The annual love-in for the global capitalist elite in Davos in underway as I write. Actually, ‘elite’ simply means that you cough up the membership fee, at about $44,000 each. Thing is, there are still vacancies, so if you want to join what has been called an ‘ego-stroking gabfest’ and have a spare $44,000, get thee to Davos. The problem is that the Chinese, with the single most important economy on the globe, won’t be there. Why? Is it because communist countries aren’t invited? Hardly, since they’ve been casting a bemused eye over proceedings for three decades. No, the idiots who organise Davos decided to meet during the Chinese New Year festival. But I suspect another reason may well be the sense that Davos has now become another version of Lukács’s Grand Hotel Abyss (worth quoting again):
A beautiful hotel, equipped with every comfort, on the edge of an abyss, of nothingness, of absurdity. And the daily contemplation of the abyss between excellent meals or artistic entertainments, can only heighten the enjoyment of the subtle comforts offered.
Meanwhile the Chinese are waiting for the slow plane crash that is the European economy to come to a end so they can pick up some bargains at the industrial garage sale.
