Yanis Varoufakis on capitalism's incompatibility with democracy

It's a not-very-well-kept secret that elements of the libertarian right believe that democracy is incompatible with capitalism (tldr: if majorities get to vote, they'll vote to tax rich minorities and since rich people are in the minority they'll always lose that vote); and as this persuasive and fascinating lecture and Q&A with former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (previously) shows, the feeling is mutual.

Varoufakis traces the history of capitalism from the enclosure movement and the industrial revolution and demonstrates that the rise of capitalism is always attended by a weakening of the politics sphere, making it subservient to the economic sphere (he recounts being told by the German finance minister Gerhard Schauble that "financial arrangement cannot be changed by voting," and by Obama that he has been unable to act against the financial sector during the 2008 crisis). He claims that in this moment, 40 years after Reagan and his cohort of deregulators dismantled the New Deal, politics are at their weakest point, and finance at its strongest.

The talk and Q&A range over nationalism and internationalism, organizing the precariat, migration and refugees, demographics and Chinese economic expansionism, and many other topics, with the kind of humor and erudition that is Varoufakis's trademark.

It's a long block of time, but the visuals are pretty dull and you can get by with just the audio if you're going for a long walk, cleaning the house, or working out.

(via Late Stage Capitalism)