Does the World Economic Forum Truly Have Our Best Interest In Mind?
What Is The World Economic Forum?
The WEF, an international organization founded in 1971 by Charles Schwab, meets yearly in its headquarters in Geneva Switzerland to discuss significant issues that impact our global economy. The main issues currently are political, economic, and social concerns but were initially founded on the stakeholder theory. The stakeholder theory is a view of capitalism that emphasizes the idea of interconnected relationships with customers, employees, investors, and the general public as a whole rather than the shareholders themselves. The World Economic Forum is funded through its various members but does not have a direct ability to impact public policy. So why do they meet once a year in Davos to discuss these pressing issues, and how can they impact our world? Well, the Forum is made up of the most prominent CEOs, Government Officials, Celebrities, Religious Leaders, diplomats, and much more. “The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.” (1) Indirectly, the WEF can influence both political and economic decisions in our world. They believe that by bringing together these influential and powerful people across the globe they will be able to work together for what they see as the best solutions to our problems today. The top 6 short-term risks for the WEF are failure to act on the cost of living crisis, extreme weather, geoeconomic confrontations, climate change, social cohesion erosion, and large-scale environmental damage. (2) Ultimately, the WEF’s goal is to create public-private cooperation to shape a world agenda. How much influence does an unelected group of the most wealthy and influential people have in the world? Well, all the attendees individually influence to impact our world but, when they come together this force will become far more significant. But, in this work, we will be answering the question of if the WEF has our best interest in mind.
Who Is In The World Economic Forum?
As stated previously the WEF is made up of the most prominent political, business, and international organizations throughout the world. The United Nations, Bill Gates, Joe Biden, and nearly every important figure in the world are a part of the WEF. “It’s the Super Bowl for the ultra-rich. Every year, up to 3,000 people flock to Davos, Switzerland, each paying $29,000 (plus a huge membership fee) to attend the five-day World Economic Forum, filled with panels, jet planes, and parties. Getting into Davos is impossibly complicated, even for those lucky enough to score invites. First, you must gain membership, limited to just 1,000 of the world’s biggest corporations, which starts at $62,000 per year and can run up to $620,000 for “strategic partners.” (3) As in congruence with its mission statement the world economic forum is built off the most influential individuals whether that be through money, politics or social needs. The exclusivity of the WEF which leads to the gathering of the most influential people in the world is what has raised many questions on its intentions. With this power and influence the question we have to answer once again is if these powerful people have our best interest in mind. The best way to begin doing that is, to begin with its founder Klaus Schwab.
Who Is Klaus Schwab?
Klaus Schwab was born in 1938 to Eugen Wilhelm Schwab and Erika Epprecht in Ravensburg. His parents had moved from Switzerland to Germany during the Third Reich for his father to assume the role of director at Escher Wyss AG, an industrial company and contractor for then-Nazi Germany. Schwab was a professor of business policy at the University of Geneva from 1972 to 2003.“Initially, Professor Schwab focused the meetings on how European firms could catch up with US management practices. He also developed and promoted the ‘stakeholder’ management approach, which based corporate success on managers taking account of all interests: not merely shareholders, clients, and customers, but employees and the communities within which they operate, including government. (4) In 1987, the European Management Forum became the World Economic Forum and sought to broaden its vision to include providing a platform for dialogue. In 2015, the Forum was formally recognized as an international organization. It is now on the next phase of its journey as the global platform for public-private cooperation.” (4) Klaus Schwab has stated the following; “You will own nothing and be happy.” “Major economies should see the world as one community and coordinate the objective, and pace of monetary policy” Quotes like these from the very founder of the WEF have led to suppositions on the true intentions of this forum. Klaus Schwab's net worth is estimated to be as much as $25-100 million. (5) Considering that he was a professor for thirty-one years which brings in a salary of around 60,000 $ a year and is the president of a nonprofit organization one should ask how he lives in an 11-million-dollar home in Cologny, Switzerland.
Recently, the WEF met in Davos after postponing two meetings due to COVID to discuss the Great Reset. “Topics discussed by leaders at the 2022 forum were the war in Ukraine, impacts on the global economy from the war and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the future of globalization. Also in the discussions were climate change, health, technology, entrepreneur and business roles, and what work will look like in the future.” (6) The idea of The Great Reset has been promoted and designed by Klaus Schwab who wrote a novel on this as well which we will get into later. Klaus states “the future is not just happening, it's built by us as a powerful community. We have the means to improve the state of the world. But, two conditions are necessary. First, we act as stakeholders of large communities. So we serve not only our self-interest but the community. Second is that we collaborate.”
What does Klaus Schwab truly stand for? Well, it would be best to hear from the man himself in his two most recent books The Fourth Industrial Revolution and The Great Reset. In Schwab's fourth industrial revolution, he talks about a revolution consisting of AI, smaller and more powerful sensors, and the development of the internet.
“The fourth industrial revolution, however, is not only about smart and connected machines and systems. Its scope is much wider. Occurring simultaneously are waves of further breakthroughs in areas ranging from gene sequencing to nanotechnology, from renewables to quantum computing. It is the fusion of these technologies and their interaction across the physical, digital, and biological domains that make the fourth industrial revolution fundamentally different from previous revolutions.” (7)
As all these trends happen, the winners will be those who are able to participate fully in innovation-driven ecosystems by providing new ideas, business models, products, and services, rather than those who can offer only low-skilled labor or ordinary capital.” (7)
“The 4th industrial revolution is not just changing what we do, but who we are, affecting our identity — our sense of privacy, our notions of ownership, our consumption patterns, the time we devote to work and leisure, how we develop our careers, cultivate our skills.” (7)
“What the Fourth Industrial Revolution will lead to is a fusion of our physical, our digital, and our biological identities” (7)
As you can understand Klaus believes that this fourth industrial revolution will be a more radical shift than other industrial revolutions with the powerful emergence of technology. Klaus believes that it is necessary to adopt these technologies for our society to advance. Klaus also emphasizes that it will fundamentally shift who we are biologically, and mentally with the merger of the digital and physical world.
Why The Emphasis On Crisis?
The Great Reset is built on the idea of rebuilding our world since the COVID-19 pandemic. As I read The Great Reset I began to notice a common theme of Schwab's passion for the crisis in our world. The Great Reset has been the point of emphasis for the World Economic Forum for the future of our world. Here are some quotes both from the novel and from the WEF on their idea of the Great Reset:
"The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world" (8)
“In the battle for hearts and minds of human beings, the narrative will consistently outperform data in its ability to influence human thinking and motivate human action” — Davos Agenda, 2015
“We humans should get used to the idea that we are no longer mysterious souls; we are now hackable animals,” Harari told the Davos crowd in 2020.
“Technology is making our every gesture easy to track, and we must therefore come to terms with the notion that privacy no longer exists” — The Great Narrative, Klaus Schwab & Thierry Malleret, 2022.
“[f]or those fortunate enough to find themselves in industries ‘naturally’ resilient to the pandemic [like Big Digital Tech], the crisis was not only more bearable but even a source of profitable opportunities at a time of distress for the majority.” (8)
“acute crises contribute to boosting the power of the state. It’s always been the case and there is no reason why it should be different with the COVID-19 pandemic.” (8)
There is undeniably something suspicious surrounding the World Economic Forum. Throughout Klaus Schwab's Great Reset, the idea of a crisis being an opportunity was consistently repeated throughout the novel. The crisis was discussed so much that it allowed me to come to a realization. The realization was asking the question of who benefits from the crisis. Who benefits from the Ukraine War as the people in the United States suffer from inflation? Who benefits from the COVID-19 pandemic as the people suffer? So I decided to take a look at history and understand who benefits from crises and if these crises were manipulated in a certain way to achieve this benefit. Without understanding the history of crises throughout our world and who was able to benefit from these we cannot make a proper analysis of the intentions of the influential and powerful part of the World Economic Forum.
What Is The Truth Behind The Beginning Of The US Reserve Currency?
The first crisis we will look at is the Panic Of 1907. The Panic of 1907 was the first financial crisis that was caused by the collapse of highly risky investments. These highly risky investments triggered a bank run where the public withdrew their deposits due to these risky investments. Banks don't sit on your money but rather lend it out to make money on the interest rate. For example, the general reserve requirement for the banks in the US is around 10% as the other 90% is used to stimulate the economy and create money by loaning it out. “Without a government central bank to fall back on, U.S. financial markets were bailed out from the crisis by personal funds, guarantees, and top financiers and investors, including J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller. The Panic of 1907 gave impetus to plans to impose more government oversight and public responsibility to bail out financial markets, leading to the creation of the Federal Reserve System a few years later.” (9) Did JP Morgan and John D Rockefeller generously risk their finances to save the banking system or did they have an incentive to do so? The panic led to a huge loss of confidence in the US treasury which ensured that problems like this did not happen. Eventually, congress created a new system with Senator Aldrich forming a commission to study the banks in Europe. Senator Aldrich spent two years in Europe studying the banks and wrote recommendations and reports. “In November 1910, six men – Nelson Aldrich, A. Piatt Andrew, Henry Davison, Arthur Shelton, Frank Vanderlip, and Paul Warburg – met at the Jekyll Island Club, off the coast of Georgia, to write a plan to reform the nation’s banking system. The meeting and its purpose were closely guarded secrets, and participants did not admit that the meeting occurred until the 1930s. But the plan written on Jekyll Island laid a foundation for what would eventually be the Federal Reserve System.” (10) The attendees together represented 1 ⁄ 4 of the world's wealth at the time. Why did it require a secretive meeting? One could say the founding fathers were opposed to central banks.
America had another central bank before the Fed and president Jackson said “killing the central bank” was his greatest accomplishment. The plan was backed by the most powerful bankers in the country and Woodrow backed it and his campaign was financed by these people. “The 1913 Federal Reserve Act, signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson, gave the 12 Federal Reserve banks the ability to print money to ensure economic stability.1 The Federal Reserve System created the dual mandate to maximize employment and keep inflation low. The Federal Reserve was thus given power over the money supply and, by extension, the economy. Although many forces within the public and government were calling for a central bank that printed money on demand, President Wilson was swayed by Wall Street arguments against a system that would cause rampant inflation. So the government created the Federal Reserve, but it was by no means under government control.” (11)
By December 23 1913 the bankers had complete control of the economy. The Fed now had the power to print America's money, and the government gave away its right to control the money to the bankers. Walburg was elected as a member of the fed reserve of the board of Governors, Strong jr was governor of the fed bank of new york for 14 years, and JP Morgan still owns 30% of the New York banks today. In 1908 the House discussed the central bank and said it was a step toward a money monarchical power and asked whether wall street or the public controlled money. A few years later in 1917, Woodrow Wilson decided to launch the US into WW1.
Why Did The US Join WW1?
There was no appetite among the American public to join WWI. “Germany’s resumption of submarine attacks on passenger and merchant ships in 1917 became the primary motivation behind Wilson’s decision to lead the United States into World War I.” (12) The public became outraged with the Germans stemming from media coverage through the newspaper and former leaders. The generalized knowledge is that the US joined the war purely for this reason. But, were there alternative motives? We should begin by looking at Woodrow Wilson's significance in our country. Woodrow Wilson was a part of three key events that shaped our world today. World War 1, the foundation of the FED, and the formation of the UN. History tends to look at the most influential leaders or businessmen of our time without taking a look at the ones who influenced these figures. The closest advisor for Woodrow Wilson was Edward Mandelhouse. As early as the Lusitania’s sinking in May 1915, House advised Wilson that Americans could “no longer remain neutral spectators” (13) In Woodrow Wilson's reelection in 1916 he ran on the idea of keeping us out of war. However, in 1917 he decided to enter the war, and it was Edward Mandelhouse who played a key influence in this. House states in his diary “I began with him before he became President and I have never relaxed my efforts. At every turn, I have stirred his ambition to become the great liberal leader of the world” (139).
Edward Mandelhouse to Woodrow Wilson in a private meeting:
“[Very] soon, every American will be required to register their biological property in a National system designed to keep track of the people and that will operate under the ancient system of pledging.
By such a methodology, we can compel people to submit to our agenda, which will affect our security as a chargeback for our fiat paper currency. Every American will be forced to register or suffer not being able to work and earn a living.
They will be our chattel, and we will hold the security interest over them forever, by operation of the law merchant under the scheme of secured transactions.
Americans, by unknowingly or unwittingly delivering the bills of lading to us will be rendered bankrupt and insolvent, forever to remain economic slaves through taxation, secured by their pledges.
They will be stripped of their rights and given a commercial value designed to make us a profit and they will be none the wiser, for not one man in a million could ever figure our plans and, if by accident one or two would figure it out, we have in our arsenal plausible deniability.
After all, this is the only logical way to fund the government, by floating liens and debt to the
registrants in the form of benefits and privileges. This will inevitably reap huge profits beyond our wildest expectations and leave every American a contributor to this fraud which we will call “Social Insurance.”
Without realizing it, every American will insure us for any loss we may incur, and in this manner; every American will unknowingly be our servant, however begrudgingly. The people will become helpless and without any hope for their redemption and, we will employ the high office of the President of our dummy corporation to foment this plot against America.” (Edward Mandelhouse to Wilson in a private meeting)
The analysis of figures like Edward Mandelhouse is essential in depicting how people behind the scenes control much of the decision-making and influence of that very president. Yes, we entered the war due to influences like Edward Mandelhouse but, an underlying reason that many have not considered is if it was for money.
The total cost of America’s 19 months of combat was $32 billion. Economist Hugh Rockoff estimates that 22 percent was raised through taxes on corporate profits and high-income earners, 20 percent was raised through the creation of new money, and 58% was raised through borrowing from the public, mainly through the sale of “Liberty” Bonds.” (14) Well, who profits from this spending, especially in that 58% category? Liberty Bonds are federally issued debt obligations used to finance American participation in World War 1. Who profits from the debt on interest, well it's the banks. As the government increases its spending dramatically and now because they couldn't do it they take up debt from the FED and the bankers. The government has to pay interest on this debt which is how the bankers and Fed make money. The higher the spikes of war the higher the money the banks make, and generally in crisis the spending increases as we see now in the Ukraine War and with COVID-19 Pandemic.
How Did This Occur Again In WW2?
The next major crisis was WW2. The way these people make a lot of money is simple. Get the government to spend a lot and create internal debt then loan money from the fed and others and get paid from interest on these loans. WW2 created 4 times more debt than WW1 and, after the war inflation rose 20%. Asset owners benefit from inflation meanwhile, the general public gets screwed. Now who funds the opposition to the war? In Germany, it was Fritz Thyssen who did much of the funding for the Nazi war efforts as he owned the greatest steel company in Germany. Fritz also wrote in his autobiography that “I paid Hitler” and was put on trial for this but, eventually denounced his support of Nazi Germany. Thyssen family money was put in various overseas banks. One of these banks was in New York known as the Union Banking Corporation. “Prescott Bush was one of seven directors of Union Banking Corp., a New York investment bank owned by a bank controlled by the Thyssen family, according to recently declassified National Archives documents reviewed by The Associated Press.” (15) News began to spread that Thyssen had millions of dollars in this bank but it was denied heavily by the US Media at the time. These documents that were released by national archives showed that he was a business partner and financial architect of the Nazis from 1926-1942 and the UBC shipped millions of dollars of steel to Germany. UBC's huge gold purchases showed that it was a secret nest egg for Hitler and nazi partners. Prescot Bush was caught but nothing happened to his assets as they were held for the duration of the war.
The Union Banking Corporation played a minor role in funding Nazi Germany. The bank that funded the war in Germany was the Bank of England. “The documents reveal a shocking story: just six months before Britain went to war with Nazi Germany, the Bank of England willingly handed over 5.6 million pounds worth of gold to Hitler - and it belonged to another country. The official history of the bank, written in 1950 but posted online for the first time on Tuesday, reveals how we betrayed Czechoslovakia - not just with the infamous Munich agreement of September 1938, which allowed the Nazis to annex the Sudetenland, but also in London, where Montagu Norman, the eccentric but ruthless governor of the Bank of England agreed to surrender gold owned by the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.” The most important thing for bankers is to keep international finance open no matter the human cost. In other words to profit from loans without a moral responsibility on where this money is going. Winston Churchill asked how soldiers can expect to enlist when it's ‘so butter-fingered that pounds 6 million worth of gold can be transferred to the Nazi government’’
The Bank of International Settlements otherwise known as the BIS had acted to facilitate the Reichsbank gold transactions with third countries that aided the German War Effort. In other words, the BIS which is meant to decide on whether these actions are appropriate approved the funding of Nazi Germany. “The BIS was founded in 1930, in effect by Montagu Norman and his close friend Hjalmar Schacht, the former president of the Reichsbank, known as the father of the Nazi economic miracle. Schacht even referred to the BIS as ‘‘my’’ bank. The BIS is a unique hybrid: a commercial bank protected by international treaties. Its assets can never be seized, even in times of war. It pays no taxes on profits.” (16) Well it was the BIS and their relationship with Nazi Germany which allowed the war to be funded. “The BIS was so entwined with the Nazi economy that it helped keep the Third Reich in business. It carried out foreign exchange deals for the Reichsbank; it accepted looted Nazi gold; it recognized the puppet regimes installed in occupied countries, which, together with the Third Reich, soon controlled the majority of the bank’s shares.” (16) Thomas Mckittrick, an American banker, was president of the BIS. Thus while Allied soldiers were fighting through Europe, McKittrick was cutting deals to keep the German economy strong. This was happening with what the US documents describe as ‘‘the full assistance’’ of the State Department.
Ultimately, what we can take away from all of this is an understanding that crises can be manipulated and have been throughout history from the banks to businessmen, and the leaders of our very own nations. Many of the times it's not even our leaders making the decisions but figures who have a degree of influence that impacts our lives the most.
The Day Your Money Became Worthless
The last integral piece to all of this was the day your money became worthless which was in 1971 when Nixon decided to take us off the gold standard and give us fiat currency. What a fiat currency means is that your money is not tied to any commodities and it is rather backed by the government that issues this money. Fiat money gives central banks greater control over the money because they can control how much is printed. As we see now if you print too much money within a fiat currency it can lead to hyperinflation, one of the biggest dangers of a fiat model. Now our money is in the hands and trust of our governments and the banks with fiat currency. It was this year in 1971 that the World Economic Forum was founded by Klaus Schwab as well. Since this year 1971, the world has become a pretty crazy place. Take a look at the graphs below to see for yourself.
Power and influence is something that everyone craves and seeks. However, the problem with power and influence is that you tend to never have enough. It's human nature and sadly, people won't always have your best interest in mind. This idea that all people in power are either good or evil is wrong. Even in our daily interactions we all seek power and influence it's a part of us as human beings. As Klaus Schwab says “Acute crises contribute to boosting the power of the state. It’s always been the case and there is no reason why it should be different with the COVID-19 pandemic.” Understanding this pursuit of power we should be cautious of placing it in the hands of a few powerful and influential people. These ideas of crisis and significant events like the founding of our currency have just put more reliance on the people at the top and, this very reliance has caused more people to suffer while they benefit. But, this is what the WEF is. The world's most powerful political leaders, businessmen, and people throughout the world want to direct us to their new world order. Once again does their idea of the future of our world have our best interest in mind?
