Last week, the World Economic Forum convened for their annual ski trip / important meeting on global affairs, an event that was thrown off kilter by the arrival of a boisterous American administration frankly unconcerned about the opinions of European bureaucrats. Riley breaks down the ensuing chaos for your reading pleasure.

The year is 1971.

German engineer Klaus Schwab is sitting in a villainous armchair surrounded by henchmen, engaging in their favorite Friday night tradition of sipping Ruinart and mainlining no less than 40 cc’s of adrenochrome, when the idea hits him.

‘A forum must be created,’ he says over the haze of smoke and multiple masked orgies occurring beside him, stroking a snow-white Siamese cat, geeked out of his mind off the child-blood-drug coursing through his veins. ‘A forum where we tell the peasants to eat bugs and shower less, while we — the enlightened economic elite of the world — continue our life of… [gestures around the room]... luxury…’

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‘Like a World Economic Forum, sir?’ chimes in his plucky young apprentice, William Henry Gates III.

‘Yes…,’ replies Schwab before an uncomfortably long laugh. ‘A World Economic Forum...’

Thus, WEF was born — officially an “international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank” with a stated mission of “improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.”

At least, that’s how they describe themselves in corporate speak. In practice, the forum and its annual gathering at the Swiss mountain resort of Davos has functioned more like SXSW for Globalism (especially so this year), only with a little less hipsters and a little more zeros in attendees’ bank accounts.

Through the years, thanks to some helpful digging from folks like Alex Jones and my uncle after a few Miller Lites, a perhaps truer picture of Davos has started to emerge in people’s minds. Stories of forum attendees pushing ideas such as “Why we need to give insects the role they deserve in our food systems,” or “You’ll own nothing and be happy,” while simultaneously flying to Davos on private jets and soliciting high-end prostitutes, had caused many of us peasants to raise the question: ‘Could it be that these ruling elites DON’T have my best interests in mind?’

It is against this backdrop that we recap the 2026 edition of Davos, an event that occurred this past week.