I haven't read Varoufakis' book but I can only assume it completely misuses the term feudalism and tries to make a case for "ethical capitalism" (or overtly or by implication), as though you can point to a particular period of capitalism when everything was great and the US wasn't dropping incendiaries or napalm on kids in Asia
Varoufakis is a commie so the book doesn’t make a case for “ethical capitalism”, no. Not sure if he is a Marxist, but I’m pretty sure he has called for a revolution many times.
Edit: I think his point is not so much that we’re at a completely different system, but that the current mutation of capitalism is so far removed from what people think of as capitalism that we need new language to talk about it.
I just started reading it, he directly says it's a different system and not just a mutation on the second page
In the years after it was published, first in Greek, later in English, my weird hypothesis that capitalism was on the way out (and not merely undergoing one of its many impressive metamorphoses) gathered strength...
So, what is my hypothesis? It is that capitalism is now dead, in the sense that its dynamics no longer govern our economies. In that role it has been replaced by something fundamentally different, which I call technofeudalism.
I'm happy to let you know that your assumption is incorrect :). I highly suggest that you read the book. It was a nice change from all the sociology I normally read. I actually liked the book. Of course it's not perfect, but many things in it make sense.
I haven't read Varoufakis' book but I can only assume it completely misuses the term feudalism and tries to make a case for "ethical capitalism" (or overtly or by implication), as though you can point to a particular period of capitalism when everything was great and the US wasn't dropping incendiaries or napalm on kids in Asia
Varoufakis is a commie so the book doesn’t make a case for “ethical capitalism”, no. Not sure if he is a Marxist, but I’m pretty sure he has called for a revolution many times.
Edit: I think his point is not so much that we’re at a completely different system, but that the current mutation of capitalism is so far removed from what people think of as capitalism that we need new language to talk about it.
I just started reading it, he directly says it's a different system and not just a mutation on the second page
You are correct in your edit. Many things in the book made sense. I enjoyed reading it.
I'm happy to let you know that your assumption is incorrect :). I highly suggest that you read the book. It was a nice change from all the sociology I normally read. I actually liked the book. Of course it's not perfect, but many things in it make sense.