In this interview with the former finance minister of Greece and founder of DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025), Yanis Varoufakis, a host of issues are discussed which include privatization, human rights, media, his experience with the EU and capitalism’s ability to reform.
All of these questions are addressed in the video below:
Notable quotes from the interview:
Yanis Varoufakis on the privatization schemes in Greece:
No Greek government since 2010 has owned its economic and social reform policy agenda – leads to colonial type deals which in the end do not benefit the economy and make the people of the country feel that effectively they have been reduced and exploited and this is never a good feeling to have when you want to reform a country.
Yanis Varoufakis on the issue of writing off Greek debt:
let’s not forget that Germany was given an opportunity to pick itself up from the boot straps in 1953, only due to the American’s insistence that the London Conference in 1953 should write off more than 60% of German debt in order to allow this country to fulfill the speech of hope that secretary Barnes issued in Stuttgart. If we condemn a whole generation to permanent poverty because of debts that should have never been accumulated, we are doing a major disservice to Europe.
Yanis Varoufakis on the negotiations that he held with the Troika in 2016 as the Greek finance minister:
I even proposed a debt break, which is a very German thing and it was ignored. Look let’s be clear about this – there was never any intention by the other side to reach a normal agreement with us. The only objective was to humiliate a government that dared say to their face that the program that the troika had been implementing for the last 5 years in Greece had failed. It’s that simple. It was naked power politics of the 19th century type.
Yanis Varoufakis on the establishment:
If you have an agenda in favour of redistributing from profits to wages, if you have an agenda for taxing the top 0.1% ,in order to bolster low pensions – you have an uphill battle, because there is a “triangle of sin” ,as I call it, that is going to oppose you to the end, which is perfectly normal and perfectly natural. The triangle comprises: The media owners, the banking establishment financial sector and those who have a very cosy relationship with the state in terms of procurement and development and so on and so forth.
To read the interview transcript, click here.
To watch acTVism Munich’s video playlist on Yanis Varoufakis & DiEM25, click here.
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3 replies on “Yanis Varoufakis talks about Privatization, Human Rights & Capitalism with acTVism Munich”
[…] In diesem Interview mit dem ehemaligen griechischen Finanzminister und Gründer von „DiEM25“ (Demokratie in Europa Bewegung 2025) Yanis Varoufakis werden vielen Themen diskutiert, unter anderem Privatisierung, Menschenrechte, Medien, seine Erfahrung mit der EU und über die Möglichkeiten des Kapitalismus sich zu reformieren. […]
[…] In this interview with the former finance minister of Greece and founder of DiEM25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025), Yanis Varoufakis, a host of issues are discussed which include privatization, human rights, media, his experience with the EU and capitalism’s ability to reform. […]
Der Fisch stinkt meist vom Kopf her. Jeder der dieses systemrelevante Gesäusel von sich aus als alternativlos in den Raum stellt, der wird sich, das zeigt sich gerade, erst recht nicht selbst abschaffen. Höher, schneller, weiter oder tarnen, täuschen und vergessen wo die Post wirklich abgeht.
Privatisierung in der modernen Welt, sie wird schon gar nicht mehr in den eigenen vier Wänden zugelassen, weil nur noch Regulierung gilt. Und von denen, welche den Wahlzettel als Freibrief für eine höhere Stufe der Existenz betrachten, dem wird sich der Kapitalismus mit all seinen Facetten offenbaren.
Auf der Strecke bleiben die Menschenrechte, die, wie hier in Deutschland durch die arbeitende Bevölkerung vor mehr als 100 Jahren in Verbindung mit Gewerkschaften zum Wohle eines Jeden geschaffen wurden, sie sind durch einige Maßnahmen innerhalb der letzten paar Jahre gegen die Wand gefahren worden. Pure Absicht, da dies im Think Tank der Elite der Elite genauso alt ist, wie die Arbeiter-Bewegung. Ob sich dies irgendwann mal jemand überlegte, warum dies fast gleichzeitig geschah, sei einmal mehr der eigenen Intelligenz angeheftet.
Ich wünschte mir mehr Menschen, die über den Tellerrand hinausdenken und handeln, und dabei von seinem Gegenüber in der gleichen Manier respektiert wird. Human being.