Davos cont.

Thursday, January 26
Proper footwear in Davos is almost as important as access to world leaders.  Everyone’s registration bag includes these clever walking crampons, as most sidewalks will be covered in snow and ice until spring. 

So, you can imagine my surprise when at a street crossing I encounter a lovely woman in 5-inch heels.  I blurted out, ‘you’re brave’ and she proudly points out that her shoes were actually designed to be worn in the snow and have rubber soles – who knew?

We not only ended up at the same Cancer dinner/discussion event, but are seated together.  Lucy Doughty heads her family foundation which builds pediatric cancer centers in the Dominican Republic and Great Britain. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn (Mindfulness in Medicine), Lucy Doughty and Francis

After our dinner Mehmet Oz, Francis and David Agus deciding who’s going to lead the dance.

I walk home very happily in my crampons.

Davos - 2012

I have the opportunity again to be a spouse tag-along at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  A fascinating environment that is full of stories – on the stage and off.  Everything takes place in the Swiss town of Davos which transforms itself to host the WEF, note the charming razor wire and snow-laden pines along the walkway to registration.  

 The heart of the event is Congress Center, where the general sessions are held in a large hall and break-outs are scheduled throughout smaller meeting spaces there and in hotels and schools throughout Davos.

The opening speaker, Chancellor Angela Merkel, tried to be as reassuring as her practical sensibilities would allow, and seemed to be speaking primarily to the markets…

She outlined the need to move the EU from a theoretical market into a functioning single market.  And groused a little about how the world is measuring EU success by the yardstick of how much individual member countries are willing to assume liability.  She stated that Germany wants to stand up for the Euro, but does not want to promise something they cannot live up to.  Her laugh line was ‘we (the EU) want to be more than an interesting place to take a vacation.’

Archbishop Desmond Tutu called for social and economic equity, not equality, clarifying the difference.  He smiled broadly saying ‘Science says we are all Africans, and it says more - we are actually all family’.  Humans are created for interdependence.  If we are hollow morally, our world is going to collapse.