Davos Man 2005

Davos, Switzerland from the WEF 2005

The concept of the Davos Man, the arrogant, superelite, slightly out of touch, somewhat academic snob has floated about the media for some time. My growing cynicism and disillusionment about what happens here is based on a sense that it is good to discuss world problems as a kind of mental exercise, a way to flex intellectual muscles with other top minds. A good sport followed by a spot of tea and some excellent tarts. However, for good or for bad a few people did change my mind that even in this elite world greatly disconnected from reality and poverty, there is hope and maybe even a heart.

The first to break open my cynicism a bit was Bono (yes I am a U2 fan and it is pretty cheesy for rock stars to have their causes, but because he is Irish lets give him some street credit). He seemed to be for real, and his comments today about "rational men having rational discussions" was dead on. He wanted to change the whole tone, the entire sense of urgency: "This time around we will lie in front of the trains" and prevent the deaths of thousands, even millions. He decided not just to sing about his beliefs, but to act, to do, and to put himself out there. Yes, Bono is looking the devil square in the eye (as Neil Young used to say) and is actively consorting with politicians and businessmen and probably anyone else that that can help him bring $ to Africa. Bono showed the WEF today what it seems to lack on a large scale: you solve these problems with your heart, not your mind. Bono may be the true Davos Man. Yes he is elite and he lives in a world we can only dream about, but he is a human being. You can see it. He stands out as a real leader in a conference full of "leaders". Is this good? It is actually a bit scary that some of the only real leadership comes from someone outside of the whole world of leadership, someone who is coming into the game and just stating the obvious: people are dying, so do something now!

The second Davos Man, and maybe he is the ultimate Davos Man, is Bill Clinton. He reminds me of an old, battered, but wise king with no office, no subjects, but his cup of knowledge is still full. The current Bill is like the echo of the former Bill, still reverberating, but not quite the same sound. He seems to have reflected on his past evils, even to the point of looking a bit tortured. But he seemed to be loved by everyone here. If there was such as thing he could probably be elected President of the World. He may be doing the most good now, where his focus is on helping the poor and the sick. Maybe his post-presidency life will be his redemption. What struck me most today was that he said "it is cheap". It is cheap to deal with poverty in Africa, it is cheap to provide clean water, to rid continents of malaria, HIV, and other infectious disease. It really is cheap to do all of these good things. Cheap compared to the close to $200 billion the U.S. is spending in Iraq, cheap relative to many of the things rich nations and rich companies do. As he sat next to Bill Gates today Clinton probably realized that Gates all by himself could solve most of the major poverty and disease problems in Africa. Yes, Gates is donating hundreds of millions of dollars to great causes. But lets be real - the guy is worth over $40 billion, and he could probably muster up hundreds of billions if he had to. This is the tragedy of the World Economic Forum, but also the glint of greatness I saw today in Clinton. He called the spade a spade. He knows that the people in this conference alone could wipe out abject poverty in Africa and many nations, and even provide HIV vaccines for everyone in the world who needs it (yes, everyone). Heck, the two giddy new Google billionaire guys could probably wipe out the Africa AIDS problem all by themselves. While countries bicker over nutty tax ideas (Chirac, with his telepresenced self, seemed like an alien from another planet or dimension...ahh, the wacky French), you have individuals with the singular financial power to solve major world problems. Why isn't it happening for real? I think Clinton knows something about human nature that while people do want to help, no one really wants to help until it hurts, to help beyond rationality and reason, or to simply step up and clear the deck of a problem all by yourself. It is cheap. That fact makes me sick. So sick that they should just put a halt on the conference, collect all of the members in one big conference room, and just have Bono and Clinton harrass, plead, beg, sing, cajole, and tell stories until every last $ needed to stop AIDS and cure abject poverty in Africa is raised. No one goes home, no one leaves, until something real happens. Make a clear statement to the world, change the course of the 21st century. We did not talk. We just did it. It is so cheap, that probably no one will even notice the money gone. Maybe one less ski vacation, a few less lear jets, a bit less corporate profits. But this group, right here, right now, has the financial capacity to just make it good right now. Not later, not in a year, but now. The theme this year is "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices". Ok, if this is the theme then now is the time to do something extraordinary. Not quite parting the Red Sea, but enough for this generation. And as Clinton said, it really, ultimately, sadly, disgustingly, is cheap.

This is the Davos Man. He can help, he does help a bit, maybe a lot. But in his heart, or maybe in his mind, he knows that the job could be done, but it is not. In this I'll condemn myself as well. I am not a Bill Gates (who can solve a whole continent's problem alone), but I probably could solve one person's problems, alone. Maybe it is time.

-R

Comments

[Jon Garfunkel]

I actually watched this session over C-SPAN that day.
Looking back, how quickly these pleas get forgotten...

[sunita]

Thank you very much for this post. I also followed Clinton's statement with most interest and can only agree with you. Richard Gere yesterday said "I want to be active now". It would help a lot if the Davos Man did not just open their money pockets but if they started to get actively involved, using their influence and network in the fight against poverty.

[ashley]

That is exactly how I feel. It is so incredibly frustrating to know we could fix these problems right now and yet we aren't. It makes me just want to scream because, at least for Americans, the money is just a piece of a very big pie. And I personally value human life and the quality of that life much more than the money. I wish my government and the individual people in my country would give more of their money. It kills me to think of how much aid we could give to Africa if every person just donated twenty dollars.