THE BUTTONED-DOWN World Economic Forum ended with a bare-breasted blow-out after it had debated the crisis in capitalism, the euro’s fate – and even the economics of space litter.
After five thankless days in the snow, checking for bombs and suspicious devices, Swiss army officers froze with amazement when they were ambushed by three topless Ukrainian women.
Wearing jeans and protest slogans on their exposed chests – “Gangster Party”, “Poor Because of You” and “Crisis: Made in Davos” – the three young women braved the sub-zero temperatures and tried to storm the congress hall. Snapping out of their stupor, the soldiers handcuffed them and led them away to take their particulars – but not before grateful photographers had clicked their fill of them after five dull days snapping well-groomed politicians and slick bankers.
The topless protesters said they were angry about world poverty and sex tourism in the former Soviet republic. Their protest slogan: “Ukraine is not a brothel.”
“If people see us today, they’ll talk about what we’re protesting against,” said one of then, Inna Shevchenko. “We shake people awake and show them that something’s happening here, that people are protesting. It’s very effective.”
At Davos town hall square, about 100 demonstrators left their Occupy WEF igloos for a final protest after failing to meet WEF chief Klaus Schwab.
“For us this isn’t about changing the existing power and property relationships,” said Occupy WEF leader David Roth. “We don’t want a slice of the cake, we want the whole bakery.”
The upshot of the forum? Some 2,500 chatter- and partied-out attendees, hundreds of sleep-deprived journalists – and so many attention-seeking corporate initiatives to tackle world problems it’s a wonder the planet has any problems left.
In one of the final bashes, the Duke of York urged wealthy guests to forget the rest of Europe and invest in Britain. “Britain is open for business – unlike one or two other countries I could mention,” he said, according to guests who were present. “And what’s more, we have our own currency.”
Self-doubting billionaires were sent on their way with an uplifting message from psychologist and “emotional intelligence” guru Daniel Goleman: harness happiness, be nice to others and heal the world. “Every leader is a chief energy officer,” he said. “Great leaders ‘recharge’ the energy of their people.” Drifting out in a daze, one attendee said: “That was amazing; I wonder if there’s an app for that.”
