Davos at 30,000 Feet

Fatalism flies the friendly skies

While Trump was giving his speech at Davos, I was 30,000 feet in the air somewhere above Europe. My Air France flight had excellent (and free) wifi, so I was able to watch it live. Touching down at Charles de Gaulle airport at dawn, I was having a lot of vaguely Gaullist thoughts, like that I might actually live to see a free Europe.

Europe at least has a chance, I thought. The massive disruptions unleashed by Trump could theoretically lead to a fresh European approach to the world. As an American, I felt almost envious: we were beyond saving, but Europe might still have a sliver of potential.

A bit fatalistic to be sure. In one private message to European friends I described the United States as a gangrene limb that the Europeans should cut off to save themselves. But such is the dark mood one gets into when bracing for impact in Florida.

After I landed, and still in this fatalistic mood, I got an email from the Norwegian daily newspaper Klassekampen, asking me to comment on Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Carney’s speech, and the trans-Atlantic rupture. A few others were asked the same questions, including Pankaj Mishra, Anton Jager, and others.