He is good for transitioning to more radical socialism but he's an opportunist. He tries on multiple occasions to wash away the faults of capitalism, either by saying that we have entered a new system he calls "technofeudalism" which is somehow different than Lenin's imperialism and that we need to fix capitalism through technocratic means (workers get an equal share of companies but the capitalist system does not get torn apart), or by attacking actually existing socialism in history by saying that it's undemocratic and authoritarian.
He is open to working together with other opportunists instead of defending correct socialist theory, and the members of his party that take part in syndicalism always take weird positions, sometimes defending the companies, and all around not being nearly radical enough.
I believe they contribute to the working class movement positively and that they would eventually ally with the communists if it came to revolution, but they need to be treated with caution just like the other socdems.
i agree the feudalist stuff is really annoying. historically reductive and a distraction from more accurate analyses like you say. just a buzzword really
So far I haven't read his technofeudalism point as washing away the faults of capitalism. I do think that in general, capitalists would rather be lords than capitalists. I think he's saying capitalism is beginning to create feudalist conditions by its nature.
But maybe he was more explicitly whitewashing capitalism in some other writing or speaking, I could see it because that would mesh with the first half.
it's not an analysis grounded in a dialectical historical/material outlook so it serves to distract from that essentially and imo even runs a soft defense for capitalism by saying we live under a secret worse thing when actually we live under imperialist capitalism, that is the problem and all marxist have known this for a century or more.
Yanis is a lib but I guess he's good for a pipeline type thing.
Idk if he's secretly more radical, but every talk I've listened to h always seems like he's holding back for the audience, the rhetoric makes me think he's more of a socdem. I'll see if I can't find a copy of that book then, might change my mind about him.
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I'm eepy rn somebody please tell me who the fresh fuck these people are and why I should spend two hours listening to them.
Also I know who Hasan is. The other guy. WHO??
Thank you!
Yannis Varoufakis is an economist from Greece. From 2012-2013, he worked as an Economist for the video game company Valve. He has called himself a Marxist but also called himself a Libertarian.
Recently Yanis Varoufakis was banned from Germany for giving speeches in support of Palestine, against Israel. He is banned from entering the country and also he said the government shut down events where he was giving a speech remotely over webcam.
https://jacobin.com/2024/04/yanis-varoufakis-germany-banned-palestine-gaza
Here's a clip from 5 years ago that went viral. Some woman tells Yanis that China is doing imperialism in Africa. Yanis replies "No, they're not. China is far more humanistic than the United States ever was." He explains that China is non-interventionist.
https://youtu.be/gGeevtdp1WQ?t=4053
didn't know about the valve thing, but he's not just some economist, he was the Greek finance minister and an MP
For Syriza, the biggest disappointment in recent SocDem history. I remember listening to one of his talks during that time, he said that the radical left was not ready to take power, so they have to fix capitalism instead. I haven't been following him since.
Sometimes people say libertarian in the older sense and not the ancap sense. I think I have heard him use that language in that way
I think that's still the preferred usage in Europe. There's a story of an American "Libertarian" showing up to a Greek "Libertarian" meetup and getting physically thrown out as soon as he started talking that comes to mind.
From 2012-2013, he worked as an Economist for the video game company Valve
Lol what I've never heard that
According to him, the "Valve economy" (I guess CS:Go knives and stuff?) emerged unexpectedly, and they hired him to tell them how it worked.
Thank you! I'd been running on zero sleep for a couple days and I couldn't bear to watch two hours of some guy I didn't know about.
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Yanis is a left leaning economist but not quite Marxist (I don't think?), he was Greece's finance minister during the budget crisis.
P sure he is a Marxist. And even might be a Leninist, in this exact interview him and Hasan agree the dictatorship of the proletariat is necessary.
He is a not a Marxist in any meaningful way. His economics is Keynsian/MMT. If in light of all evidence, you still rejected the labor theory of value you have no right to call yourself Marxist.
Im not sure. He has been to Cuba and has spoken positively about it.
https://youtu.be/6MfuGSlDRsc
I don't agree with his anti worker's-state views but he is pretty good overall.
Plenty of soc Dems and Keynesians (especially Europeans) don't want to crush Cuba and even speak supportively of it while couching their criticisms in one's of the "bureaucracy" or the Cuban state. That being said, giving the thumbs up to Cuba doesn't make you a Marxist imo
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
He is an economist working within the bourgeois state apparatus. If you don’t think pushing MMT/neo-Keynesian economics in that position is a good idea, not sure what to tell you. If you read and listen to him enough, you’ll see he understands and thinks very much like a radical Marxist. But the framework he has agency in allows for very little, and he tries to push as far left as possible imo. While also agitating for radicalism outside of that framework, with his books, talks, appearances etc.
You can think that he does good with his platforms and appearances and whatnot, that's a seperate thing. But simply put, if he pushes Keynesianism he is not a Marxist and that's that.
Beginning in March 2012, Varoufakis became economist-in-residence at video game publisher, Valve. He researched the virtual economy of the Steam digital delivery platform, specifically focusing on exchange rates and trade deficits.
Yeah all games with any kind of p2p shop, using real or fake money, actually need a lot of work to make sure the prices don't go ape shit in either direction
In a lot of wow servers a level 5 character could pick literally the most common flower and sell it to some max level guy on the auction house for 1 gold each (10,000 copper) , which is 100 times the value of all his equipment and all of his quests for the next day or so of gameplay.
I feel like he is a marxist but talking a lot about workers syndicates but not about how to get there, its always something something AI Amazon something something. HOW CAN WE EXPROPRIATE AMAZON, HOOOOOW???
I just read his book Technofeudalism a few weeks ago. What I got out of it is we're fucked. I'm being hyperbolic, but it's mostly an explanation of existing conditions and where they came from. He does present his vision of work place democratization.
2 guys I check up on every now and then to see how they're vibing
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