In a few days the powerful of the planet will meet as almost every year in Switzerland.
They will debate the state of the world and the transformations necessary to solve urgent problems on the economic, societal, environmental and technological levels.
Almost everyone who matters will be present: business leaders, politicians, influencers, economists, journalists, representatives of multilateral institutions and other personalities from civil society.
The Davos Forum, or World Economic Forum (WEF), is quite simply the place to be at the start of the year for those in power.
"The world today is at a critical inflection point," WEF said on its website. "The sheer number of ongoing crises calls for bold collective action."
It continues by explaining that the 2023 edition "will convene leaders from government, business, and civil society to address the state of the world and discuss priorities for the year ahead."
"It will provide a platform to engage in constructive, forward-looking dialogues and help find solutions through public-private cooperation."
A Tense Exchange
However, there will be a guest who will not be there. This is Elon Musk, who has become the most influential CEO in the world. The serial entrepreneur revealed a few days ago to have snubbed Davos, marking his difference even more because many CEOs would have jumped at the chance to be part of this circle of the powerful of the world.
But not Musk.
"I was invited to WEF, but declined," the billionaire said on Dec. 24.
That day, he had not given the reasons that led him to say no to this club of the powerful. But he has just broken the silence on the matter and simply reveals that he finds Davos boring.
It all started with a thread by American author and "Dilbert" cartoonist Scott Adams who ran a Twitter poll in which he asks users to vote on whether they believe elites or a leftist caste are trying to suppress Earth's population.
"How many of you believe some group of elites or leftists or someone important wants to reduce the population of Earth?" Adams asked.
Nearly 75% of voters said they believed it. But that's when Musk stepped in to tell Adams that it was a "common sentiment."
"It is a very common sentiment, mostly implicit, sometimes explicit," the billionaire commented.
"I stipulate that people with no real power or influence do hold that view. Apparently that triggers confirmation bias that the UN, the WEF, Bill Gates, George Soros and governments want the population to decline from current levels. This is the Right's Drinking Bleach Hoax," Adams quipped.
"This is neither a 'right' nor a 'left' issue," Musk responded. "Run antivirus software in your brain."
'Boring'
The discussion then turned to conspiracy theories circulating on social media about the WEF and Bill Gates.
"Are you saying people on the Left also believe Gates and the WEF want the population of America to shrink in absolute terms? If so, consider me corrected. I have only heard that from the Right," Adams wrote.
"I don’t think we should divide issues semi-randomly into 'left' and 'right' tribes, as it inhibits critical thinking," Musk tweeted back at Adams. "The idea that there are too many people generally stems from the axiomatic flaw that Earth’s environment can’t sustain its current population."
The techno king then repeated one of his criticisms against environmentalist movements despite the fact that Tesla (TSLA) is one of the architects of the reduction of CO2 emissions in the automotive sector.
"It’s not some illuminati plot to destroy humanity, but rather an extension of the well-meaning environmental sustainability movement that has gone too far," Musk said.
He then concluded by declaring that he had declined the invitation to the Davos forum not for ideological disagreements.
"My reason for declining the Davos invitation was not because I thought they were engaged in diabolical scheming, but because it sounded boring af lol," the billionaire added.
In 2023, the WEF will be held from Jan. 16-20.
Dubbed "the meeting of the new masters of the world," the WEF was born 50 years ago to make world leaders reflect collectively on the state of the world. The concept is simple: the main economic and political leaders of the planet meet in January in Davos, Switzerland, a ski resort in the Swiss Alps.
The ambition has always been to make the powerful think in a context of growing globalization, and for them to increase their network and bring their experience.
But the WEF has become the object of numerous criticisms touching on everything that symbolizes globalization, whose populations in the West are increasingly denouncing the damage.
