‘The Wizard of Davos’
Edited by: Geraldine Ring
“Just follow the yellow brick road, we’re off to see the Wizard of Oz.”
“No, actually there was no real Wizard in Oz. But there is one in Davos.”
“Really? What is he doing in Switzerland?”
“He is hosting the World Economic Forum. Like every year for the past five decades.”
“How could we get there?”
“Just follow the discourse.”
“♪ We’re off to see the Wizard, The wonderful Wizard of Oz. We hear he is a whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was. If ever, oh ever a Wiz there was, The Wizard of Oz is one because, because, because, because, because, because, Because of the wonderful things he does. ♪ (We’re Off to See the Wizard, by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen) ”
In 2020, artificial intelligence machines sought total control of the world, and almost everything was subordinated to their discipline and order. In those dark times, all disobedient fairy tale creatures were cast out of the public sphere, and so they found refuge in a deep forest. Unexpectedly, news about a powerful Wizard in Davos started to circulate, giving new hope to the expelled ones.
While they were sitting around the community’s fire, the Elf mathematicians warned about the fact that the richest 1 percent has more wealth than all the other people on Earth together. And the oldest and wisest Elves declared that this inequality is the root cause of many conflicts in the modern world.
Elf girl Dorothy, her dog Toto and Lion, Scarecrow and Tinman had been chosen for a difficult task to find and follow whatever road that leads to Davos, Switzerland. Their aim was to participate at the World Economic Forum (WEF), where they would also ask for a personal appointment with the Wizard of Davos.
Davos' mission was all about addressing the issue about the ever widening gap between different social classes. And on the way there they were discussing their strategy of presenting their points.
Tinman, who had no heart, proposed that they go with the Western media narrative, for example from Slovenian media. Their reporting on global inequality could help to shape the points of their speech. So he suggested that they have to try to present the fact that living with less than 2.50 dollars a day is unsustainable. Three billion people are living with this, or even less. And that they are glad that organisations like Oxfam tinkered a little with the figures so that they have solid facts. Also, it’s important to emphasise how billionaires are filling their pockets due to the broken global economy. Women, in general, earn less than men, and globally are even spending daily 12 million hours on unpaid work, concluded Tinman.
But Lion disliked the idea. He said that they shouldn’t just try to present their ideas; they should also join the discussion with confidence and courage. Though he quietly admitted lacking them both. Still, he continued, this kind of narrative implicates that women are self-responsible that they carry out unpaid work, it would be better to say, that they live in a system that doesn’t acknowledge their work. It also amounts to total resignation to repeat the mantra that the rich are becoming richer by using the state of the broken economy, built on the exploitation of the working classes. It’s not the point that the people are living with scarce resources; the point is that they should have decent income for their work. Check for example Russia Today, Lion pointed out. They are clearly stating that the system could crumble and that it should be fixed as soon as possible.
Scarecrow said that he is terrified that they will be persecuted for raising their voices, but that he agrees with Lion regardless. The Western media narrative is distorted, and cosmetic changes to the system are not sufficient. He also asked why Elf girl Dorothy is all quiet and appears to be dealing with deep thoughts.
“I would go with Lion’s plan,” said Elf girl Dorothy, “that’s for sure.” “But, I think I should also say something about emancipation.”
“Oh, no. Not emancipation,” the others rolled their eyes.
“Will there ever be enough of this identity politics?”, asked Lion.
“But, listen…,” continued Elf girl Dorothy, “when Tinman mentioned Slovenian media, I remembered this obnoxious satirical video they made in that country, mocking the US First Lady, who happens to have Slovenian roots.”
The others started to listen, and Elf girl Dorothy explained that she is no fan of the current US presidency and that she doesn’t have an opinion about the US First Lady, but that she is still deeply shocked by this video. How come, she asked, that a woman in Slovenia is reduced to a nobody, even if she becomes the First Lady of the US? Is this a Slovenian problem, or is this typical for some countries? Tinman pointed out, paraphrasing Elf girl Dorothy’s point that women are paid far less than men and also that a lot of their work isn’t even paid at all.
And, what’s even more disturbing, continued Dorothy, is the fact that Slovenians didn’t do anything that showed any significant respect for ‘their’ Melania so that the video could be dismissed as an amusing satire. On the contrary, the music from the video is the same or very similar to the music from the series of the tourist ad for Slovenia. This one is also particularly male-centred, and surely by coincidence, it’s also about business.
“I see the point,” said Tinman. “Maybe this means that my robotic heart is starting to beat?”
“I hear some drumming in your chest,” checked Scarecrow. “And I think I’m not afraid anymore.”
“If I hadn’t yet, I would find the courage, to stand up for direct democracy with people’s referendums,” exclaimed Lion.
And off they went, confident in the knowledge that the corporate world is destroying democratic society with deepening inequality and poverty, polluting the environment due to overuse of technology and aiming towards the privatisation of nature. They were determined to speak about the alternatives for people and planet, as well as their magical land and forest.
📷 by Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay
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