GREAT RESET: is resistance futile?

We must recognize it: the world around us is on the edge of chaos. We see it every day on the news about the war in Ukraine, inflation, the energy crisis, and the upcoming resurgence of the Covid pandemic. Geopolitical, social, and economic tensions flourish everywhere. Old nations tremble and re-arm. The established alliances that have been taken for granted for decades wavers.

This raises a key question: are we on the verge of a new world order? At this turning point in time, may the “end of history” dream of the 1990s still have any chance to emerge? Or may we risk heading into a dystopian future marked by anarchic collapse or the rise of totalitarian states? Requiring a strategic move to avoid chaos?

In a nutshell, are we on the verge of a revolution?

In this regard, it’s interesting to see how some of the world’s largest institutions themselves very officially preach for a great reset: a concept launched at the very dawn of the Covid pandemic by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and a coalition of multinational corporations, governments, and civil society organizations. A vision that calls for a radical transformation of our societies, combining technology and ecology, ultimately leading to the disappearance of property in an ‘as a service economy’ heavily controlled by a combination of ‘enlightened’ global leaders from private, public, and civil organizations.

Pre-announced in April 2020 at the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic, the ‘great reset’ vision has been officially detailed by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Chief Executive Officer Klaus Schwab and the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at the 50th annual meeting of the WEF. It has since been articulated in depth in the eponymous book, published in July 2020, and in its sequel, ‘The Great Narrative’, published in December 2021.

Its premise: in a world threatened by deep social, economic, and ecological fault lines, the Covid19 is both a revelator of a lack of global governance, an amplifier of the risks of dramatic unemployment and economic crashes, and a possible opportunity and catalyst for change. In a nutshell, it offers, according to the WEF, “a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine and reset our world.”

How should this “Great Reset” materialize? For its promoters, the current state of the world leaves no choice but to transform society deeply through radically creative responses. In their view, rising inequalities, eroding standards of decent living, breakdown of social and welfare contracts, and general loss of faith and trust in institutions and leaders create multiple fault lines that threaten our societies, create political polarization and geopolitical divides, leading to nationalism, and may end up in dramatic conflicts.

Presented as ‘the most challenging times we’ve faced in generations’, the Covid19 pandemic is - according to the WEF views - exacerbating these risks. Forcing us to take extreme measures, such as very large public-conducted transformation programs, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), and helicopter money initiatives. But also enabling us to rebuild the world on a sounder basis so as to build a more social, more inclusive, sober, and greener society.

A society that will bring more happiness and fairness but will require us to reduce our standards of living, advocating degrowth, the development of the gig and the sharing economy, the destruction of entire sections of the little entrepreneurs’ economy, and finally, the setup of global governance and control measures (health status, carbon footprint, behavior…) to ensure the respect of the common good, such as the evolution towards the United Nation’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

Why this vision? Interestingly, if the “Great Reset” is obviously promoted as the way to ensure the common good, regularly praises youth activist movements as “catalyst” and “vanguard” of change, and even ventures to denounce the excess of ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘financialization’ - a paradox given the promoters of the concept - some are not without seeing in it a way to take control of the Ponzi financial scheme created since the 2008 crisis.

A way to preempt social movements that flourished for years before the crisis, to take control of the narrative, and to establish, on the occasion of the shock inflicted by the Covid19 crisis, some society of control and global governance in the wake of inclusion and democracy.

A global ‘Reset’ leading ultimately to a highly Malthusian future governed by global enlightened leaders and institutions, mixing global public bodies and private corporations, where the mass of people ‘will possess nothing but will be happy,’ will be made highly dependent upon government directives and maybe ultimately subsidies such as MMT-created universal income, but will be controlled “for the common good,” such as in China’s social credit.

A future that some critics do not hesitate to label as “techno-feudalism,” even if the Great Reset promoters protest, of course, of their willingness to ‘unleashing a new era of prosperity’ and highly deny wanting to create any kind of dystopia.

Should we get worried? One thing is certain: this initiative is not isolated. Everywhere, thinkers, lobbies, and political factions propose radical transformations of our societies to solve today’s growing issues, ranging from transhumanism to radical eco-Malthusianism. Each period of turmoil is prone to see the rise of ideologies advocating simple solutions to solve complex problems, with usually convenient scapegoats to point the mob’s resentment to.

Whether these initiatives will prevail or not, and whichever of them, is still unknown. Whether they will end up in a more responsible society or in new technocratic dystopias, favoring a small portion of elites over the expanse of enslaved and technologically controlled masses, at the very moment when automation makes a large part of the population dispensable - as highlighted by Klaus Schwab in his previous “4th industrial revolution” book - is still unclear. Whether this will favor shared and inclusive growth or create chaos is yet to be seen.

One thing is sure: we are in a moment of turmoil. At the time of transition. When “the old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born,” as coined one hundred years ago by Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, during the last turning. In troubled, chaotic times, in the unclear, when light is still uncertain in darkness. When monsters roam.

Are the events we live through temporary? May we get back to normal? In its ‘Great Reset’ book, Klaus Schwab has a short and definitive answer: “never.” According to him, “the coronavirus pandemic marks a fundamental inflection point in our global trajectory.” The world we knew doesn’t exist anymore. In a changing world, we must mourn the past and look resolutely toward the future.

In this context of turmoil, is resistance to transformation futile? This may not be a good question. Whatever ideologies and multiple political factions compete and fight to take advantage of the chaos, with some of them even exacerbating it to do so, we cannot escape the fact that we have arrived at a strategic moment of transition. A moment when many of the assumptions of the past may be challenged. When all cards may be reshuffled. When we are coming to some kinds of ‘zero years’ that may challenge our work, life, and perspectives. At the epicenter of a Global Transition Crisis.

In this transformed world, must organizations, businesses, and individuals adapt to a radically transformed ‘new normal’? Should they comply? Do they have to go under the radar? Should they create their own parallel worlds or sanctuaries? Do some of them even have to escape? The odds are still unclear.

One thing is sure: we must prepare to live in a new world, probably through many troubles. And, as usual, those who prepare and get ready for all possible scenarios will have the best chances to thrive.

As highlighted in our previous post, Escape Velocity', the time of agility has come!

The next post in this initial "Global Transition Crisis" series - DEJA VU - will be published next week. Click here to subscribe >

'GREAT RESET' is the third post of our 'Global Transition Crisis' series. The previous posts of this series, 'ANTI-PREDICTIONS 2022+" and "ESCAPE VELOCITY" can be found here >  

^{(1) - Detailed insights on the Great Reset initiative are available on the World Economic Forum web site >}