I think most people's introduction of the "own nothing" line was the "8 predictions for the world in 2030" video published by the WEF[1]. I think it's understandable for people seeing such a video to see it as endorsement of input from their "Global Future Councils".[2] This was also published in text form on their site[3] with reference to the Danish MPs essay, but I think most saw the video version.
Overall I think the whole thing is puff that was never really intended to be seriously considered, but I think there's some meaning in what is curated.
They're a think tank. They think up "concepts" and then rally influential people around them. Just like concept cars and high fashion, they don't intend to bring that stuff literally to reality, but it absolutely does mark out the direction in which they intend to move things.
Besides, this lenience of "don't take everything so literally" might equally be applied to whatever the swivel-eyed loons are saying, but somehow in that case any surface-level weirdness is seen as grounds to dismiss their subtler points entirely.
A fair correction. I was only aware of the essay; I tend to avoid watching videos whenever possible.
Notably, most of the other ideas in that video are also improbable: drone-delivery is not as easy as it sounds; multilateralism is hard; organ printing is extremely unlikely (growing in a vat has been pursued for decades but is still nascent); the displacement of the whole population of Africa seems more than a little hyperbolic; the widespread implementation of carbon taxes doesn't feel any closer (sadly); we are nowhere near sending humans to Mars or supporting long-term space residents; meat alternatives have yet to reach market acceptance (or meat-equivalent RPER). But one part is true: Western governments are feeling quite unstable lately.
The problem is the problem with a number of slogans: You can't really make a Big Pronouncement and then successfully walk it back. Nobody hears or cares about the walk-back, and the Big Pronouncement is what gets repeated.
Overall I think the whole thing is puff that was never really intended to be seriously considered, but I think there's some meaning in what is curated.
[1]https://archive.org/details/8-predictions-for-the-world-in-2... [2]https://web.archive.org/web/20161125145049/https://www.wefor... [3]https://web.archive.org/web/20161125144156/https://www.wefor...