Covid-19: catalyst or excuse for a Great Reset?
The impact of Covid-19 on all aspects of life is such that the world is expected to change drastically in the coming years. The next meeting of the World Economic Forum is therefore dedicated to The Great Reset. The question is whether Covid-19 is the sudden, unexpected catalyst for such a reset or rather the long-awaited excuse to initiate a reset process.
There is hardly any aspect of life that is not impacted by the Covid-19 crisis and many suggest that, as a result, the world will change drastically in the coming years. While some see a dystopian scenario unfolding, with more surveillance, a greater role of Big Tech at the expense of democratic processes and generally less freedom, others have sketched a more hopeful scenario.
The next meeting of the World Economic Forum, to be held in January 2021 and titled “The Great Reset”, falls into this category. Noting that “the Covid-19 crisis, and the political, economic and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making”, the WEF calls the Great Reset meeting “a commitment to jointly and urgently build the foundations for our economic and social system for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future”. Additionally, the WEF writes that “the global health crisis has laid bare longstanding ruptures in our economies and societies, and created a social crisis that urgently requires decent, meaningful jobs”.
At first sight it is difficult to disagree with these objectives. After a closer look, however, it can be argued that the crisis is partly self-inflicted given the demonization of a medicine (hydroxychloroquine) that has been shown to be effective against the virus. The Great Reset also conveniently fits the broader picture of how global elites and rulers want to structure society in the coming decade. This is the position of Steven Guinness, who links The Great Reset to the United Nation’s Agenda 2030, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the Bank for International Settlement’s “Innovation BIS 2025”.
Guinness points at some remarkable connections between the WEF agenda and, for example, Event 201. This event refers to a global pandemic exercise just three months before the Covid-19 outbreak, with a simulation predicting not only the death of 65 million people who died as a result of a global virus, but also that the virus would have severe economic and societal repercussions. The WEF was among three institutions that were at the forefront of the simulation, the others being the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Also, according to Guinness, Event 201 consisted of fifteen ‘players’ that represented, amongst others, medical corporations. Out of these fifteen, six are direct partners of the WEF.
A recent post on the WEF website states that on 30 July we passed a grim milestone: the date marked six months since Covid-19 was first recognized as an issue of international concern. This is clearly true for the millions of people who, in the great majority of cases, do not get (critically) ill but are affected only by the secondary effects of the virus in the form of unemployment and food shortages. The real question is therefore whether Covid-19 really required the drastic measures that have been taken over the last six months. After all, as the WEF itself writes, “back in January, when the WHO declared a public health emergency, there were fewer than 100 cases outside of China – and no deaths”.
Author: Olivier Vonk