CHAPTER 1
The Great Reset in 10 Minutes
QUICK LINKS
The Great Reset
#TheGreatReset
World Economic Forum: By 2030, "You will own nothing. And you'll be happy!"
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Stocktaking | What it will take to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? | United Nations
Who CONTROLS The World!? You Won’t Believe THIS!!
WARNING: Klaus Schwab & the WEF Want to Control Your Life
Davos Uncovered: Do We Need the World Economic Forum?
INTRODUCTION
As a means to analyse our world, I find writing a calming and effective means of distilling my thoughts. There are so many colliding events that it is hard to keep track and process them well. Who is lying and who is telling the truth?
From the decline of America, to the rise of technology, to global pandemics, to wars and end-times religious prophecies, how does the ‘average Joe’ digest it all? As an ‘average Joe’ I decided to used the 'lockdown' to put my pen to paper to help me digest current trends and solid my thoughts. To avoid formulating my views in a vacuum, I read dozens of books and decided to develop this position paper. I will also develop this site further as new information comes to light.
The format of this online book is designed to be part book review, part current events commentary and part personal diary reflection. I have not developed it as an assignment or to convert others to my point of view. If writing this only helps me, it is worth it. If my thoughts resonate and help others to sift through current events, then praise the Lord. I will be keen to read this in years to come to see how it ages. Having a codified record of these times may prove valuable.
It was late 2020. Like the rest of the world, my life had been turned upside down by the arrival of the coronavirus and subsequent government restrictions and lock-downs. I had heard about this new and foreboding book put out by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) President Klaus Schwab. Called The Great Reset, the title seemed to be an updated term for sweeping utopian terms like the New World Order. Marketing phrases on the WEF website included ‘2030: You will own nothing and you will be happy’. This sounded rather Orwellian and dystopian. I needed to find out more.
However, unlike some people, I am not content to blindly believe the ‘boogy-man‘ reports of this new and emerging take-over by elite overlords. So I went straight to the source. I ordered a copy of The Great Reset and I signed up as a World Economic Forum member to receive their email updates. The Great Reset book arrived in December 2020. I read it cover to cover, noting the key points. In our age of deception, researching first sources is essential.
I subsequently read other books and articles on related topics that have helped shape my understanding. Where they are not linked within this paper, they are listed in the bibliography. The Great Reset, broadcast the WEF's post-COVID insights and plans for the world. Four years on from its first publication, their utopia and dystopian predictions are on track. In January 2022, Klaus wrote a sequel called The Great Narrative. These twin ‘playbooks’ are manuals on 'How to re-shape the world’, Let the reader understand. Therefore, this book is called, The Reset Continues, in light of current events.
THE GREAT RESET - BOOK SUMMARY
I have finished reading The Great Reset by Klaus Schwab - the Founder and Inaugural President of the World Economic Forum. Here is a summary of its contents.
Executive Summary
COVID 19 will re-shape our world on a scale more like World War II than the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, 9/11 or the Great Depression. To consider how COVID will impact our world, we need to consider the state of our world. Our global economic world is marked by three characteristics: 1. Interdependence, (supply) 2. Velocity (speed) and 3. Complexity (volume) So, we should not view today's world as 190 individual boats (countries) on a global ocean. Instead, we should view our world as 190 cabins on a single cruise ship on a global ocean. Furthermore, COVID-19 is not a single black swan event. Rather it is the mother of many black swan events to come. COVID will be seasonal and sustained and it will be with us for a long time. Therefore, containment of the virus will necessitate a new global surveillance network. The next hurdle in addressing the virus will be the political challenge of vaccinating enough people worldwide. (We are only as strong as our weakest link). The Great Reset then predicts how COVID will affect various aspects of our world.
Economic Aspects
Past pandemics have suppressed real rates of return for a 40 year period. Pandemics also increase inflation. Global GDP is forecast to fall between 20-30%. Yet, it is an economic fallacy to sacrifice a few lives to save growth. ‘If a government fails to save lives, the remaining people will panic and won’t resume shopping’. COVID effects will result in structural changes in the labour market. These changes will accelerate and become permanent. Therefore, saving lives must be viewed as the only strategy to save the global economy. With an economic emergency response in place, the opportunity can then be seized to make the type of institutional changes and policy choices needed to put economies on a new path towards a fairer, greener future. That future need a greater focus on the wellbeing of all citizens and the planet. GDP needs to decrease in our collective importance with more focus on how we distribution economic gains. Specifically, fairer institutional changes will mean that 'capital reserves' will need to be tracked systemically. Debt relief to poorer countries will be necessary. Governments will need to invest more in health and education and less in manufacturing. A call for de-growth [negative gdp] may need to be embraced. We may need to accept changes such as consuming less red meat and taking fewer flights. To pay for these changes, modern money theory (money printing) may be necessary. But beware MMT leads to major social expectations and political control and the ravages of either inflation or deflation. The US Dollar's (USD) standing and power is built on global trust. The USD has allowed America and Americans to borrow cheaply abroad to live beyond their means. The pandemic may be the catalyst to end the USD dominance. China is leading in terms of developing a national digital currency which may become a replacement.
Social Unrest
COVID will be the death of policies that favour competition over solidarity, creative destruction over government intervention and economic growth over social welfare. COVID will exacerbate inequalities rather than flatten them. As an example, the sad truth is the most valuable [essential] jobs are the lowest paid. Because of COVID, in the US, the people may demand national control of healthcare and better employment conditions. Higher wages will follow with less profits or higher prices. This is necessary as 30% of Americans have zero or negative wealth. COVID has highlighted this inequality as seen in BLM protests. The BLM protests are turning into something more than just race specific issues. Strongly individualistic societies will be more at risk from social unrest.
Return of Big Government
Good government is the difference between living and dying. Out of necessity, a good government will start with increased taxation. In many western countries, income tax was introduced as a temporary measure during WW1. In the US after WW2, the highest Marginal Tax rates reached 94% [99.25% in the UK]. This was seen as necessary in response to a crisis of that scale. Additionally, COVID could be the end of those who adhere to Margaret Thatcher's declaration that 'there is no such thing as society’. Big Government will take quasi-immediate control of the economy and re-write the rules of the game. COVID will permanently increase government's role. COVID will also renew trade union engagement. Corporate shareholders will be replaced by 'stakeholder capitalism'. Socially, we will become less obsessed with finance. Share buybacks will become illegal. We will have more regulation and nationalisation of industries. Stakeholders will hold business to account on social and environmental factors.
Social Contract
A social contract is a 'set of arrangements and expectations between individuals and institutions'. Inequality has fuelled individuals' loss of trust in institutions. A complete return to the pre-pandemic status quo will be impossible. Therefore we will need an increase in the 'universal provision of assistance, insurance, healthcare and basic services'. We need a world that provides enhanced protection for workers [casual and gig] with benefits like paid sick leave. The next generation deserves an outweighed influence in social decisions because they will inherit the future. Millennials largely believe the current system is broken beyond repair. Causes they care about are climate change, economic reforms, gender equality and LGBTQI+ rights.
Geo-Political Unrest
COVID will exacerbate geo-political tensions. Global public goods like shipping lanes and fighting terrorism because of US hegemony will be redistributed. There will be a global order deficit. Short term we will see a rise in nationalism over globalism. But If both democracy and globalism expand, there is no place for the nation state. The global supply chain is emblematic of globalisation. Initially localisation will be fuelled by the pandemic but the new formations will be 'Regionalisation' as a watered down version of globalisation. Govt's will buy/take stakes in strategic companies. A lasting geo-political recovery will require a global strategic framework of governance. We live in a world in which nobody is in charge. The biggest problems we face are global. Climate change exist beyond the control of even the most powerful nations like the USA and China. Distrust between them is increased by the pandemic. But the World Health Organisation must be supported as it is preferred to no institution at all. The global economy won't restart without sustained international cooperation. This pandemic has pushed USA - China relations to the worst level since 1979. The globe could break into 2 spheres. In regards to lockdowns, they will produce famine in about 3 dozen poor countries mostly in Africa. In those places, local tribal groups may use the chaos to advance their agendas, thus producing new waves of mass migration
Environmental Reset
The pandemic and climate change are similar in that they are both global and similar in impact. Therefore they both require a global response. Cross-over between the two crises including deforestation from current agricultural practices (covering 1/3rd of land) causing animals to migrate to urban areas which increases zoonotic diseases. Air pollution caused by climate change makes respiration worse for COVID sufferers. Therefore, reducing pollution and agriculture will help fight both climate change and COVID. An 8% carbon emissions reduction in 2020 because of COVID lockdowns is proof of positive change. But that rate will need to be repeated for a decade to hold temp rises to 1.5C. Leaders need to embrace phrases like 'build back better'. Changes of behaviours because of COVID restrictions like working from home and minimalism could be made permanent and keep emissions lower. Activists who observed lower pollution during lockdowns may be emboldened to continue advocating for restriction extensions.
Technology Reset
A 4th Industrial Revolution will be needed to progress with the augmentation of life and technology. A positive of the pandemic is it will address the greatest inhibitors to technology adoption - privacy. Once privacy concerns are addressed, then we will see acceptance of mass surveillance through contact tracing. China and South Korea have already implemented mandatory tracing through mobile phones, credit card data and facial recognition. Surveillance implementation will be driven by corporations who will move to force surveillance as 'return to the office' This emerging framework is called 'surveillance capitalism'. In the end, the loss of privacy is positioned as a pragmatic trade off against public health. Public resistance is unfounded and largely fuelled by the tech/sci-fi genres.
Micro-Reset
Businesses will need to re-invent themselves to offer their clients a full beginning to end digital journey. The Internet of Things (IoT) offers companies the means to conduct business in a socially distanced way. Medical care will increasingly be remote via wearable health devices. Big Data could utilise IoT and Biometric monitoring to market and manipulate us in real time based on our feelings and emotional responses. Yet, if this is done with a good and collaborative moral framework considering stakeholder activism it may be alright. (e.g. considering ESG - Environmental, Social, and Governance concerns). Google is providing leadership. Their employees pressured Google management to refuse to build AI algorithms for the oil and gas industry. Such actions build their brand of social awareness and inclusivity.
Individual Reset
At an individual level, it is still unknown whether the pandemic will bring out our better angels or demons. Philosophical debate will occur on how to maximise the common good in the least damaging way. Arriving at a common good is balancing the 'Utilitarian Calculus' against the 'Sacrosanct principle of the sanctity of life'. It is a moral choice where life must always be primary. Therefore wearing a mask is a moral choice. Morality must be brought to economic decisions. Supply and demand should be looked at through the lens of fairness, inclusivity, and justice. Avoiding a recession is a moral good because recessions increase suicide. Similarly .the lack of social safety nets during a recession are immoral and responsible for killing people. From a mental health aspect, the CDC found in 2017 that 26% of Americans suffer from depression. Depression and anxiety are exacerbated by the pandemic in part due to the absence of social rituals like hugging handshakes which are suppressed while isolation is increased. Domestic violence will increase 20% during lockdowns. More subtly, without many non-verbal cues, our communication is limited via video technologies. The use of the Zoom gallery view divides our focus on many people simultaneously. Rapid fatigue phenomenon comes from ‘continuous partial attention’. Our brains are trying to multitask, but in vain. We are left feeling tired, overwhelmed and dissatisfied. We need to change our priorities. Introspectively, we should reconsider our beliefs and convictions and position in the world. On the positive side, if we creatively reinvent ourselves to find peace in nature we can become stronger. With restrictions and supply chain interruptions, the pandemic has helped open up our eyes to the severity of risks of environmental degradation and climate change. This may result in a personal reset of understanding that excessive consumption is not good for us or the planet.
Conclusion
To avoid a disastrous fate, we must learn from the mistakes of the past and implement a 'Great Reset'. The pandemic gives us that rare opportunity. George Floyd’s death and protest responses was the first domino that marked social fairness changes for historically marginalised groups. It demonstrates that human change occurs not from statistical data, but emotions, sentiment and narratives. There is a systemic connection of epidemiological risk and social risk. Klaus admits that statistically, the COVID-19 mortality rate makes it one of the least deadly pandemics the world has seen in the last 2000 years. But when combining COVID-19 with questions of systemic fairness, the impact of the pandemic justifies a Global Reset of social contracts. Just as WW2 led to new forms of international cooperation, COVID should lead to global cooperation around nuclear threats, climate change, use of essential resources and different standards of living. So, we are at a crossroads- one where we start respecting Mother Nature or one that returns to the worst aspects of the past.
MY ANALYSIS OF THE GREAT RESET
Shaping The Future
The Great Reset does not mention specific dates, programs or locations for implementing the Reset. Rather it lays out the scale and framework for reimagining a global post-COVID world. It is built on replacing shareholders with stakeholders - to represent diverse groups and provide them an outsized voice in the future. If COVID-19 responses can break the current world order, then an opportunity will emerge to remake a new world order.
Time-wise, The Great Reset is working in conjunction with the United Nations' Agenda 2030 Goals. The 2024 UN Pact for the Future confirm these goals. Like Caiaphas, I wonder if the kings of the earth are accidentally correct with their obsession with 2030. I wonder 'Are the WEF's 2030 statements really predictions or are they plans'? Their written vision statement is 'Shaping The Future' In their transformation maps, blogs and newsletters they include social instructional content on topics including 'Lessons on being an LGBTQI+ Supporter'. In 2017, the WEF published Eight predictions for the world in 2030. Some of those 'predictions' were so dystopian that the WEF deleted it from their channel after receiving backlash. But the internet is forever, so watch the saved evidence in the suite of videos above.
My biggest area of wariness of the World Economic Forum (WEF) surrounds their claim of valuing the sanctity of all human life. On the face of it, their science fiction predictions sound somewhat pro-human. They want to extend lifespans and improve people's quality of life. Yet, as I've looked into the implementation of these goals, their impacts will be profoundly anti-human for everyone but the elites. As an example, the WEF advocate for expanding 'lockdowns' as a means for addressing their narrative of our 'existential climate crisis'.
The WEF is primarily a global association for multi-national corporations, while the United Nations is primarily the global association for governmental leaders. Yet, these two organisations act in tandem. The UN is the mother of many 'harlots' (Revelation 17:5) and has birthed many global organisations. These organisations, despite their lofty visions, continue to rape and pillage the world for benefit of their elite members. Beyond the WEF, other global bodies that control nations and subdue people are the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
I am unashamedly a Christian. So my analysis will come from a Christian world view. I make no apology for that. I appreciate and will apply Karl Barth's quote:
“Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both.
But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”
So in analysing Klaus Schwab's book, I noticed he fails to mention God or religion even once. That spoke loudly. Instead technology is cited as the key to evolutionary re-invention and human advancement - both economically and socially.
The ‘Elites’ and Social Engineering
The key annual conference for the World Economic Forum is held in the Swiss Alpine village of Davos. This gathering is a collection of the world's elite to discuss their visions of 'Shaping Our Future'. There are a lot of conspiracy theories surrounding what those elites may or may not be planning and plotting at those conferences. Peter S. Goodman is a global economics correspondent for the NY Times. He has attended and reported on many Davos events. Recently he wrote his book Davos Man - How the Billionaires Devoured the World.
Goodman's nickname for these elites is Davos Man. His view is that Davos is mostly a PR exercise for billionaires, celebrities, world leaders and the media. What they all have in common is a sure belief that they are the experts who have the divine right to shape the world's future. In the battle for the mind, PR and marketing executives have power. Today's celebrities and influencers hold even more power than elected politicians in engineering our societies.
Personaly, I have seen the 'media' and 'experts' change their mind so many times. They have exhausted their credibility. The 'elites' go out of their way to mock anyone who have a genuinely different beliefs for the origins of the earth and humanity. In the WEF's clinical mindset, there is no space for a Biblical belief in the Creator God who has authority over creation. Differing 'worldviews' are the elephant in the room. If one believes God created the world, they can look to Him for the ultimate solution to the world's problems. If one believes that 'science has settled' that the world evolved by chance, then looking to ourselves for our salvation makes sense. This contrast becomes clearer in The Great Narrative.
Who Is In Control?
Ultimately, a sole focus on human efforts to solve our problems is the worship of 'statism' as alluded to in Revelation 13:18. In January 2020, it you had predicted it would be impossible to travel, buy or sell without a digital passport, you would have been dismissed as a conspiracy nut. Now, if you hesitate to accept a digital ID, you are a crazy conspiracy theorist. The world has changed that quickly, and the change is not by accident. Increasingly, we can see that 2020 was the year that the hegemony switch flipped.
I’ve listened to TED talks by many elites. They often come across as civil and insightful and voices of light. At face value, they convey a desire to do good for humanity. But good intentions do not automatically equal good outcomes. Much of Davos Man's ‘legitimacy’ is built on the fact that they have built large amounts of wealth and have set up major philanthropic endeavours. Yet, wealth does not eradicate original sin. Extreme wealth does magnify the power and impact one person can have - for better or for worse.
As an example, one Davos Man is Bill Gates. Many conspiracy theories and world domination rumours surround him largely because of his investments and statements. Gates investments include many patents on mRNA vaccines and GMO seeds and food. His statements frame these products and a social necessities that must be mandated globally. Gates is the largest private owner of US farmland. Yet, Bill Gates repeatedly advocates for depopulation while spending billions on contraceptive chips, abortion, vaccines, digital IDs, payment methods, and brain-activity crypto-mining. (Patent number WOWO2020060606). Gates recommends the book The Ministry of the Future, as a model for how the world must respond to climate change. This semi-non-fiction playbook advocates for a new global organisation by 2025 to tax and control climate emissions through a Central Bank Digital Currency.
Maybe the combination of all of these positions is just a co-incidence. But experience teaches me to believe in fewer co-incidences. Bill Gates is an American Oligarch, but he is just one of many elites who sing from the same song sheet.
Malevolence or incompetence? - the result is the same
Guy Turner
Despite the United Nations and World Economic Forum's meetings, I don’t fear a single smoke-filled room where sinister elites manically laugh loudly about their immaculate plans for mass depopulation and world domination. But there is a 'conspiracy of interests' which may result in similar genocidal outcomes. When opportunities for centralised control arrive, authoritarian nations, organisations and individuals will pounce. The conspiracy theory that I do believe is that since the beginning of time, the devil has inspired rulers to conspire against God and His people. While the elites plan, it is God who laughs (Psalm 2:). Satan loves death, division and chaos whereas God loves life, unity and truth. Sin is the common thread through all of human history. All of history continues to operate within the context of this great conspiracy. Consequently, every human and every nation must decide if they will align with or against God.
When interests collide, there is no need for conspiracy
George Carlin
The Great Reset diagnoses many of the world's problems, however, their planned solutions at their core are anti-human. There is nothing new under the sun. I imagine the builders of the 'Tower of Babel' had similar ideals when they tried to construct their world changing project. Man's plans ultimately lead to destruction, and this book will explore some of those outcomes. However, history shows God was in control then, as He is now. Those that trust in Him, need not fear.