Neue Debatte - Special Edition - Long Essay on Left Strategy #002 - 04/2017 | Page 40

7 Repairing capitalism in Europe?
7 Repairing capitalism in Europe?
7.1 “Save European capitalism from itself”?
Yanis, continuously you propagate your central political and econom-
ic aim “to save European capitalism from itself”. 15 In 2013 you stood
up for proposals “that instead of offering to replace capitalism they
were suggesting ways in which capitalism could be saved.” 16 The
most impressive statement on your strategic goal you presented in a
discussion this February:
“You know what my ambition will be? To stabilize European
capitalism! Cause this constant downward spiral is terrible for
the left. It’s terrible for waking people everywhere. It is a com-
plete gift to the ultra-nationalists, to the bigots, to the misan-
thrope, to the racists. Let’s do that, stabilize it. And then, then
we can start the class war again, the class conflict, the left vs.
right thing.” 17
To stabilize capitalism, to save it from itself, to control and regulate it
is neither a pioneering nor sparkling program. From 19 th century
German-Austrian historical school of economics, the so called “social-
ists of the chair” to John Maynard Keynes, American New Deal, and
the system of a social market economy: capitalism was always nursed
by more or less leftish economists. They tried to ease the inhuman
and antisocial impacts of the capitalist system and to beware it from
breaking apart. They presented economic panaceas “to save capital-
ism of itself”. In the carrot-and-stick-policy towards the working clas-
ses they represented the carrot-methods to bring people to heel.
They were needed in times of crisis to distract mass movements from
radical and revolutionary demands and keep them within the rules of
the system. They normally were well-meaning, honourable academ-
ics, not being aware of the social role they played. I am afraid, I just
have characterized the polit-economic tradition I see you in though I
don’t want to.
15 Inner cover text of Yanis Varoufakis, And The Weak Suffer What They Must?, London: The Body Head, 2016.
16 Yanis Varoufakis: Confessions of an Erratic Marxist, (youtube, May 14 th 2013, 4:35).
17
Yanis Varoufakis (DIEM25.org) visits Germany: We have to transform the European Union, (youtube, 19.02.2016,
1:04:20 – 1:05:00)
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