Talking to My Daughter: Yanis Varoufakis

Best Books Rating: 4.0 Varoufakis is an ideologue whose words have the ability to re-calibrate your moral compass. Idolised by the left for his ability to articulate so clearly ideas that question the foundations of modern society, this book represents his most accessible – read ‘least academic’ – work. Posing more questions than answers and inciting self-reflection, this book has achieved the finest of qualities: ponderability.

Synopsis

This book is a short and accessible tale of the evolution of capitalism from the agricultural revolution to the complex market economy we have today. The author Varoufakis encourages you not to give in to the temptation to accept inequality as unavoidable or natural.

One of my favourite ideas from the book lies in the transfer from ‘societies with markets’ to the ‘market societies’ of today i.e. commodification, or the ability to attach monetary value to everything. This nuanced transition is exemplified by the transfer of importance from ‘experiential value’ to ‘exchange value’. Emotive arguments are made for reasserting the importance of experience over exchange. The tragedy of the commons and its impact on our environment is case and point. What value does a government place on a forest? The market value of the wood from its trees and the meat reared on its land; or the experiential value of a lungful of fresh air and a nice walk through the wild?

Favourite Quotes

“nothing is reproduced with greater ease than the faith of the haves that they deserve what they get.”

Varoufakis, 2017. p.24

Interesting Facts

The origin of the word ‘credit’ comes from the Latin credere, which means ‘to believe’. Money is after all, reliant on the publics’ faith in the ability of the Government to repay their debts.

About the Author

Varoufakis is a Greek economist with an innate distrust of his own kind (economists, not Greeks!). He brands economists the prophets of Capitalism, who help reinforce the power of the ruling class. With his strong political beliefs it is little surprise that the academic turned to politics, gaining the position of Minister of Finance in Greece in 2015 and since founding the Party DiEM25.