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

theguardian.com

11–20 of 32 posts

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

#11
post #5

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…

Liberal leaning? I hate to be rude have no idea what you're talking about and it sounds like you have a terminal case of "two party system brain"

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

#12
post #5

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…

>Wouldn't that make him qualified to continue doing what he has been doing for 52 years?

A long tenure does not necessarily mean that one is qualified to continue.

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

#13
post #5

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…

Liberal leaning? I hate to be rude have no idea what you're talking about and it sounds like you have a terminal case of "two party system brain"

This is unfair. The commenter you are replying to is claiming that a liberal organization is being attacked from the left, and this is a pretty fair statement. Even the sales pitches for why you should subscribe to The Guardian make it clear what their bias is, and those are on the bottom of every page.

And this is actually a pretty refreshing take because it correctly distinguishes between liberalism and the left. Both of which are distinct from conservatism.

At worst you could say they have a three party system brain.

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

#14

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)

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.

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

#15
post #7
post #5

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…

[flagged]

> 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.

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

#16
post #5

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…

What has the political slant of the paper and WEF got to do with it? If that’s relevant, surely a left leaning paper attacking a left leaning organisation makes the article more compelling?

By liberal, I mean free-market liberalism (like FDP in Germany). I'm European. It didn't occur to me that people in the U.S. would misunderstand and think "liberal" means "left". Is that the miscommunication that's happening here?

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

#17
post #15
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> 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…

[flagged]

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

#18
post #17
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

[flagged]

You're tone policing, and you did imply that Schwab's outlook is guided by half-century old intuitions and called into question his cognitive abilities, basing both on nothing but his age. That is ageist. How do you know he's not open-minded and up-to-date on all the latest research?

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

#19
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

You're tone policing, and you did imply that Schwab's outlook is guided by half-century old intuitions and called into question his cognitive abilities, basing both on nothing but his age. That is ageist. How do you know he's not open-minded and up-to-date on all the latest research?

I am not making a positive argument in the opposite direction. This is not a debate. I am stating obvious facts and simple conjectures to make clear just how narrow-minded and apparently intentionally oblivious the original analysis is.

Also, the HN guidelines are already tone-policing. I am not really tone-policing because I don't want the person above to say what they're already saying but nicer. I want them to acknowledge just how narrow and clouded their reasoning is due to the apparent outrage, and how to take an edge off of what apparently was a very bad start to a day for someone.

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

#20
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What has the political slant of the paper and WEF got to do with it? If that’s relevant, surely a left leaning paper attacking a left leaning organisation makes the article more compelling?

By liberal, I mean free-market liberalism (like FDP in Germany). I'm European. It didn't occur to me that people in the U.S. would misunderstand and think "liberal" means "left". Is that the miscommunication that's happening here?

Likely. I live in the US, and the terms "liberal" and "conservative" are used to mean left/right in US politics. Thus, in US politics terms, your comment says "A left-leaning newspaper reports on the left-leaning WEF...".
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