John Lennon sang "We all want to change the world" and now, after a bit of hesitation, this includes the alpha elite. Confused John believed the answer was to "free your mind". The Davos crowd rally under the banner of "do good AND do well", as evidenced by the 2018 "Change the World issue of Fortune Magazine (Sept.) Titled Make the World Great Again ( remember these folks are transnational) How to Profit While Fixing the Planet, the cover article highlights the greenwashing efforts of "concerned companies" and how their share prices have risen; "profit for progress" the editor calls it.
A few slightly less optimistic voices can be heard at Davos, such as billionaire investor Seth Klarman who warns: "social cohesion is essential for those who have capital to invest." Not to worry says Fortune, with some snazzy incubators and lots of amazing technology, those with a high tolerance for risk will make a world that works for everyone. (The entrepreneur/ saviors will need lots of massage to maintain a "mind-body-spirit connection", vacations on the corporate yacht don't hurt...)
Slowing emissions, pulling plastic from the ocean, fighting cancer, connecting people to the internet, ethical fashion products, hunger relief, it is all "corporate social responsibility" and "solving problems through the only sustainable and scalable problem solving machine we know of: business." The one thing that seems to escape them, that is never asked: after all these years of industrial capitalism, why are all these problems so acute, so massive, converging into such an existential crisis? A classic example is a piece on the Dutch corporation DSM; "a company with roots in coal mining and chemicals re-invents itself as a planetary problem solver..." What a business model! "It's stock price has climbed 63% in the past five years." How? Aquaculture to replace the natural, wild fish stocks they murdered. The GAP hires "at-risk teens" giving them their first "opportunity" to be exploited, and they probably send a free pair of shoes to Congolese cobalt miners with every purchase over $1000 !
"If you go carryin pictures of Chairman Mao, you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow". If you want to make it, you're going to want that MBA and a firm belief in this cultural capitalism. If you had a degree in public relations you could work for one of these companies needing an image make-over. What I find curious is the fact that this optimistic, high tech propaganda isn't just in Time Magazine or NPR but in the elites own rag. Do they believe this shit? Do they need to believe it?
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