Mecca of self-importance
The World Economic Forum in the posh Swiss ski resort of Davos, which begins today, is an
elite get-together of busybodies
, some of whom act globally, who reassure one another of their importance at countless events, dinners and parties.
It's understandable that, in addition to all the receptions, you're trying to give the impression that you're making the world a little bit better with your own presence.
Unfortunately, there is still no evidence that this is actually happening.
According to the organizers, this year is officially about the recovery of the global economy after the pandemic, dealing with climate change and changes in the world of work.
The event that is scheduled to take place today at 3 p.m. with the beautiful title
"Sport as a connecting force"
seems to me to be quite characteristic of this forum .
Sounds great at first, but the list of participants isn't quite.
One of them is Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, whose regime systematically tramples on human rights and for a long time treated the many migrant workers in the country like dirt.
And FIFA President Gianni Infantino, one of the sleaziest bosses this already sleazy organization has ever had.
Together they will certainly praise the lunatic football World Cup in Qatar, which is scheduled to take place this winter and for which countless migrant workers have already died in preparation.
But back to the title of the event.
Yes, sport also acts as a connecting force at the World Cup in Qatar: between greed and dictatorship.
I'm just not quite sure if a similar conclusion will be reached in Davos.
They hoard more and more of the wealth of the world: the feudal world of the super-rich
The hunger of the world
I find it almost comforting that Chancellor
Olaf Scholz
has better things to do today.
He does not visit Davos but the Niger
.
On the one hand, to thank a few Bundeswehr soldiers who are stationed there for training.
Above all, however, to draw attention to a crisis that has received far too little attention given the terrible war in Ukraine.
The impending famine in poor countries in Africa and Asia is also due to the drastically increased grain prices.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wheat prices rose to their highest level in 14 years.
According to the federal government, Russia is currently preventing the export of 20 million tons of grain from Ukraine.
Ukraine is one of the largest wheat producers in the world.
Since Vladimir Putin no longer has any sense of responsibility for the well-being of mankind, the world community must now do everything possible to alleviate the suffering of hunger.
With money and food donations, with doing without in the affluent regions and unconventional emergency aid where it is worst, also with short-term subsidies for fertilizers and incentives to accelerate their production.
Because their price has risen drastically in Africa and elsewhere.
Against this background, Scholz's visit has a symbolic value above all.
As is well known, the Chancellor does not like such trips.
They can be right and important.
Trade policy and climate protection: things are going downhill.
So let's stick together!
The innards of the AfD
Tonight, right after the topics of the day, an exciting documentary is running on ARD: "AfD-Leaks: The secret chats of the Bundestag faction." Colleagues were able to
evaluate
more than 40,000 internal chat messages
that AfD MPs in the past legislature in a so-called “chatter group”.
At least 76 of the 92 faction members wrote in it regularly.
The chats show how the representatives of this party think, speak and write when they think they are alone.
It is an intimate, unsparing insight into a dangerous milieu.
»The rat Merkel at the top!
This traitor to the people belongs in jail for life!” writes one member of parliament, for example.
“We'll have to wait until the old regime comes to an end economically and the spark from Austria, Italy, France, etc. jumps over.
That will come and we must arm ourselves for the merciless fighting that will follow.« This is how people who dream of overthrow talk about the end of democracy as we know it.
However, some MPs also reveal a very alert and accurate view of the party, for example when they write: "The party that was founded to protect our country is slowly flying out from under our ass!" I have become extremely resilient thanks to the party.« There is nothing to add to that.
AfD after the state elections: the question of power
Winner of the day...
…is
Dietrich Mateschitz
.
13 years ago, the Red Bull founder and multi-billionaire created a football club with the sole purpose of existence: to promote beverage cans.
Almost out of nowhere.
13 years later, this marketing tool has now won its first major title.
On Saturday evening, the construct with the subtle name "RasenBallsport Leipzig", the subtle logo and the subtle statutes (only 21 voting members, all with a close connection to Red Bull, so that total control is guaranteed), won the DFB Cup against the Sc freiburg.
This is a club that was actually founded for an old-fashioned, ur-romantic reason: people wanted to play football together.
It's a club that has worked hard for decades to become what it is today.
A club to which you really have to take your hat off.
Incidentally, people who reject Mateschitz's perversion of the association idea have nothing against East Germans.
That's nonsense because Red Bull first checked other regions of West Germany for their marketability for a new professional club before deciding on Leipzig.
Personally, I would wish for at least 14 East German first division clubs.
A construct like that in Leipzig should never have been allowed by the DFB and DFL.
Nowhere in Germany.
Final loser Freiburg: Streich doesn't manage to get angry
The latest news from the night
Selenskyj speaks of 50 to 100 deaths a day, the Baltic stops importing electricity - that happened at night:
The Ukrainian President has commented on the number of victims on the Eastern Front.
Austria freezes millions of oligarchs.
And: Germany issues visas to Russian specialists.
The overview.
Australia swears in Anthony Albanese in a flash:
Not all the votes have been counted yet - but Anthony Albanese has already taken his oath of office as Australian Prime Minister.
The reason for the rush is an important business trip.
“Robert would like to leave FC Bayern after eight years together”:
will Bayern’s star striker leave Munich this summer?
If his advisor has his way, the answer is yes, because: "For Robert Lewandowski, FC Bayern is history."
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
The green steel baroness:
Anne-Marie Großmann wants to convert her steelworks in Georgsmarienhütte into a climate-neutral pioneering location.
To do this, you need green electricity.
But there is hardly any space for wind turbines - species protection.
She comes from the bottom - and could become vice president: at
16 she got pregnant unintentionally, at 19 she was toiling away as a domestic worker for a wealthy family.
Francia Márquez is now 40 years old and has a good chance of leading Colombia's left to power for the first time.
Only skin and bones remained of Godfried:
Researchers in the Netherlands let a dead whale decompose on the beach.
The stench was hellish - but the unsavory experiment showed who benefitted most from the giant mountain of meat.
"Digga, let's do it like that"
: The series "Die Discounter" was celebrated as a German humor event.
Now the three young creators are shooting the sequel.
Is this the future of German comedy?
A visit to the set.
I wish you a happy Monday
Your Markus Feldenkirchen
