OPINION:
Last week, the world’s elites gathered again in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum (WEF). Among the those who joined in this year’s confab of smart folks were Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, Emmanuel Macron, president of France, Friedrich Merz, chancellor of Germany, Mark Carney prime minster of Canada, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, Sarah Friar, CEO of OpenAI, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and actor Matt Damon.
Of course, Klaus Schwab, WEF founder and long-standing chairman, opened the meeting. “The world faces critical challenges,” he proclaimed, in somber tones, and then went on to outline several “extremist” threats presently confronting our planet and its people.
But have no fear, Mr. Schwab promised. “The future is shaped by us, and particularly shaped by us in this room.”
Does anyone other than me hear the voice of George Orwell echoing through the Swiss Alps right now?
I mean, have you ever stopped for a minute and asked yourself who exactly these elite know-it-alls think they are?
For example, who appointed Mr. Schwab and his club to tell all the rest of the world what our “critical challenges” are or aren’t? Who asked them to be our moral exemplars? Who gave them the authority to define what “extreme” is and what it isn’t? Who ever asked them to “shape our future,” control the oceans waves and lord over us with their all-knowing wisdom?
Seriously, who empowered these people? Did someone elect them? Were they confirmed by Congress? Coronated by some king? Was it the European Union or the United Nations? Or maybe it was a committee of governors like Tim Walz, Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul.
Perhaps it was mayors like Zohran Mamdani and Jacob Frey. Or, possibly, it was a committee of rocket scientists like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jasmine Crockett and former Vice President Kamala Harris. Who gave these Davos demiurges their charge and authority?
Doesn’t it concern anyone that all these folks — who, candidly have some pretty extreme views of their own — presume to tell all the rest of us that we are “extreme” and they aren’t?
After all, what is an extremist?
Is it someone who advocates for pro-life legislation? Is it someone who believes in traditional standards of sexual morality? Is it that “dangerous” person who argues for lower taxes? How about that radical, “closed-minded” soul who dares call for open debate on environmental policies?
The there are those other dangerous goofs, those crazy people who think that enforcing our nation’s borders is a good thing for national security. And, of course, we have all those rednecks in America’s heartland who believe in school choice and parental rights. Can a person get any more extreme than they?
Are all these people the “critical challenge” to which Mr. Schwab refers when he says that the future must be “shaped” by those who think differently, by the smart people like him who know better?
Is it extreme to challenge the socio-political relativism of Davos and its one-world order? To question the wisdom of nationalizing the economy? To point out that Neo-Marxism has been proven over and over again to be an unmitigated failure? Is it extreme to suggest that collectivism always results in the loss of human dignity and freedom?
And how about sexual nihilism? Is it extreme to say the obvious: that it does not and never has resulted in greater social, physical or economic security for women and children?
Finally, there is the question of global warming (or I guess we call it “climate change” now). Who is more extreme: the one who wants to analyze the actual scientific data or the one whose religious zeal for pantheistic Gaianism trumps all rational debate and civil discourse?
A free society that sits on its hands, remains silent, and watches “1984” unfold before its very eyes will surely not remain free for very long.
If we continue to tolerate the pomposity of people hell-bent on completely restructuring the socio-political context of our culture and world and who shamelessly tell us that, in the words of former President Barack Obama, “they are the ones we’ve been waiting for, and they are the change we seek,” we will all wake up one day very soon to find that we are not nearly as free as we thought.
We all just got put in the gulags of those labeled “extreme.”
• Everett Piper (dreverettpiper.com, @dreverettpiper), a columnist for The Washington Times, is a former university president and radio host. He is the author of “Not a Day Care: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth” (Regnery). He can be reached at epiper@dreverettpiper.com.
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