A clip from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is going viral on Twitter, and for once, the reason is inspiring. The moment that’s getting the most coverage is when Rutger Bregman, a historian, emphasizes the importance of billionaires paying taxes to reducing climate change. But Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of Oxfam International, finishes the viral clip with some truly amazing commentary on worker exploitation.
To start, Bregman says it’s time to stop talking about philanthropy, and for big companies to start talking about actually, you know, paying their taxes. As an example, he describes how well a marginal tax rate worked in the United States during the 1950s. He says of tax avoidance today, “It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water.”
”That’s it,” he says. “Taxes, taxes, taxes. Everything else is bullsh-t in my opinion.”
This is definitely a message everyone should get behind—it’s time for the superrich to pay their taxes and reduce their carbon footprint by a lot—but the clip is worth watching in its entirety.
Ken Goldman, former CFO of Yahoo, asserts that because unemployment is "basically" at its lowest rate ever, we need to move the conversation to something beyond taxes.
Byanyima is having absolutely none of that. And that’s where the truly radical and inspiring part of the conference comes in: not just how many people have jobs, but the quality of those jobs. She uses women workers who cut and pack chickens (the kind you can buy in most grocery stores) for a living as an example. Byanyima shares that one of those workers told her that she and her coworkers wear literal diapers to work.
Why? Because they aren’t permitted bathroom breaks. Where are these women working?
In the United States.
“So don’t tell me about low levels of unemployment,” Byanyima says. “You’re counting the wrong things. You’re not counting dignity of people. You're counting exploited people."
Now Bergman and Byanyima are tweeting about each other:
and:
Employment numbers can tell a story that’s very different from a lived reality: If you are technically employed, but don’t make a living wage, can’t access affordable health care, or lack resources to advocate for yourself, that isn’t an employment statistic anyone higher up in the chain should be boasting about. For people who aren’t able to form unions or feel otherwise disenfranchised, work conditions can be exploitative, degrading, and downright dangerous. And no CFO should be pleased about those numbers.
“Jobs that bring dignity,” as Byanyima puts it, sums it up perfectly.
Though not part of the exchange in the viral clip shown above, 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who follows a vegan diet, no longer travels by plane, and slept in a tent while attending the conference, also held the wealthy accountable at the World Economic Forum.
“Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame,” she said in a speech. “And someone is to blame. Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to that group of people."
(People in the room reportedly only began clapping after Bono did, probably because they were mortified at actually being held accountable.)
"I think it's very insane and weird that people come here in private jets to discuss climate change. It's not reasonable," Thunberg told CNN.
Every individual action helps curb climate change, but it’s absolutely imperative to hold billionaires responsible for paying their fair share, including taxes, wages, and accommodations, and running their businesses in ways that are good for the planet, not just for their bottom line.