If there is one thing the coronavirus pandemic has shown, it is the government, in collaboration with the media, can create a narrative that distracts us from their real objectives. Millions of people in the U.S. alone have bought into the Covid-19 panic without question. “The fear of infectious disease,” Klaus Schwab writes in Covid-19, The Great Reset, “has a unique ability to spread fear, anxiety, and mass hysteria.” In response to cleverly devised fear messages, people voluntarily changed their behavior in unprecedented ways, from donning facemasks, to allowing themselves to be forced into unnecessary lockdowns, to changing their consumption patterns, all leading to economic devastation. People around the world are accepting changes that Schwab describes as being inconceivable just a few years ago. Changes that people may otherwise reject. Saul Alinsky wrote in Rules for Radicals that revolutionary change always follows a period of hopelessness, a time where man sees no future in the current system and is willing to accept the unknown. Covid-19 is a crisis that won’t be going to waste, and the changes they have planned not only challenge our conventional wisdom but will force us to adapt behaviors we cannot yet imagine. The real objectives of the Covid-19 pandemic are, as Schwab clearly states, to accelerate progress towards the fulfillment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.
The Economic Reset
The average American understands the importance of economic growth in the sense that it supports a growing population. The stronger the economy, the more people can make a living and lead independent lives. Economic growth from this perspective is essential to a free society. Without it, the need for a social welfare system moves in and creates government dependence. It is nearly impossible for those who value human life, to separate a strong economy from human well-being because without a viable currency to which the value of our work can be attached, there is nothing that motivates us to perform the work. People’s labor has a personal value that they willingly exchange for other goods and services or the means to obtain them. This is the natural state of things. Capitalism itself is the free exchange of labor for whatever the laborer deems to be of value.
Communists have long sought to change this natural state. They have been tediously attempting to re-work the nature of man so that one exchanges their labor for the betterment of society. From each according to their ability to each according to their need. The fallacy in this reasoning lies in the fundamental nature of man and economics. If men are exerting themselves only to see the fruits of their labor being distributed before he benefits himself, there will be no motivation to continue working. This is a principle seen in America today. Nearly half of Americans are benefitting from the labor of the other half in the form of welfare spending. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, we also witnessed a drop in employment levels due to stimulus payments. People opted not to work because they were receiving money from the government to stay home. This type of entitlement spending puts a strain on economic growth as the more people who are receiving benefits are exhausting the efforts and resources of those that are paying them. This is the true unsustainable state of our current system.
An economic crisis is engulfing the world. Inflation is skyrocketing, people are quitting their jobs in massive numbers because of vaccine mandates, and goods and services are being held up due to supply chain issues. These are crises that were no doubt created by the unnecessary lockdowns in response to Covid-19. Schwab admits that the economic hardships following the current pandemic are nothing compared to economic devastation wrought by other pandemics, and in many ways, were brought on by our own behaviors. “Once people began worrying about the pandemic,” he writes, “they effectively began to shut down the economy without being asked to.” It is reasonable to assume, given the nature of the propaganda coming from the mainstream media, that this was the desired outcome. The panic ensuing from Covid-19 presents the opportunity to pursue changes to the global economy that have been sitting idle for years. Changes that the people were not ready to accept.
The Degrowth Agenda
The left views capitalism as a system that exploits human beings and resources for the benefit of the financial elite alone. The idea that one would voluntarily exchange his labor for an agreed-upon wage is alien to them. They view economic growth as being harmful to the environment, as it necessarily requires the expanding use of fossil fuels to feed the greedy ambitions of the filthy rich. Covid-19 has presented the opportunity to push the degrowth movement. According to Schwab, the lack of economic activity, and its benefits to the environment – brought on by the forced lockdowns – have renewed the push towards zero GDP growth. The Degrowth Alliance, as they call themselves, states that degrowth is essential “to tackle “the economic and human crisis caused by COVID-19” (Schwab, pg. 50). This itself exposes the contradictory nature of the whole pandemic. On page 36 of The Great Reset, Schwab acknowledges the devastating economic effects of forced shutdowns. Upwards of 30 million Americans lost their livelihoods because of the government’s response to the pandemic. On page 37, he states that governments had no choice but to impose these measures. Why would they need to impose them when Schwab admits that Covid-19 is the least dangerous pandemic we have faced in 2000 years? They exploited our natural fear of something we didn’t understand to push their agenda.
The people pushing the degrowth movement believe that human well-being, or happiness, can be improved by de-emphasizing the need for economic growth and prioritizing things like healthcare and other human needs-based services. They state there is a need to eliminate wasteful consumption and travel and focus more on ensuring people have the right to housing, education, food, and possibly an Unconditional Basic Income. This brings us back to the original dilemma. If economic growth is being brought to a standstill by a “planned yet adaptive, sustainable, and equitable downscaling of the economy, leading to a future where we can live better with less,” where will the resources come from to provide everyone with the free housing, food, and education? If fewer people are working because they are deliberately shrinking the economy, where will the money come from for the “robust social safety net” which Schwab states is essential in alleviating the economic suffering caused by Covid-19? The answer is as uncomfortable as it is evident. With the downscaling of the economy comes the downscaling of the population and human achievement.
It is becoming increasingly evident that everything going on around us, from the supply chain crisis to people quitting their jobs because of vaccine mandates, is a carefully orchestrated plan meant to create the conditions necessary to push the degrowth agenda. They have admitted that they are pushing a “planned downscaling of the economy,” and they are using our own responses and behaviors to do it. Just as they knew people would shy away from engaging in unnecessary commerce in response to the pandemic, they knew that forcing vaccine mandates would create a labor crisis as well. Imposing such a mandate, according to The Daily Signal, will do more to hurt the post-pandemic recovery by placing unnecessary burdens on employers. The cost of goods and services will increase, and businesses will struggle to find employees in an already struggling market. What a perfect crisis to take advantage of.
While those pushing the degrowth movement believe they are looking out for the well-being of humanity, they are in truth, leading us down a one-way path to destruction and despair. Not only will an economy of zero-growth fail to produce the resources for them to implement their “robust social safety net,” it gives human beings nothing to strive for. Nathaniel Branden writes in his essay, entitled The Psychology of Pleasure, (found in Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness, p. 57) that men develop their values from the pleasure attained from the work or culture they partake in. A lack of pleasure, according to Branden, or rewarding experiences which offer stimulation or the sense of accomplishment, will result in the eventual erosion of a man’s soul and his drive to achieve anything at all. Here again, we see this taking place as many millions of Americans have opted not to work in favor of collecting a welfare check. What does a future of zero-growth look like when the average American is reduced from being a free man, rooted in the concept of rugged individualism, to someone idly sitting by waiting for the world government to determine what his needs are?
The Great Reset, from an economic point of view, is a Marxist’s dream come to fruition. They have created the necessary conditions to implement their long sought-after dream of restructuring the world’s economy, and the very relationship between man and economics. They think the Covid-19 crisis has brought society to the point where global socialism and a world of lesser expectations will be accepted as a solution. Deliberately shrinking the economy will only result in suffering and despair as many millions will be left without, and the production of resources needed to fund the social safety net, nonexistent. The actions of the United Airlines pilots in response to vaccine mandates show that people still have control and can work together to effect meaningful change. Instead of shying away and quitting our jobs, or allowing ourselves to be fired, we can bind together and let employers who insist on enforcing these unconstitutional mandates feel the brunt of our discontent in their pocketbooks.
Check out my other articles in this series.
Reviewing The Great Reset: Part One – In Defense of Our Nation
The Great Reset: A Pre-Planned Solution to an Anticipated Crisis – In Defense of Our Nation
