Historical comparisons are made too easily. We canīt give in to the sense of looming catastrophe that hangs over our worldOn a snowy evening last week, I found myself in the dining room of the Morosani Posthotel in Davos, and when I had finished my meal the waiter started a conversation, probably because most of the tables were already empty. A middle-aged man with a charming smile, he told me that he was from Italy; during the summer he worked in a hotel on the island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, but the winter season he spent in Davos. `When we have the World Economic Forum here,` he said, `we work day and night. It doesnīt stop. And the tips these people leave, itīs incredible, they have a bill for 2,400 francs and then they tell me, `add a tip of 40%ī, I should be happy, but Iīm not happy, itīs insane, itīs unhealthy.`I left him a tip of 10% - who wants to be unhealthy? Besides, my bill was a long way off 2,400 Swiss francs. That night I couldnīt get the word `unhealthy` out of my head, nor the gusto and certitude with which the waiter had uttered it.A significant minority appears to view a dying democracy not as a catastrophe but as something to cherish Related: We canīt trust the billionaires of Davos to solve a climate crisis they created | Payal Parekh Continue reading...
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