‘We will fly our own private jets, but will deprive others even from their own private cars.’ This is the gist of a recent joint declaration made by a few of the world’s richest billionaires, who have earned the greater part of their wealth by polluting the earth with their huge carbon-emitting business and other polluting activities, at one of the WEF sessions organized in Davos last week.
The hypocrisy of the wealthy
After raising their ugly business empires mostly by polluting this earth, these privileged elites are trying to change the global environment by forcing ordinary citizens to contribute by giving up their own conveyances. Hypocrisy and double standards always have no limits, especially when it comes to overnight billionaires working to preserve their own narrow interests.
The World Economic Forum (WEF)—a club of the world’s top elites—has transformed the world into a new digital reality that is nowhere close to realism. While the pursuit of ideals has eluded human beings from the very beginning, the so-called ‘digital reality’ is an attempt at completely blinding the world to reality. A huge gap is created between the real challenges faced by 97 percent of the world’s population and the ambitions of the other 3%.
An elitist, tone deaf proposal
The world economy is controlled by a few billionaires. Even as the latest global recession since 2008 creeps its way to the global centre-stage, these handful of billionaires are getting richer than they have even been. However, life on the other side is getting harder and more challenging.
At a time when a global food crisis is threatening the wellbeing of millions, the energy crisis is at its worst, and inflation is at its peak, this tone deaf suggestion to reduce global carbon emissions by ending private car ownership is hilarious in how it makes a mockery of a serious issue and reeks of apathy towards the wellbeing of the majority of the global population. But this is truly all that one can expect when the charge of making the environment clean and green is handed over to the world’s top environment polluters.
An invitation to tragedy
Their fanciful vision of turning the world into a utopian smart-village, complete with green energy and automation, coming at a time when a huge population is staring famine in the face, along with other challenges, is a fine ideal for those wearing virtual glasses. But the horrific reality comes to remind us when we see a homeless person eating a meal they have foraged from the trash.
The homeless people who sleep on the road have nothing to gain from this ‘virtual reality.’ Their biggest reality is an empty stomach. But still they claim, “Tomorrow will be better than today.” Surprisingly, he continues to hope, even after all his wealth has been grabbed by a few hundred billionaires. But this is not the real tragedy, for the real tragedy would be when he loses all hope. The day when he starts saying, “Tomorrow will be worse than today,” will spell the beginning of disaster. The world is moving closer to the day when there would be one pie and thousands of hands. These hands would swiftly move to grab the collars of those capitalists who have occupied the entire world’s wealth and are planning to flee to some other planet.
A need to introspect
Those who own private jets have no right to curb the right of private ownership from the common people. This idea is actually a direct assault on the common people whose basic mode of transportation and access to livelihood is going to be confiscated by these private jet owners.
