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‘Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse’: Yanis Varoufakis on extremism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 years ago by [M, B] to c/technology@lemmy.world
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‘Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse’: Yanis Varoufakis on extremism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech::In his new book, the maverick Greek economist says we are witnessing an epochal shift. At his island home, he argues it’s now the ‘fiefdoms’ of tech firms that shape us

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[+] -7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Yup. He's the guy who told the rest of Europe that Greece shouldn't have to pay back their bailout loans. You know, the ones other countries have paid with their own taxes. That's a great way to get very popular in your own country, and being hated by the rest of the continent.

The island home might be a result of his time at Valve (the company that has the biggest share of pc game distribution, Steam - which takes a 30% cut on all sales). I don't think it was funded by people's tax money.

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  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago

    Pretty sure he argued that Greece shouldn't have to use the bailout loans from other countries to pay back banks, but instead can use it to invest them in public infrastructure to rebuild their economy. Instead the EU forced them to use those loans (said taxes) to pay back rich companies, and to cut their investments in social programs to put the country into an even deeper mess.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Please educate yourself before talking about other people's countries

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  • [+] -6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Care to elaborate? I didn't say anything about other countries, just about Yanis and some of the claims he made.

    Here's the perspective from one European country: Greece needed a bailout, our country loaned them 14 billion euros, and pretty much directly after accepting the money, Mr. Varoufakis told the creditors he didn't want to pay it back.

    If you have a different perspective, please elaborate, because "educating oneself" is too broad a directive.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    You can start by watching a few Greekonomics videos that are very objectively pointing out the way you are enslaving our country for your benefit and pinning the blame on us. You are piling us up on debt and enforcing rules against the people and small businesses, making it impossible for any real growth to happen when none of the simple people have enough money to spend on new businesses and goods. You are supporting the politicians that are in favor of your measures, because the Greek people work like dogs to create value that you will reap, and the government and rich class get to keep the change.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I don't have time to watch a few videos right now, but I'll take a look later.

    Can you explain how, by agreeing to take a loan, the other party is responsible for piling a debt upon you? If I go to the bank to get a loan and then don't pay it back, it's not the bank who is the asshole, it's me for agreeing to a contract I can't or have no intention of fulfilling.

    I get being upset with your government who agreed to a deal you might deem shitty, or with the party who offered the deal in the first place. But to take the money, yell "fuck you, I'm not gonna pay you back", and then claim the other party are the wrong for giving you a deal you agreed to just seems very fucked up to me.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    First off, I'll start with the fact that PASOK ruined the country by spending massive loans with ridiculous irresponsibility, that's Greece's fault not Europe's.

    After that, Greece was now filled with debt it couldn't pay off. Obviously not wanting to go bankrupt, the only way forward was taking another loan in order to "breathe air into the economy". However, the Bailout Programmes actually did everything but that. By forcing Greece to put massive taxes on people and businesses, cutting wages and pensions, worsening work conditions, cutting social spending, the people were brought to their knees unable to get up. When no one has money, it's only natural that innovation completely stops, no one risks opening a business, banks don't risk giving out loans, and society crumbles while the common folk starve.

    You might ask, was it a mistake, was the IMF stupid? Not at all. They were very successful in mitigating their own risks from Greece going bankrupt or leaving the Eurozone, mainly in erasing their dependency on Greek bonds. They never cared about our country or them getting their money back, they just cared about keeping us in a depression as long as their banks stay unaffected.

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