is built on a foundation of invasive technology, wearable devices, and biometric surveillance. Socialism is bad, but Schwabism is many times worse.

The first, second, and third Industrial Revolutions were intimately associated with capitalism—and socialism. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, yet another brainchild of Schwab’s, will be defined by AI, smart (or surveillance) cities, self-driving cars. brain enhancements, genetic editing, and something called digital health.

In a recent post, Shyam Bishen, the WEF’s “head of Shaping the Future of Health and Healthcare,” waxed lyrical about the many ways in which AI automation, augmentation, “and a range of other smart technologies” will revolutionize “the provision of health and healthcare”—all in the name of equity, of course (not to be confused with equality). The health care revolution, a clearly excited Bishen tells readers, will be “backed by big data.”

“Looking forward,” he wrote, “big data models, telemedicine, predictive medication, wearable sensors and a wealth of new platforms and apps could help us rethink how the world provides, accesses and manages health and healthcare.” The key word here is “manages.” Who exactly will manage this data? Not us, for sure.

Sadly, as I write this, the elites in Davos are taking on the role of mad scientists, formulating experiments to run on normal, everyday people, many of whom are destined to become little more than glorified lab rats, instruments to be prodded, probed, and pushed to their psychological limits.

For readers currently rolling their eyes, wearing expressions best described as incredulous, let me remind you that, by the end of the decade, we will own nothing and have no privacy. But, the WEF promises, we will become healthier, happier people.

Of course, Schwab won’t live forever. But his dystopian plan for humanity is likely to continue long after his body expires. Each year, in an attempt to keep the Davos-machine fueled, the WEF handpicks young individuals from around the world. The chosen few tend to be leaders from fields such as politics, AI, mainstream journalism, business, and climate activism. Molded to parrot Schwab-approved narratives, these leaders of tomorrow will keep the Davos flame burning for decades to come.

I wish I could end this piece on a more hopeful note. However, the only way of combating a threat is by recognizing it. We are fast becoming 7.8 billion frogs in a pot, gradually being boiled alive. Remain alert to the creeping invasion. They are coming. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.