World Forums Are Poles Apart but Headed in the Same Direction
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — They're thought of as polar opposites, a clubby meeting of the rich and powerful up in the Swiss Alps versus a messy rally of leftists down in southern Brazil. The World Economic Forum in Davos preaches globalization; the World Social Forum here wants to stop it.
But this year, a funny thing happened on the way to the forums: The captains of capitalism and the marchers for Marx experienced a bit of harmonic convergence.
How else to explain the burgeoning interest in Davos in tackling global poverty and disease, causes associated more with the World Social Forum? Or criticism that the annual mass event here in Porto Alegre now favors the elite, an accusation normally directed at the glitzy gathering across the Atlantic?
How else to account for Lionel Richie and Gilberto Gil?
Richie, the hit singer of "Endless Love," was among the celebrities who spiced up the usual lineup of chief executives and politicians. Not to be outdone, the conference here played host to Gil, Brazil's culture minister and musical icon, who was recently featured in a photo spread in Vanity Fair.
Both men were on hand to lend celebrity wattage to calls for wealthy countries to combat misery and devastation in the developing world.
Surprisingly, Davos fired the first salvo, on its opening day Wednesday, when French President Jacques Chirac suggested international taxes to fund efforts to combat poverty and British Prime Minister Tony Blair issued dire warnings about climate change.
Suddenly, social responsibility and the moral obligation toward poor countries and the environment were Topic A at a convocation viewed more often by critics as the global equivalent of the scene from the film "Godfather II" in which ambitious American gangsters cut up and eat a cake in the shape of Cuba.
"Godfather II" morphed into "Pay It Forward" when actress Sharon Stone rose during a seminar with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and led an impromptu round of donation pledges that raised $1 million to fight malaria in Africa.
"They are progressive Atlanticists," said Kenneth Roth, director of the nonprofit organization Human Rights Watch and a prominent speaker in Davos, which wrapped up Sunday. "It's a self-selected group. They are businesspeople interested in an intellectual exchange
