If it killed 50% I would be surprised because so far the strategy of the elites has been to boil the frog slowly. By doing something too extreme they could create pushback and rebellion. Its far safer for them to boil the frog slowly over 100 year than to take huge risks trying to achieve everything in 10 years.
But how can they boil the frog slowly when they believe the earth is about to be raped of all it's natural resources? They need to save us from ecological collapse (or so they believe).